The Critics Ate ‘Swoony’ Panna Cotta, Stuffed Skate, and Dumplings This Week

Unpretentious But Polished

For The Improper Bostonian, MC Slim JB visits the recently opened Pammy’s between Cambridge’s Central and Harvard squares, finding “lovely decor,” “a cast of respected veterans,” “pretty and clever desserts,” “witty specialty cocktails,” and plenty of other “thoughtful details.” Highlights on the menu include lumache with a “smashing” Bolognese and gochujang sauce; “juicy, crisp-skinned” red snapper in a “fabulously complex” sauce; a “swoony” panna cotta; and more.

Upscale Seafood

Devra First visits Back Bay’s new Mooncusser Fish House in her latest Quick Bite for the Boston Globe, finding a “spare, clean, angular” space. Seasonal menu items feature local seafood, including striped bass crudo with pickled rhubarb and stuffed skate with lobster, chard, and baby carrots. There’s also a monkfish dish served with caviar, options for the non-seafood eaters, and a five-course tasting menu. At the restaurant’s counterpart, a downstairs space called Moon Bar, First finds smoked bluefish fattoush and soft-shell crab BLTs.

Mulan Reincarnated

The Boston Globe’s Catherine Smart visits Mu Lan restaurant in Cambridge, which recently reopened after renovations prompted by a damaging fire in 2014. “If you were a fan of Mulan in its previous incarnation, you won’t be disappointed by the food,” Smart writes. The pork and leek dumplings are “juicy little pouches with thick springy skins and savory filling.” Some of the best dishes, she writes, come from the restaurant’s traditional menu and include a “delicate” fish soup and a braised pork shin in brown sauce that has tender meat. The smoked duck Taiwanese style also has delicate meat, and Smart calls the dish “well worth venturing out of your culinary comfort-zone for.”

• Wham, Pam [IB]
• At Mooncusser, Fish House Meets Treehouse [BG]
• Reopened Mulan Was Worth the Wait [BG]