I went back to Pacamara to try their lunch menu because the brunch was quite stellar, and I was hoping the standard will be replicated in their lunch menu. Boy was I wrong. 

Truffle fries was decent, something that you can return for and enjoy with a cuppa and a book. 

This is hands down one of the worst plates of pasta I've ever had. 

If I actually had a list of Top 3 Worst Pastas, this will be number 1. 

I'm really not sure what went wrong here but let's look at one by one. 

a) Pasta was tasteless. Maybe the chef didn't salt the water but isn't that a rookie mistake? 

b) Despite the tomato pesto, it tasted bland. The pasta and the sauce just didn't mesh. 

c) The bay bug was tasteless. No hint of flavour whatsoever. It was actually fresh seafood but it must take a really lousy chef to ruin fresh seafood. What a waste of a good bay bug (and my money!). 

In the end, I spammed copious amount of salt and pepper before I could choke it down. Worst meal of my life. Good thing the truffle fries saved the day, but never again am I going back to Pacamara for pastas. The saddest thing was I think I can make a tastier pasta than this, and I've only cooked pasta for a grand total of 5 times. 

PENNE CABONARA ($16)

with bacon, baby asparagus, onion & cream sauce

This is your usual classic cabonara dish, which luckily wasn't bland. It was alright, albeit with a little too much cream. While it's decent, this is not something that will tempt you to return. 

I think Pacamara has a pretty good concept going but they really need to work on refining the food. Brunch is good but you can't offer a lunch menu that makes people wish they came for brunch instead. With so much competition in the area, this is something they should really work on to retain their customers. Ultimately it's not simply about having an interesting menu, it's also about making the dishes work so that people will keep coming back for more.