The new Greek restaurant from the Pachamama Group
There are an awful lot of L restaurants opening recently. Just last week we went to Legado in Shoreditch; Labombe and Luso are about to open; and there’s also been Luna and Lupa arriving in recent weeks. Who will come out top in the battle of the Ls? Well it could well be Lagana, which has just opened on the old Pachamama East site in Shoreditch. This opening also marks the closing of the last Pachamama site in London (sad times, though it may well return one day we hear).
Eat This
The kitchen is led by Greek-born Exec Chef Tzoulio Loulai and it would be foolish not to start with the restaurant’s namesake ‘lagana’ flatbread, fresh from the oven, alongside a couple of dips – our favourites were the tzatziki with cucumber skin and dill oil, and the tarama.
Next up we had the Anthotiro soft cheese with fresh honeycomb and thyme oil and the excellent soutzoukakia flatbread topped with tomato sauce and meatballs. We had two nice enough dishes of raw bluefin tuna with pickles and wakame, and yellowtail with orange and tomato dressing, but we wouldn’t say these are must orders.
From there we of course had to get the Greek salad, and we then finished with two standout meat dishes – the super soft chicken thigh with yoghurt and lemon oil, and the lamb seftalia with pickles. These both absolutely are must orders.
No room for dessert, but they have soft serve, lemon tart and a caramel cheesecake which we’ve heard good things about.
Drink This
One of us wasn’t drinking (after an unreasonably boozy Sunday) and had a non-alcoholic spritz of amarico, grape and apricot. And for the other, from the wine list came a nice Australian pet nat, ‘Sea Foam’, and a great light chilled red from Italy.
Why Go
We always liked the Pachamama East site and Lagana has kept that nice vibe and even improved it by opening up the space a bit more and upgrading it with new furniture, lighting and a snazzy brushed steel mosaic bar. So it’s a fun spot, with tasty, approachable food in the heart of Shoreditch… we’d say Lagana is going to be a big hit.
19 Willow St, London EC2A 3HU
lagana.london
