Lagano

“All Around Tapas“

Astoria, Queens
36-03 Ditmars Blvd, Queens, NY 11105

Come here for: Shared plates, group outing, private event, date, brunch

What are the vibes? Nicely decorated restaurant with tasty cocktails and tapas for sharing

What we ordered:

I went to Lagano with my mother and my aunt for brunch. The space here is beautifully decorated. It’s larger than it looks with additional seating in the back and a private dining area upstairs. There was a private event taking place upstairs when I was there. For drinks, my aunt ordered a latte, my mom got the passion fruit lemonade and I tried the Lagano spritz which I wasn’t a fan of. The lemonade was good though. My mom wanted to try the smoked salmon panini and I thought the chicken tower on the menu looked interesting for entrees, but we ended up just having tapas. We were so full from them that we didn’t want entrees anymore.

My mom wanted the spicy crab and lobster soup in a clear shellfish broth with lemongrass and vegetables. The waitress offered to split the order so both my aunt and mom could try it. They loved it. The waitress offered me a spoon so I can try it as well, but I forgot to. Typical. The service was excellent. Our waitress was knowledgeable about the food and was very attentive. We ordered the spinach and artichoke dip with baby spinach, artichoke hearts and cream cheese served with pita bread. It was creamy and delicious. We also got the burrata pomodoro, served over confit cherry tomatoes with balsamic pearls and sea salt. The burrata was also very creamy and the paired well with the tomatoes. The sea salt brought out the flavor of the cheese. We also ordered a crab cake served with jicama, green aplle and remoulade. My mom said that the crab was very fresh and flavorful and I agree. The baby lamb chops served over mint and white white jam were my favorite of all the tapas we ordered. They are priced and ordered per piece. They were cooked perfectly. We really enjoyed them so we ordered another three pieces of them. Everything was so delicious.

Our server gave us an order of the mushroom croquettes with truffle mayo on the house. They are not available on the brunch menu, but are part of their main menu. They were very tasty. I’m always a fan of a little truffle surprise. The menu has an array of sides that can be paired with the tapas. One of them is the crispy skin salmon which we ordered. I am not a fan of a soggy skinned salmon so the texture of this salmon was great. My personal opinion is the the salmon was a little bland for my preference, but it was still tasty and cooked well.

I saw a cocktail being made that looked really good and I wanted to try it ,The drink was the red velvet cocktail with Bombay Sapphire gin, strawberry puree and prosecco. I enjoyed it. It was sweet, but not as sweet as I thought it would be which was a good thing. We ended the meal with dessert, of course. They only had two desserts on the menu; the boem cake and the raspberry blackout cake. We tried them both The blackout cake was really sweet and rich while the boem cake was more light. We preferred that one.

I definitely recommend going to Lagano. The service is excellent and the food is delicious.