Lago Ristorante | Page 3 of 5

My first question when hearing about Lago Ristorante was, “It’s where?” It is a bit off the beaten path and the exterior is lacking, but the interior has a nice ambience. The standard menu is typical Italian with a few twists on old favorites. The list of specials that night was extensive and the word used to describe everything was “fresh.” I have to say I would agree with that.

I started with the Mediterranean Scallops – pan seared with curry and topped with a maple horseradish. I did not taste a lot of curry, but the maple horseradish was tasty and the fresh scallops cooked to perfection.

I have to make note of the dinner salad. While it was simple, it was also very fresh. It was accompanied by fresh bread that I understand is made there.

My dinner was traditional Chicken Marsala. I am not a fan of pasta and my request for mashed potatoes was enthusiastically accommodated. The two chicken breasts were thinly sliced and nicely presented. The marsala sauce was light and the mushrooms were fresh. I would have liked a little more marsala taste, but overall the dish was very good.

The dessert tray was extremely tempting and everything looked FRESH, but I somehow managed the willpower. The only disappointment of the evening was the wine list – it is very limited, though the restaurant did try to accommodate my picky taste buds. -KP

Having never been to Lago Ristorante before and not being familiar with this area of Worcester, we drove right by this place; it is tucked back a little ways from the road and wasn’t immediately seen by us until we were on top of it. The location is great—right on the water, however all the windows in the place were small and disappointingly didn’t give any real view of the lake that is a mere step away. Even knowing the lake was just steps away and knowing I couldn’t enjoy the view I still liked the place, the dark gray walls gave this place a warm feel. I loved the ceiling with the exposed pipes and industrial type metal beams all painted the same dark gray.

Once we were seated, our waitress was prompt and came right over to attend us. I had been craving my favorite drink all day and was happy to hear that they could make me a glass of red sangria. It was fantastic and I will be having it again when I return at a future date.

We started our meal with an appetizer of deep fried calamari with a marinara dipping sauce. Excellently cooked, was not tough or chewy and the batter was very light. It was the perfect size quantity to split with a friend.

The bread they brought to the table was similar to a foccasia in density, We inquired about it and were told rosemary and oregano among other herbs were in the bread and they make the bread daily in house. This was served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dipping sauce.

Following our appetizer were our salads that came with any of the regular meals from the menu. I opted for the caesar and was happy to hear that they could put anchovies on mine, so often I am told they cannot put anchovies on my caesar. The caesar came on a glass chilled plate, nice touch and was a great size for a starter salad.

My meal was selected from the specials list, which our waitress explained to us in detail, I was able to get a visual as she went on in detail about the dish I chose. She had me at “Asiago Cream Sauce!” My dish was called Chicken Isabella. Two chicken breasts pounded flat with seasonings atop my choice of pasta, I went with the Penne, I was disappointed when I asked if they made their own pasta and was told no. The pasta although not homemade was cooked perfectly for my taste, just a bit past Al Dente’. The asiago cream sauce was creamy and rich, however I would have liked to taste a bit more of the asiago cheese which gave this sauce its name, as light as it was in cheese it made up for this fact with the richness of the cream and the freshness of the herbs in the sauce they used. I was very satisfied with my meal. I would go back and I would recommend this place to my friends. –RL