Mill Street is one of the more well-known and bustling streets in the city. One would think that this would be the perfect location to open up a restaurant such as Lago Ristorante. Although the restaurant was marked clearly with a large sign on the main drag, the building in which the Lago is located in, is not marked and I almost had to guess which door to enter in order to dine. Once inside, we were greeted by a sleek, modern Italian interior with a long bar and industrial piping lining the ceiling, giving the atmosphere a touch of class, yet while still knowing that you’re in Worcester.
As we ordered our meal, most entrees came with a complimentary house salad. The dressing and red onions added a bite of bitter and acidity to the dish, however the choice of using iceberg lettuce fell flat. Although a decent starting salad, it could have benefited from croutons or some shaved carrots to lend a textural contrast to the dish.
When my main entree came out, I found that my 16-ounce sirloin was cooked perfectly medium-rare. The chef could have trimmed a little more of the fat off the steak as it made it difficult to cut at times. My sides were rice pilaf and mashed potatoes…I find that you can never have enough starch. Unfortunately, the rice was very disappointing. The taste was very bland and needed a decent amount of salt and pepper just to render any kind of flavor from the rice. On the other hand, the mashed potatoes were delicious. They had been mashed with the skins on and were left a bit lumpy, which is a deviation for most restaurants to do, but I found it paid off. The potatoes were rich and were the perfect combination of silky and delicious. -ED