New York City’s Best New Restaurants Of 2019 - New York - The Infatuation

"We imagine that all the neighborhoods in the city would place bids to get Lokanta for themselves if they could. But even though Astoria won this auction, you should go out of your way to eat at this Turkish restaurant, no matter where you live. Especially if you enjoy lemon, olive oil, and garlic in excess. You’ll find all three flavors in almost everything on this BYOB restaurant’s menu. Above all else though, prioritize the lamb entrees - Lokanta knows how to braise lamb like the US Mint knows how to make pennies. Our favorite is the hunkar begendi (braised lamb over mashed eggplant), which comes out so tender that it gives knives self-esteem issues." - hannah albertine, bryan kim, matt tervooren