Lokanta Turkish Grill
Permanently Closed
Authentic Turkish stews, kebabs, manti, and baked butternut squash
Authentic Turkish stews, kebabs, manti, and baked butternut squash
"One of our favorite Turkish restaurants is now open for take-out from noon to 10pm every day except Monday. You can call 718-728-447 to place your order." - hannah albertine
"New Yorker critic Hannah Goldfield has an “artful” Turkish meal at Lokanta in Astoria, which serves “spectacular” lamb entrees." - Carla Vianna
"At Lokanta, a Turkish restaurant that opened in April, it manifests, counterintuitively, in the blustery bearing of the chef and owner, Orhan Yegen. Yegen, a veteran restaurateur who also owns Sip Sak, in Manhattan (the menus overlap significantly), is one of them, with a reputation that precedes him; the thrill of hearing his dramatic proclamations is one of the draws of his establishments. The food is artful with a traditional Turkish approach. Highlights include cooked fava beans, leeks confited in olive oil, braised artichoke hearts, a variety of lamb entrées, beef meatballs, manti dumplings, and less successful seafood dishes. Desserts like baked butternut squash with whipped cream and chopped walnuts stand out among the standard rice pudding and baklava. Lokanta also offers a weekends-only breakfast menu that features a Turkish breakfast platter, baked eggs, clotted cream, gozleme, and pastries including simit." - Hannah Goldfield
"It seems the inspectors are fans of the new-ish restaurant Lokanta in Astoria, Queens. This bowl of manti served in garlicky yogurt from Lokanta could right any day gone wrong." - Aaron Hutcherson
"Chef Orhan Yegen has opened nearly 20 Turkish restaurants over the past two years, and now, he’s brought a two-star stunner to Astoria, Times critic Pete Wells writes. The chef’s Turkish cuisine shines at Lokanta, a newly opened restaurant in Astoria, from the simple starter salad to the final dessert, Wells says. The critic says it’s the soups, braises, and stews that set the restaurant apart from its Turkish counterparts, whose menus tend to focus on grilled meats. At Lokanta, the go-to order is a stew like the kelle paca, in which the boiled sheep’s head has given way to several textures of meat, from chewy to lean. As for desserts, those are a treat, too: Go for the butternut squash, he writes, baked in its own juices with nothing but sugar. Two stars." - Carla Vianna