New London restaurant Lagana drizzles Shoreditch with extra olive oil

For its fifth London opening, hot on the heels of Nina in Marylebone, Pachamama Group looks to Lagana, the ancient Greek flatbread, for both concept and character. A symbol of sharing, ritual and unfussy pleasure, Lagana becomes shorthand for the restaurant’s ethos. Bread conjures childhood and collective memory, and the space leans straight into that. Scribbled motifs shape the branding. Tabletops are wrapped in paper, crayons at the ready. Guests are encouraged to draw, to leave traces, to play – Lagana is an open sketchbook.

Wallpaper* dines at Lagana, London

The mood: tongue-in-cheek

Fluidity drives the design. Come summer, bi-fold doors dissolve the threshold between inside and out, opening the restaurant onto the street. Its loose, youthful aesthetic syncs with Shoreditch’s creative charge. ‘The ambition was to keep the industrial grit of east London, while introducing the warmth and openness of the Mediterranean. It had to feel casual, agile, and tuned to everyday life here,’ says Shree Narain, the group’s brand manager. The former Pachamama East shell remains visible in wabi-sabi textures, exposed services and a clean industrial scaffold.

Lunara Bramley-Fenton, managing director, led the interiors, with her own bold artworks splashed across the walls, echoing the childlike graphic identity. The fit-out and design were done in collaboration with Inter Interiors. Weighty shelving was cleared out to bring in light and vertical breathing space. Much was repurposed: mohair-clad chairs, timber reborn as generous banquettes. The honest patina meets flashes of glamour in Murano glass and vintage chandeliers. A stainless-steel mosaic bar runs the full length of the room. Beyond, the main dining room encourages looseness and play.

The food: sharing, scribbling, snacking

The open kitchen, spearheaded by Group Executive Chef Tzoulio Loulai and conceptualised by Brand Director Yaroslava Malkova, keeps the cooking honest and generous. It all begins with the signature lagana: a blistered, puffed flatbread, fresh from the oven, torn through bowls of seasonal spreads: tzatziki, tarama, spicy feta. Plates land fast and bright. Courgette tempura is feather-light with a hit of spiced red pepper. Corn on the cob is charred, slicked with yellow chilli butter and cumin salt.

From the grill, dry-aged picanha arrives in deep, tender slices, while lamb belly in oregano-tomato sauce under a cool spoon of cumin yoghurt keeps the tempo bold. Sea bass ceviche in kakavia sauce and a beef tartare lifted with kokkinisto ketchup, cut clean and bright.

Desserts swing between playful and decadent: soft serve, layered pastries, and the Pachamama signature cheesecake reimagined with a rich caramel gloss. Cocktails toy with colour, mood and season, each named for a shade of the rainbow.

Lagana is located at 73 Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3HU, UK.

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