Morito Hackney Road
Hackney, London
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The follow-up to the first Morito on Exmouth Market, from Sam and Samantha Clark of Moro, has gone from hot ticket to cool venue. It’s gained a bar and live music spot downstairs, introduced a vegan night on Mondays, and developed a cocktail and by-the-glass wine list that could detain serious imbibers for days. On our busy lunchtime visit, locals (young and old) were getting stuck in, the only seats left were at the marble bar in the centre of the room. Chef Sevan Tchivitdji’s menu, divided into ‘para picar’ snacks, fish and meat, vegetables and desserts draws influences from Spain, North Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and Crete too. Smooth, deeply flavoured chicken liver pâté sharpened by Seville orange jelly and a glass of oloroso, is almost a meal in itself with thick slices of toast and pickled green peppers. So too is the excellent Cretan sausage with flatbread, yoghurt and a wedge of lemon. One admires the kitchen’s thrift, making a hearty stew of monkfish head (with boiled potatoes and garlic mayonnaise-slathered toast). There’s barely a table that doesn’t order the deep-fried aubergine with date molasses and whipped feta, a longstanding Morito signature. Enjoy dipping into the Spanish-leaning wine list with its sherries and dessert tipples by the glass, and inexpensive, in-keeping cocktails such as the Bloody Sherry and Olive Oil Sour. Payment by card only.
