Categories: FoodLondon

Morito Hackney Road

A Mix of Flavours at Morito

Following the successes of Moro and Morito Exmouth Market, the third of its kind was opened on Hackney Road. Imagine a mixture of the flavours from sunny Southern Spain, the rich cooking of North Africa and the delicious Eastern Mediterranean cuisine all mixing together. This is brought along with influences from the Island of Crete where Head Chef Marinna brings her experiences and flavours from working in her family’s fish restaurant. The food here is fresh, well sourced and cultivates a great range of flavours, ultimately providing delicious dishes of food.

Start the evening with some labneh, light and airy yoghurt topped with roasted pumpkin, crispy chickpeas and beautifully delicious pistachios. The crunch of the toppings were a nice bite to the light labneh, perfectly balanced in flavour and lightness.

Their take on hummus and meat was quite a unique experience. Thick and pasty hummus filled the base of the dish with spiced lamb, pine nuts and pomegranate sitting on top with a bunch of mint. This was an interest type of hummus, very textured especially compared to the ones tasted in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. However, that combination of hummus and spiced lamb was delicious. The tasty lamb cuts across the thick paste, along with the crunchy pine nuts and juicy pomegranates, all providing a tasty mouthful.

Lamb Tagine can be cooked in so many different ways and the interpretations of the definition of this dish can vary quite broadly. The one here at Morito is a rich and thick stew of lamb sitting meatily on top of a bed of cous cous. Te lamb was soft and with an almost slow-cooked feel to it. Nicely falling apart as you ate but at the same time tender, chewy and tasty.

With the concept very similar to calamari, their deep fried fish dish was the best of the night. Crunchy, full of flavours and topped with some extra (unknown) surprises, this was one of the best deep fried seafood dishes I have eaten. With an every changing menu at Morito, it is really up to your luck whether it is available. If it is, order it!

Great Mix of Flavours

When I heard the food here brought together flavours from Southern Spain, North Africa and East Mediterranea together, I was very excited. The food takes interesting twists and turns but Marianna is able to capture the most essential part of these cuisines, providing delicious and tasty food.