What's the draw
Morito, I've a feeling we're not in Exmouth Market anymore – at least, not entirely. Decor melds Mediterranean flair (a huge, swooping marble bar) with East London grit (bare concrete walls), while the sharing plates put imaginatively sourced ingredients to utterly delicious use.
What to drink
If you're not on board with the sherry revolution, now might be the time to get involved. You don't just get sherry from the bottle in Morito Hackney – they're importing kegs of the stuff from Spain and serving it on tap at the bar. Elsewhere, the wine list's as imaginative as the food; El Marciano, a garnacha from Peñafiel in Spain, has the twin benefits of subtle, red-fruit flavour and a label design featuring cartoon aliens. Works for us.
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What to eat
You'll want to graze your way around chef Marianna Leivaditaki's food, which takes painstakingly sought-out ingredients (try the pistachios from Gaziantep in Turkey to taste what you've been missing) and incorporates them into sharing plates you really won't want to share. Labneh with chilli oil and broad beans is as colourful as it is moreish, and you'll be feverishly mopping up the orange and almond mojo that comes piled on top of asparagus spears. Slow-cooked rabbit, heavily spiced with cinnamon, is an enveloping hug of a dish – warm, comforting and admirably straightforward. Order double.
Dinner and drinks for two: around £90. 195 Hackney Road, London, E2 8JL; morito.co.uk
