Moro

Spanish food sometimes seems to me a better idea than it is an actuality - eating it outside Spain usually doesn't quite taste right, perhaps due to the ingredients, or perhaps because it always tastes better when you're in the country, relaxing in the sun, with your biggest worry being whether or not to embrace the concept of siesta. One of my favorite restaurants in London is Moro, which serves Spanish/Moroccan food. I like it because it delivers wonderfully flavored but non-fussy food, and delivers on the notion that Spanish-style cooking can be just as good outside the country as it can within. I recently had a chance to eat at Moro and have part of the meal for free. Through a site called We Love Local (which gathers user reviews on local shops/services), I won a £30 voucher for writing their review of the week, and opted to have that voucher spent at Moro. Lucky, lucky me, and so far, the most exciting winning-something experiences I've had (since this involved winning FOOD).

Aside from cooking with good ingredients in interesting combinations, there is a wood burning oven and a fair amount of charcoal grilling at Moro, which just increases the chance of the food being delicious. The sourdough bread is wonderful - pillowy soft with great big air pockets, and a good crunchy crust; bless that wood burning oven. The menu changes seasonaly, so my starter of grilled sweetbreads with girolles mushrooms won't always be making an appearance, but more's the pity; the charcoal grilling of the sweetbreads gave them a meaty, rich flavor, and a good balance of seasoning and the chewiness of the mushrooms really moved them into the realm of excellent. More than one person at the table (Mr. A&N, I'm talking about you) tried to surreptitiously grab a hunk of bread and mop up anything left on my plate, but I I'm to quick to fall for that 'Hey, look over there!' trick when food's around.


Lamb also features heavily on the menu, and we all wound up having lamb in some form for our mains. Desserts, being of the Spanish/Moroccan variety, weren't overly sweet but produced some really intriguing combinations - the rosewater and cardamom ice cream was a big hit with Jules, since it pulled through each of those flavors without subjecting them to a cloying sweetness.

One of the other things I appreciate about Moro is that their cookbooks are really accessible. The dishes sound good and the steps are described well enough to let you get a great result at home. Of course, if you have a charcoal grill and wood burning oven at home, you'd be able to re-create things perfectly; if not, paying a visit to the restaurant is a very good investment of your time and money.