Morso
Morso is located in a delightful part of town (i.e. somewhere I can’t afford). Airy and pretty townhouses. Clean, wide streets. Trees and shrubbery abound. This is where you live if you have the moolah.
With such surroundings, a certain type of restaurant is expected. A bit laid back, clean and minimalist and concentrating on the food at an appropriate regional price. With such introductions complete, we dived into the food.
Olives. Fairly ordinary even if there were chilli flakes lurking inside. My dining companion accidentally inhaled one. He promptly teared up. I am not made of such weak stuff, so when I took a bite, I judged it as mildly spicy. In any case, these were ok but probably not something to go for again.
Arancini, tomatoes and mozzarella crispy risotto bites, pea and pecorino romano DOP sauce. Crunchy and filling the pea and pecorino sauce was a particular delight, so much so that I ended up slathering my fries in it.
Parmesan skinny fries, Parmigiano Reggiano DOP, parsley, Italian black truffle mayonnaise. Crispy and light. Great when paired with the pea and pecorino sauce as you then had crispy fries with delectable cheese, a great combination.
Calamari, crispy panko coated calamari rings, spicy Calabrian chilli & lemon mayo. Oilless, crispy and punchy and with a good dip these were a delight filling my mouth with the things my body likes, fat, oil, seafood.
Rigatoni pistachio & burrata, fresh pistachio and basil pesto, Parmigiano Reggiano DOP, homemade buffalo burrata, toasted pistachio crumb. A nutty flavour with al dente pasta, burata and basil. I applaud the generous use off nuts and the deep flavour of the pesto, with this al dente pasta, it was excellent.
Bucatini cacio e pepe, Pecorino Romano DOP, Grana Padano DOP, black pepper. Simple and decent although the amount of water in the sauce was a bit strange. It almost seemed like the pasta had been cooked and then someone had forgotten to drain it that well. It could have been so much better but with pasta swimming in an almost soup, it just didn’t float my boat.
Truffle & Ricotta Raviolo, black truffle & ricotta ravioli, fresh pea, truffle butter, Parmigiano Reggiano DOP. I have been reading more and more about how truffle flavour is often created through derivatives of petroleum. It is definitely a case of knowing too much making things destroying the dream. Whereas previously I would have naively thought that everything that said it was truffle actually had some truffle, I now know better.
In my naivete, things were ok. Now with the curse of knowledge, with every bite, all I could taste was the oil dripping off my tongue. It kind of made it disgusting to me. Although my pocket will probably thank me in the future.
Cuttle fish tomato pasta. A confused dish, trying to be tomato-ey, hot yet fulsome. The al dente pasta was just the wrong side of cooked, as it had a bit too much crunch. The cuttlefish didn’t really do it for me as it didn’t seem to have much flavour of anything really, as I suspect that these were until very recently, in the deep freeze.
At the end of my meal, having had my dreams shattered in the middle by the truffle, I guess I shouldn’t have been that surprised at the end. Although the meal started out well, it was a bit like window dressing I have known. Pretty on the outside/at the start, less so as time went by. That is something that I hear more and more people in the UK are feeling nowadays. That Brexit was a Bad Idea.
Although I cannot have any effect on that issue, what I can do is vote with my feet for food. So when I left Morso, I did so for the first (and last) time.
A quiet eating 6.5/10.
Lunch (2 courses) was GBP30 excluding drinks and service.
130 Boundary Road, St John’s Wood
London, NW8 0RH