Morito
Moro is a great restaurant, but if you want to eat just tapas, you have to sit at the bar. Cue Morito, a small tapas-only sibling next door. Almost half of Morito is comprised of bar seating (thumbs up for the under-counter bag hooks), and the other half is made up of table seating. It’s casual and buzzy and often crowded.
Still, on a recent Monday evening, I was able to snag a table for three, though it was wedged awkwardly in the corner near a waiter’s station.
Morito is a lot of fun. The tapas are small and most are priced under £4 per plate. The service was friendly, and most dishes I tried were excellent. The perfect place to have a drink and catch up with a friend. (I wouldn’t go with a bigger group – you’ll never get a table).
quail's egg and jamon £4
Winners:
Pepper potato and onion tortilla: The classic dish, and a good measure of the rest of the tapas to come, I think. Morito’s had a good firm texture, creamy with potato, sweet from the peppers and onions, and finishing with a little chili kick. (£3.50)
Quail’s egg and jamon – Eggs and ham. It’s salty; it’s creamy. What’s not to love? Its prettiness is icing on the cake. (£4)
spiced labneh with aubergine £4
Spiced labneh with aubergine – tangy, rich labneh perfectly complemented the slightly-sweet-and-smoky aubergine. (£4)
Puntillitas (aka baby squid) – the perfect bar snack. Seasoned, breaded and fried. (£6.50)
Good, but not great:
Red prawns and alioli – Shell-on prawns were sweet but kind of lacking in meat. And I would love if they’d been more garlicky. (£6.50)
Salt cod croquetas – I like more creamy bechamel in my croquetas. Also, bacalao is not my fave. (£4)
Crispy aubergine with miel de cana – These were way too sugary. Miel de cana has the strong flavor of molasses. (£3.50)
Patatas mojo (aka salt crusted potatoes with green chilli and coriander sauce) – Despite the delicious-sounding menu description, these were a bit bland. (£3.50)
There was an impressively large number of dishes to choose from, and generally, all were pretty good.
With cheap and cheerful tumblers of wine, each of us paid £20. And because I still had room for dessert, I treated myself to an affogato down the block at Caravan, which is great on atmosphere, coffee and desserts. (Dinner there, however, was underwhelming, in case you were wondering).
There’s lots of other dishes I wish I’d tried at Morito, including the mussel and chorizo empanadilla, the lamb chops with cumin and paprika, and the spiced lamb with aubergine, yoghurt and pine nuts.
So I’ll be back. But only with one friend.
Morito, 32 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QL; closest tube stations: Angel or Farringdon, but it’s a healthy 10-15 minute walk, so try to catch a bus like the 38.
Agree that Morito isn’t built for parties larger than two. Then again, other than the lack of space, the tapas portion is really too small to be shared by more than two, isn’t it?
I love the baby squid, can’t get enough of it. Will probably return just for that.
Oh, thanks for the heads up about dinner at Caravan. Moro’s a better choice, I suppose?
Good to hear – and sounds bargainous. Love the sound of the tortilla. I’ve been wanting to try Morito but my boyfriend was totally unimpressed by it when he went with a friend recently, so I’ll have to find someone else to come with me. I did like Moro next door, although haven’t been for years.
I’d heard that it was quite expensive but it doesn’t seem that way here. That quails egg sounds delicious.
I’ve still not been to Moro but now I’m keen to try Morito first. That aubergine with miel de cana sounds almost like a recipe in a medieval Catalan cookbook I have…
Really want to go here as I love the food at Moro but the no bookings policy teamed with its tiny size really puts me off – don’t want to trek to Exmouth Market then not be able to get in. What time of night did you go out of interest and how long did you wait (if at all)?
@London Chow – Agree on the baby squid, and yes, the tapas portions are small, but you can always order multiples of the same if you luck out with a bigger group. (We ordered two of the bacalao croquetas, for example).
@Greedy Diva – I wouldn’t make Morito a destination in itself. But if you’re catching a performance at Sadler’s Wells or are already in the area for some other reason, it’s a great stop.
@Lizzie – It didn’t strike me as expensive (like Barrafina, which is superb but pricey). But I thought the price-quality ratio was fair.
Su-Lin – Miel de cana might be an acquired taste. : )
Gourmet Chick – I showed up at 7:30 on a Monday evening and didn’t wait for a table and there were four bar seats available. That said, I figured if I didn’t get in to Morito, I’d try Santore, the Ambassador or Caravan, so I wasn’t worried about not having dinner options. I can see how it’d be different if you’d traveled cross town just to try Morito, though. (I am not a fan of no-reservations policies, generally).
Am loving the look of the quail’s egg and jamon – bringing back memories of the great tapas I had in Seville a couple years back! hope to pay a visit one weekday evening as its just round the corner fr my workplace – tx for the post!
Ha! This is a place where I had to go with my husband. He dreams these dishes and pretends I make them at home, too. Ufff! These could be the exccellent solution for me!
That quail’s egg looks amazingly well. It’s so mouth-watering. I would definitely try out the pepper potato and onion tortilla. And that spiced labneh looks awesome. Thanks for sharing these.
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I’m into shrimps, so I’d go for ‘em