What
Morito’s Seafood Festival

Where
Morito is a tapas & mezze bar next door to sister restaurant Moro on Exmouth Market. Since opening in August 2010, Morito has received rave reviews for its Spanish/Moorish tapas & mezze.

The experience
Moro’s younger sister Morito does not disappoint. From the moment you arrive at Exmouth Market, you forget that it is a cold Tuesday October night and feel more like you’re on a quaint street in Barcelona due to the busy and bustling atmosphere of people chatting, eating and enjoying the start of the week.

Yesterday afternoon, I was doing some pre dinner research and I must admit that normally I trust google to be law, but truly the vibrant atmosphere is not conveyed in their images.

Morito is busy, lively and incredibly welcoming. Every seat was full and the lovely staff were taking mobile numbers and suggesting nearby bars to diners who were happy to wait for a seat. This was a sure sign that we were in for a treat with the food!

I met Jo, one of the other editors for our first ever blogging date.  We were seated quickly and offered the wine list. We selected white, and despite the wine list not being extensive, it is well thought out and very varied.  We had a knowledgeable and enthusiastic waiter who had by 9pm successfully persuaded us to have tried over half the wines. Each was delightful and perfectly complimented our food.

We ordered a selection off the standard menu as well as the seafood festival menu. Out of nine dishes, all were perfect, although the barnacles were a tad adventurous for me! Highlights were honestly too many to mention all. In our first round (yes, first round) of tapas and wine- supposedly this is normal- my favourite was a beetroot, feta and dill dip from the normal menu and then a toss- up  between black beans, prawn and avocado moji  AND the steamed mussels with Spanish cider, saffron cream and sourdough. Similarly, the fried aubergine and iberico ham (simple but done incredibly well) was a certain highlight. We paired this with the Fp Branco, Filipa Pato 2014 from Portugal. It was crisp, fruity and went perfectly.

We finished with another carafe of wine and chatted until 10pm when we thought things would quieten down, however people can continue to be seated until 11pm and even on a Tuesday night it seemed they would still be busy at midnight.

In short, Morito is delicious, affordable and would be great for either a date or catch up with friends.

The cost
Wine is from £18 – 40 for a carafe
Tapas from £1.50 – 9
A meal for two would be around £70

Address
32 Exmouth Market, London EC1R 4QE
020 7278 7007