Moro

We dined at Moro for the first time on Friday night. Simply fantastic. The woman that served us was delightful and the food was amazing. The only problem was that we'd nibbled on too much of the delicious bread and struggled to finish our main course. We had the Moroccan egg dish and the squid with relish to start and then the wood roasted chicken and charcoal grilled lamb. Divine. I have no idea what you are all complaining about.
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, July 12, 2010

I was very, very disappointed. For a long time I wanted to come to Moro but it has been difficult getting a table unless you book well in advance. I was very much looking forward to eating there. The food was overpriced and nothing special. I ordered scallops with seaweed, chickpeas and chard in a sherry vinegar sauce. I could not believe my eyes when I had three scallops for the price of £19. The scallops where sandy, the chickpeas very bland and the chard was probably the best.

I am not sure what all the fuss is all about.
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Hanako - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Friday, June 25, 2010

I really dont get the other reviews here, Moro is a very special restaurant and for me probably the best in London. The simple reason being that their food is always nothing short of fantastic. Anyone who has cooked from the Moro set of great cookbooks will know the kind of food Sam and Sam Clark produce, often Spanish but also Morrocan, Turkish and other Med foods. So if like me you love this regoins food you will love the food at Moro.

We visited them week and I had seared pigeon breast with caramalised figs which was just perfectly cooked and pink and tasted beautiful. For main I had wood roasted chicken which again was perfectly cooked and well flavoured. The star of the show though was the wood roast pork, a very tender and soft belly of pork slow roasted with such mouth watering crackling, simply divine.

Sevice was as ever very professional, attentive and swift, you may have to wait a few minutes between courses but thats because you food is being cooked and not just heated...If your lucky you will see the owner Sam in the kitchen sending out your food, something you certainly wont get at a Gorden Ramsey restaurant!

By the way if you order Tapas yes the portions will be small, er cos thats what tapas is all about, lots of small portions of you favourite spanish dishes, but you knew that didnt you?
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Edd
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Friday, June 25, 2010

Very disappointing experience. The food was mediocre - I don't understand what the fuss is about. The worst part was the service and the arrogance of the staff. Not only was it slow, but also very rude. We were also wedged in like sardines!
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Kasia - View all reviews by this user
2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Thursday, June 17, 2010

Was really looking forward to going to Moro for a friend's birthday and was not disappointed, in fact precisely the opposite to the suprising reviews below. There were 14 of us but we got served terrifically by our knowledgeable and charming waiter, Jason. I work in the wine trade and so wanted to know more about lots of the wines and he certainly knew his stuff.

In terms of the food, I had a vibrant garlic soup and then roasted kid goat with farinka (exotic lebanese lightly smoked barley) and a pomegranate molasses. Very good... The completely gratuitious caramel and marmalade ice cream was amazing but defeated me after 3 spoonfulls. I passed it round and everyone agreed it was heaven.

The wine list is pretty good and offers some real value, which is always nice in a big group.

As we were walking out, my wife said to me 'The portions were massive' and as I was rolling towards the tube, I had to agree

All in all, a top night...
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Olly Bartlett
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, May 10, 2010

Booked for a business lunch - none of us had been there before and unfortunately we didn't think we'd be going back again in a hurry. We all had starters and main courses and were very disappointed by the portion sizes which were small tapas sized and poorly presented and which screamed you're being ripped-off. As hosts we would have complained but we didn't want to make an issue in front of our guests. There was an audible sense of disappointment when each course arrived.

The venue felt distinctly unimpressive and our waitress had a complete lack of cheer and charm. Avoid the lambs sweetbreads as these miniscule nuggets tasted burnt and flavourless whilst the two spoonfuls of celeriac (?) and chick peas looked like they had been delivered from a soup kitchen. Why scrimp on such cheap ingredients? The whole mackeral and garlic was a nice combination but at £16.50 it represented extremely poor value and the presentation was a let down - a butterflied fillet not the whole fish as expected.

The best part of the meal was the wine (£18) and the coffee and a chat with a friendlier waitress keen to know what we thought. Unfortunately we didn't dare tell her and similarly didn't want to reduce the forced 12.5% service charge as we were entertaining clients. In conclusion we felt the restaurant was hyped, pretensious, very poor value and unsuitable for a business lunch. You live and learn.
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Kevin - View all reviews by this user
2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Sunday, May 09, 2010

Visited restaurant on Saturday afternoon for tapas. Was greeted very well and taken to table. We were told that the kitchen was shutting for one hour so we had about 15 minutes if we wanted any hot tapas after having already checked that they served all afternoon. Food was very good which we expected as we have eaten there in the past. The waitress was a little brusque with us but what really annoyed us was when we paid the bill omitting the 12.5% optional service charge (we wanted to leave our own tip which we thought was appropriate) she came back and said that we had given her £5 short which actually was incorrect as we had given her more that the required amount. All in all this made us feel very awkward
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Patricia Crowther
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Service was attentive and timing just right although did order before the place got packed, table small for four people but general busy adds the the atmosphere. Had hust mains which was sensible as with the pork you get three large slabs with leeks with a sweet suace and chick peas the only gripe which may be why you shouldnt go for veggie options, the mezze at £14 was a badly presented pitta bread houmous alot of okra which is quite bitter in quantities some apples slice in a tart sauce but garnished with a large carrot and a whole spring onion which made the dish look like a slightly exotic ploughmans lunch, both people who choose it where disappointed, i was expecting more of a tapas selection rather than some unrelated ingredients on a plate.
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ybot - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Went to Moro for early lunch a while ago after interval of about five years. Ambience was delightful until quickly surrounded by corporate types having loud business lunches. Service was rather surly and sporadic. Starter of octopus and potato was slow to arrive, but was truly delicious. However, I thought it was very overpriced at £8.50 for two or three mouthfuls. Presentation of main course was rather poor for these prices too although it was tasty. Sadly, will not repeat.
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Eduardo
6 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, February 16, 2010

I am surprised by the lukewarm reviews of Moro on here... went there last night for the ?fifth time, although the first for about a year and found it as good as ever. But it is all about the food... if you want what Americans call 'gracious' (fawning ad/or supercilious) service and fancy nappery, or pointless squirts of sauce on the plate go to the West End. The awful The Square, maybe.

Maybe we were lucky but we were approached by the maitre d' the minute we went in (we were booked - don't expect just to turn up and get a table) and our Kiwi waiter was attentive and clued up on both food and drinks. When he didn't know one thing I asked he fessed up to it. Extensive and unusual list of wines and sherries. Starters came quickly - bizarrely the thing I fancied most was cabbage - Hispi cabbage with capers, brown butter and smoked paprika - and it was satsfied in a way I never thought cabbage could. Theother - Manti (a kind of ravioli) filled with lamb with a creamy tomatoey sauce also very good though more bearably toothsome. Only service fault was rather a long wait for main courses which I don't feel was necessary as we were dining relatively late. They didn't disappoint [one s two ps everyone...]... chicken always seems especially good at Moro and this was the case with Wood roasted chicken with walnut and pomegranate sauce and saffron pilaf. Complex concentrated flavour and a jolly big plateful. Pan fried scallops with fennel and almond puree and fino sherry also very tasty although I wasn't so keen on the slightly vinegary broccoli ...but then I have an issue with vinegar so perhaps the problem is mine.

Only room for one pudding - rosewater and cardamom ice cream. Creamy and rosy, what can I say? Maybe not as fragrant as I might have expected but we were a bit sated by then. Good bread, good coffee... Gilliam Anderson sitting at the next table if you likethat sort ofthing, though this isn;t the Ivy. Bill £128 inc service for two and a half courses, two glasses of Cava, four sherries and two digestifs, two cups of coffee. Good enough value I'd say. Oh and the room is fairly noisy... try to get to far back corner ifthat's an issue though it's not as pleasant and you are right by the loo. Tables at the front more desirable if that's your bag.
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Soyer
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, January 27, 2010