Restaurant in London, United Kingdom
28 years in. Still earns the reservation.
Moro has been the reference point for Moorish cooking in London since 1997, and a Michelin Plate and OAD Top 500 ranking in 2025 confirm it hasn't coasted. The wood-roasted dishes are the reason to book; the all-Iberian wine list from £32 is a bonus. Loud, energetic, and easy to reserve — a strong choice for first-timers wanting serious cooking without a formal dining environment.
Yes — and the more relevant question is why you haven't already. Moro has been serving Moorish-inflected cooking on Exmouth Market since 1997, and after more than 25 years the room is as busy and the food as focused as ever. It holds a Michelin Plate (2025), ranks in the Opinionated About Dining Top 500 for 2025, and scores 4.4 across 1,237 Google reviews. That kind of longevity in a city with this level of competition isn't inertia — it's proof of consistent delivery.
The kitchen's technical edge is wood-roasting and chargrilling. These aren't decorative flourishes , they are the structural logic of the menu. Where many London restaurants in the Spanish-influenced space work the cold counter and the fryer, Moro builds heat and char into almost every main course. The result is a menu that reads simply but delivers complexity through technique rather than plating. Seasonal ingredients drive the dishes, with Moorish spicing providing the connective tissue across starters, mains and desserts.
The all-Iberian wine list, with bottles from £32, is worth your attention. It's a tightly edited, regionally diverse selection that matches the kitchen's philosophy rather than padding a cellar with safe commercial labels. For a room at this price tier, it punches well above its weight.
If you're comparing Moro against London's broader Spanish and Moorish offering, the closest parallel on the same Exmouth Market strip is its sibling Morito next door , a tapas bar format that suits groups wanting to share more widely. For Spanish cooking with a louder cocktail programme, Ember Yard and Salt Yard cover that ground. Dehesa and El Pirata are alternatives if you want a more direct tapas experience without the wood-fire focus.
The dining room is loud. The open kitchen, zinc-topped bar, and hard surfaces mean noise levels build quickly at both lunch and dinner service. This works in the room's favour if you're after atmosphere and energy , the space has real momentum during peak service. It works against you if you need to hold a focused conversation. Pavement tables, when weather permits, are worth requesting: they give you the street-level buzz of Exmouth Market without the interior acoustics.
The room layout is communal in feel rather than formally spaced. First-timers should arrive knowing this isn't a quiet, intimate dinner setting. It's an animated, fast-moving room that rewards those who come ready to engage with it.
Book Moro if you want technically grounded Moorish cooking from a kitchen that has been refining this specific approach for over two decades. The wood-roasted dishes are the reason to come. The noise and energy are part of the proposition, not a compromise. If you want something quieter in the same neighbourhood, Morito next door offers a different register. If you want to understand what influenced a generation of London cooking in this tradition, Moro itself remains the reference point.
Yes. Moro has a zinc-topped bar where you can eat, and it's a good option if you're dining solo or arriving without a reservation. The bar puts you close to the open kitchen action, which suits the room's energy. If you want a full table booking, reserve ahead , the room fills consistently at both lunch and dinner service.
Go for the wood-roasted and chargrilled dishes , these are what the kitchen does leading and what distinguishes Moro from other Spanish and Moorish restaurants in London. The Michelin Plate recognition and OAD ranking both reflect the kitchen's depth in this area rather than any single signature dish. The all-Iberian wine list from £32 is worth ordering from rather than defaulting to drinks elsewhere. For dessert, the yoghurt cake with pistachios and pomegranate has been a fixture for good reason.
No formal dress code. Moro is a relaxed, neighbourhood-rooted room despite its critical recognition , the Michelin Plate and OAD ranking reflect cooking quality, not a formal dining environment. Smart casual is appropriate and what most diners wear. Exmouth Market has a mixed, local crowd, and Moro's atmosphere matches that: engaged and lively rather than ceremonial.
Lunch is the easier booking and offers a slightly calmer version of the room. Dinner is when the atmosphere peaks , the open kitchen runs at full speed and the noise level rises accordingly. Sunday lunch (12–3 pm only, no evening service) is worth considering if you want the full Moro experience with a bit more breathing room. Both services run the same kitchen approach, so the food quality doesn't differ by service.
The menu has vegetarian options , dishes built around seasonal produce, legumes, and herbs are part of the kitchen's repertoire alongside the meat and fish. For specific allergen or dietary needs, contact the restaurant directly before booking; the venue's phone number isn't published in our current data, so the most reliable route is via their reservations system or email. The wood-fire and chargrilling focus means gluten-containing marinades and cross-contact from the kitchen are worth flagging in advance.
If Moro is your entry point into London's Spanish and Moorish cooking scene, the city has more to offer: Ember Yard, Salt Yard, Dehesa, and El Pirata each offer a different take on the broader tapas and Iberian tradition. For a direct comparison with the source, Antonio Bar and Bar Bergara in San Sebastián give you the Basque pinxtos context that shaped a generation of London chefs working in this tradition.
For the broader London dining picture, see our full London restaurants guide. Planning a trip? Our London hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide cover the rest of your stay. If you're exploring further afield in the UK, the wood-fire cooking tradition connects to kitchens like The Fat Duck in Bray, L'Enclume in Cartmel, Moor Hall in Aughton, Gidleigh Park in Chagford, Hand and Flowers in Marlow, and hide and fox in Saltwood , each a different argument for what serious cooking outside London looks like. You can also find CORE by Clare Smyth covered in our Modern British section for London's highest-end cooking comparison. Our London wineries guide is also available if wine is a priority for your trip.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moro | Tapas Bar | Full of customers and full of life, with service that is engaging and on-the-ball, Moro remains as popular as ever and is the perfect fit for the increasingly busy Exmouth Market. The Moorish menu is full of interesting, flavour-packed dishes, but the wood-roasted options are the ones to go for. The open kitchen adds to the atmosphere of the animated room, and their next-door tapas bar, Morito, is also worth visiting.; When Sam and Samantha Clark opened Moro in 1997, it was an instant hit, seducing Londoners with its effervescent vibe and earthy Moorish cuisine. More than 25 years later, its pulling power and pizzazz are undiminished, although this pioneering 90s game-changer is now considered a mainstream classic. Moro has always put on a high-decibel show, whether you're people-watching from one of the pavement tables or soaking up the chatter and clatter of the dining room with its noisy open kitchen, zinc-topped bar and booming acoustics. The trade-off, of course, is the food. Heady spicing and sultry aromatic flavours weave their spell across a procession of seasonal ingredients-driven dishes. Wood-roasting and chargrilling are the star turns – from roast pork belly accompanied by peas, potatoes and anise with churrasco sauce to grilled sea bass with courgette salad (two ways), mint and chilli. Starters of pan-fried sweetbreads with preserved lemon and asparagus have plenty of oomph, while meat-free options might run to fresh morels with cherry tomatoes, white beans and sweet herbs. To conclude, few can resist the ever-present yoghurt cake with pistachios and pomegranate, but don’t discount the equally sought-after Malaga ice cream – or even a simple bowl of cherries in season. The fascinating all-Iberian wine list is stuffed with regional delights from £32.; Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in North America Ranked #476 (2025); Michelin Plate (2025); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in North America Ranked #501 (2024); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in North America Recommended (2023) | Easy | — | |
| CORE by Clare Smyth | Modern British | ££££ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Restaurant Gordon Ramsay | Contemporary European, French | ££££ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library | Modern French | ££££ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| The Ledbury | Modern European, Modern Cuisine | ££££ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Dinner by Heston Blumenthal | Modern British, Traditional British | ££££ | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
How Moro stacks up against the competition.
Yes. Moro has a zinc-topped bar where you can sit and eat, which works well for solo diners or pairs who didn't plan ahead. It's a practical option if the dining room is fully booked, and the open kitchen means you're still in the middle of the action. Morito next door — Moro's tapas bar — is the better call if you want a more casual perch with a shorter commitment.
Go for anything from the wood-fired section. The Michelin Plate recognition and OAD ranking (currently #476 in 2025) are built on a kitchen that uses wood-roasting and chargrilling as its core method, not a garnish. Yoghurt cake with pistachios and pomegranate is the dessert to finish on — it appears repeatedly in editorial coverage of Moro and is considered a fixture on the menu.
Come as you are, within reason. Moro is a loud, animated Exmouth Market restaurant with pavement tables and a zinc bar — there is no dress code implied by the format or the Michelin Plate recognition it holds. Smart-casual clothing fits the room, but you won't be out of place in jeans.
Lunch is the sharper value play. Service runs 12–2:15 pm Monday through Saturday, with Sunday lunch extending to 3 pm — making Sunday the most relaxed sitting of the week. Dinner runs later and the room gets louder as the evening builds, which suits the format but isn't ideal if noise is a concern. First-timers should try Saturday lunch to get the full atmosphere without the weeknight rush.
The menu has a genuine vegetarian presence — dishes like fresh morels with cherry tomatoes, white beans and sweet herbs indicate the kitchen treats meat-free options as part of the Moorish cooking logic rather than an afterthought. That said, the menu's identity is built around wood-roasted meat and fish, so if you're plant-based across the board, call ahead to check current options before booking.
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