Morito in Islington

Unrivalled Mediterranean tapas, rustic setting and casual venue. Juicy lamb chops, fantastic duck as well as crispy aubergine, don't forget bread - always fresh and tasty. Booking recommended on Opentable for evening meals and over the weekend.

A wonderful restaurant - service, food and ambience all first class. So many fantastic dishes: aubergine, chickpea & squid were particular highlights. Don't be put off by the exterior/front part of the restaurant as the back part is just great 😃

Good, but not exceptional The restaurant’s decoration is very basic Too expensive for the quality

The best tapas I've had in London. Amazing spot.

Always a tasty and pleasant experience. Quality of food and atmosphere make every visit. Lamb dishes, beetroot hummus and smoked cheese were stand out. Prawns were a disappointment.

Sadly, not that good anymore. Been to Morito several times, but the last experience just today was disappointing. The tapas only okay, when you’re paying £13 for 3 ham croquettes, you’d expect them to be amazing. The papas bravas arrived last after everything else was gone. Portions tiny, which is understandable if it’s a fancy place, but they really didn’t taste that amazing. Most of the staff were nice, a few had a bit of an attitude about them (felt like we were an inconvenience), and the space was so small that I was constantly being bumped into… and then we paid £170 for 3 people, which just wasn’t worth it.

If you’re after a piece of burnt, yet barely warm tortilla of mediocre quality , look no further: this is the place. Once upon a time, every dish at Morito was utterly delicious but sadly this is no longer the case. One star for the tortilla and one more for the aioli which was actually ok.

The food was quite disappointing—dry in some parts and overcooked or undercooked in others. It’s a shame, as I’d heard wonderful things and the reviews looked promising. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t recommend it for foodies; it feels more like a tourist trap, likely due to the location. The overall vibe was also off, which didn’t help the experience.

Food as ever as good as it could possibly be. Service….. after a warm welcome we were sat down. Orders for drinks and bread taken. Staff looked harassed. Cooks behind long bar looked chilled which was a good sign nobody wants to eat food prepared by stressed chefs. Ordered a mix of veg and fish tapas type dishes. Drinks arrived as did first dish on its own….. no bread….! What? No bread? What side of hell is this. As we picked at our single (1 of4) lonely dish willing something more to arrive the waiting staff (or at least 2 of 3) seemed intent on positioning themselves between a very narrow space between till and the bar at times. Just as the last forkfuls of our lonely first dish were eaten our second small plate arrived with the bread! All of a full 15 minutes since we got our drinks. After wolfing down our insanely flavoursome prawns with garlic (rich buttery super dense fishy stock based sauce) an empty table…… again…. 5 minutes later our labne and chickpea salad arrived….on its lonesome again. More bread requested…. More drinks requested after wrestling an unfinished drink from waiting staffs fingers… No smiles no eye contact….. yes I know through personal experience that waiting tables is hard and at times gruelling thankless work but being like this doesn’t help with smooth customer interactions. After finishing the labne still all on its own the restaurant was emptying out (theatre goers like us) I enquired about our final dish saying it had been quite some time …. and voila like magic it appeared…. Had it been sitting there under the lights for a while…? We will never know. Having eaten at Moro numerous times and always been really impressed with care, attention and professionalism of all staff , I was really simply amazed its little sister was so badly and chaotically organised. Front of house spoiled what was excellent and perfectly prepared and presented food. I won’t be returning. Get a better front of house team and one more staff member wouldn’t go amiss….

I love the food here but having lived in Spain, where I could eat like this every day, I find this really pricey. But I know it's london. If you're looking for a cozy place to sit for hours, this isn't it. Its much more eat then leave. Which is fine if you know what to expect. The tortilla and patatas bravas really are exceptional! Great quality and no chemically seed oils in sight.

A fun, casual family-run restaurant. Try the lamb and the pan con tomate. The house red went with everything perfectly.

Possibly one of the worst dining experiences during my time in London. Terrible service, awful attitude and they forgot to bring most of the dishes we'd ordered. Considering the prices have practically doubled since my last visit a few years ago, the food and service is abysmal. We were dining outside for a birthday lunch and the team managed to ruin the day for us. Frozen bread (still cold in the middle) and 3 dishes they'd forgotten- which I had to remind them about. And when I spoke to the manger, there were team members laughing in my face. I have never experienced such disrespectful and disgusting attitude from anyone in service. What an absolute disappointment.

What a wonderful discovery. Visited with four friends and ordered a variety of portions of food and shared them amongst us. Super tasty and deceptively filling, as I was worried the modest sizes might not feed us all! Be aware that the seats have no backs, they are just little stools, and the tables themselves are quite small, so chances are you will be knocking your neighbour beside you and behind you, so it's a way to make friends easily :-D

Excellent service and food. Thank you

Busy and decent tapas served quickly. Good for a buzzy meal

Great food but incompetent and arrogant service. We ordered several tapas which were all really well made and delicious. They were full of flavour and made with fresh produce. However, the service really tainted the experience. During our meal, one of the staff members put a dirty dog bowl on the counter, which put it at head level. At the same time, they had also spilt some water from it on the floor and counter beside us. None of the staff mentioned it until we caught someone's attention. We didn't get an apology and we were made to feel like we were unreasonable for raising this. Not only that, we then overheard staff openly vent to (who we thought) was the manager. Again, no apology, and when we mentioned we could hear them venting beside us, we were, again, made to feel like we were being unreasonable and were chastised as that was where the dirty dishes were meant to go. For what we paid for our meal, we expected better treatment than this. Would not be returning.

Average food, most of the dishes were really oily, portions are small for their price. Good service overall.

Their food is fine. Their real downfall is that their customer service is terrible. Both of the staff who served us were very cold and made us feel unwelcome. Won't return sadly!

Great place for dinners! One of the best in this area.

It’s good and trendy. You sit outside ( no shelter) or inside on mini tables and mini stools. At the bar is an option too. It’s nice yet is it worth the money? Portion are very small or ok , service is efficient probably too fast. Food is good yet not exceptional. Environment is nice yet not comfortable. So for me it misses the mark. Yet if you wish a quickie and a cool place before going elsewhere go for it. Next time I’m going to try their restaurant next door. With such competition in Exeter Market a rethink maybe required or you may only attached one time visitor. Anyway I did enjoy yet most likely will not return.

Not a good experience at this place and we really wanted Tapas. We were 4 and were told we had to order 2 dishes. The food was sub par, we had cold, dry potatoes that I literally almost choked on 😖 the almonds were good .. I wouldn’t recommend this place nor would I return under its current conditions

Great dinner and cool atmosphere, highly recommended!

absolutely loved the - puntillitas (deep fried baby squid sumac & alioli) - iberico jamon - lamb chops with rosemary and anchovy butter - beetroot borani

Lo bueno era genial, el servicio era lento y completamente desorganizado. 3 veces diferentes nuestra orden o peticiones fueron olvidadas. La experiencia en general fue subpar.

I love Morito's food & vibe. I come here to eat after my dancing class and write in my journal. It is a cute, little tapas bar to enjoy food, an elbandarra al fresco and muse over life.

Love this place, food is great, service was good but not fussy. Small plates tapas, the fried aubergine was a favourite for me, watermelon and feta salad was also lovely on a hot summer lunchtime. Vermouth and spritz also a win

Fabulous, tasty food served with wonderful attentive staff. One of the picks of London.

Delicious food. £10 for a small tinto de verano seemed a bit too much even for London but still enjoyed everything.

The best food I have had in a LONG TIME. Dare I say forever(?). Staff were VERY attentive and simply lovely. Recommend the gambas along with the aubergine with date molasses. We’ll be back to try everything else on the menu. Un beso :*

Loved this place. The food was amazing, would definitely recommend!

Overall good food, friendly staff, but definitely too, too expensive for the quantities served

Excelente servicio de comida deliciosa, ambiente realmente encantador perfecto para una noche de citas en pareja o para enfriar comida y bebidas con amigos

Loved this place! We arrived here on a Friday evening without a booking and the team made a way to accommodate us! We were served really quickly and the drinks and food were absolutely fantastic and so reasonably priced. The dished we had were all excellent. A definite highlight was the crispy aubergine.

great food but the room at the back was not giving

It used to be one of my favourite restaurants in London and haven’t been back for a while so I thought I’d give it a go again. Unfortunately it has gone downhill in the steepest way possible, cutting back on quality and quantify and putting up their prices sky high. The food is extremely salty almost as if it’s putting spoonfuls of salt into the mouth, inedible almost. The bread basket was a plate of one piece of flat bread and several small pieces of half inch sized bread, all tasting pretty stale. It is now expensive for what it is and the food is just bad. Used to be able to squeeze in between the tables and sit on the tiny little stools but really unbearable now with loud people sitting next to you, literally resting on each others backs. Don’t think I’d be back again for a while, plenty other places to go to these days in London for the same amount of money.

Nice authentic tapas restaurant. Informal and good service. Little expensive for me, worryingly easy to build up £100 for a few snack dishes and wine but it is London I guess. Still very nice though 😀

Came here without a booking and sat at the bar. It's quite loud inside and tight, but the servers are all very friendly and accommodating. The food was really tasty tapas, with the house wine being an excellent pairing for most of the dishes.

Wonderful all round! Had the chickpea salad, chorizo and eggplant- all delicious! Great vibe and service

Food was fab - nothing to fault (particularly enjoyed the croquettes and beetroot)! Service was meh, felt like they didn't really want to be there (not all of them) and just looked vaguely done - plus the cadence of plates could be better esp. when dealing with small tables. Expect more on that front when a 12.5% service charge is added automatically.

Average and overpriced for what it is. Potato salad was delicious and so was the tortilla

I came in with a reservation and they sat me at the bar (my reservation never specified the bar), and they had plenty of open tables. When I asked to sit at a table the host passive aggressively told me I didn’t have a large enough group. Then my friend (who was part of the reservation) was going to be quite delayed so I asked to move my booking to a bit later and they declined passively aggressively, again. The host said “do you want me to cancel other people’s bookings?” I then asked to simply cancel but they still charged me even though I showed up. I understand the policy and was happy to pay the fee for the situation but the lack of any customer service the host showed really turned me off from even trying the food, which I don’t want this review to reflect. As others have pointed out, customer service lets this place down, specifically the house manager. Really poor customer service which ultimately is a shame because now I don’t want to return here to try the food because of that host.

Good food but seriously embarrassing service - forgot a dish, sploshed a dog bowl from outside onto the counter next to our food then got all huffy when we raised both. To be clear, no sorry, no concern, just attitude. Too many good places to even consider going back here.

Food was hit and miss - the cod croquettes are not Spanish, they are made with potato and completely tasteless, the pink fir potatoes were bland (and took 35 mins to arrive) but the beetroot dish was delicious. But what makes me never want to return is the service. There were 2 serving staff - 1 was pretty rude and 1 just mumbled and was incompressible. Also the dishes came out at 45 mins of each other from start to finish, which makes no sense as the place only had 2 other tables ordering.

Had a really lovely meal here for a mate's 50th birthday. The food was great and the staff were brilliant. Highly recommend.

The offhand staff reluctantly squashed us into one of the tables for four. We were grabbing some quick drinks with tapas before Sadlers Wells. We ordered lamb on babaganoush and fried calamari (chewy), patatas bravas and pan con tomate (soggy), salt cod and jamon croquetas (ok) This place survives because of its location and the legacy of Moro next door. I would never waste my time and money here again.

The vermouth is a very very small glass, it almost feels like a shot in a glass of ice

Food is good: the menu is quite extensive for a tapas bar with many interesting options. I found the vegetarian dishes to be overall better than the meat-based ones at the latter were quite heavy. The wine list is unfortunately not as well developed as the food menu, although we did like the wine we ordered. The service is a bit chaotic and the seating arrangement is rather precarious: guests are sat on small stools around tables that are very close to one another so it can get a little uncomfortable. Prices are high for a tapas bar concept.

We tried a bunch of dishes here and loved them all, but the chicharron and the pan con tomate were absolutely stellar! Sitting outside lets you soak up the lively Exmouth vibe, which is super fun. But if you prefer a quieter spot, the inside has this cozy, Spanish cafe feel that’s just as great. They serve some decent house wine, and the cañas—those half pints—are poured in true Spanish style. Definitely a place to hit up if you're in the mood for some authentic vibes and tasty bites! It describes itself as “Morito Exmouth Market is a Spanish/Moorish tapas and mezze bar next door to sister restaurant Moro on Exmouth Market. Since opening in 2010, Morito has received rave reviews.”

Really great tapas with great flavours. Good for sharing amongst a group of people.

Enjoyable meal in a relaxed, informal setting. Food was good rather than amazing. Service was attentive & she knew the wines well, allowing us to taste several before committing. Spiced lamb & Gilda my favourite dishes

Very rich! Good attention, friendly. A beer, bread and 2 tapas approximately 30 pounds!

Delicious food in a very casual space! Everything we had was delicious!

Chick pea salad followed by cod a la plancha. Excellent food, friendly service and the perfect window seat. Recommended.

Delicious food, very kind staff, great environment. One of the best place of London! Strongly recommended it!

The food is disappointing, none of the dishes was remarkable. The place is not particularly beautiful either and it's very noisy. The bill was a bit too high for what we've ordered: 16£ for four small squid rings? Not justified. At least our waiter was very friendly and competent. I won't come back

We didn’t like the service. At the time of getting seated, we were never told that it was reserved from a certain time, if at all it was reserved in the first place. We were pushed for ordering more food from time to time, which we did. But once we ordered, we were constantly and annoyingly asked to leave in 20 mins, all of a sudden. In fact, we were reminded multiple time (3 times within a span of 15 mins) to leave even when we never said no to it. This was when no reserved sign was put up or no one was standing at the door. I guess they wanted to simply turnover the table to new customers. All the other tables were empty, so didn’t understand all the rush. It completely spoiled the mood. With so many great tapas bar around serving fantastic cuisine, this one can definitely be given a miss.

Love it here! Super cute, casual, delicious and fresh. Great wine and aperetif list. Perfect for snacks and a quick cocktail or short tapas.

They kept insisting that we need to leave the table, and also insisted that we order something even though we order a full of wine along with food. The manager kept coming to us asking us if we needed to order anything more. They also never mentioned anything about having to leave after a certain amount of time when they offered us the table

Lovely tasty small plates. Gluten free options

Don’t be fooled by the small portions. It is ridiculous delicious and you will have an amazing time. The food, staff, drinks and whole vibe is simply outstanding. The menu changes all the time so just go and enjoy!

Lovely food as usual, great help from staff. Lovely experience with colleagues. Highly recommended. Remember to book beforehand if you are in a big group.

Great food but this site is a little cramped which affects the atmosphere. Had a few delays with a couple of our plates but overall didn't affect our enjoyment too much. The chickpeas, pork belly and aubergine dishes were fantastic.

Great service from Paul. What a lovely chap.

Ate here on Thursday and thought it was brilliant. Delicious food at good prices, excellent negronis and wicked service. I was hesitant at first to book there is a fee for last min cancellations and they say a strict 1 hr 45 mins for dinner, but we never got kicked out and where there for 3 plus hours. Will 100 be back! Thanks guys!

Brilliant food, a few dishes too salty

We were a group of seven- it was a pre Sadlers Wells lunch. We had a really good time. Chose a big selection of dishes to share- all of which were delicious. Highly recommend the aubergines,pork belly, lamb chops, tortilla, patatas bravas, beetroot borani, roasted carrots, crunchy chickpeas and flatbreads. It was all absolutely delicious. Not our first visit and definitely not our last. The staff were friendly and efficient and ,contrary to a previous reviewer’s comments , not ageist as I’m in my sixties and they were great! Can’t wait to return! Thank you!

Good hearty food, nice flavours, nice people, nice little touches like fresh flowers and spices on the table.

Fantastic food. Everything is excellent. Flavors excellent. Portions lovely. Perfect for sharing. Unpretentiously exquisite. One of the best meals we've had in London in for years. The Fried Aubergine slaps as does the Cauliflower. One comment, don't sit in the back room. No vibes.

Not to be missed....gets better every visit.

Delicious food with friendly service. Place is small and seated at the counter was a bit awkward as right next to service point.

Fantastic food, fantastic service and fantastic ambience!

Excellent food, lovely service, quality drinks menu and wine list. Also good amounts of food! (Unlike a lot of tapas/small plates joints) Vaya Morito💪

The food and service were fine, but if you're a tall or large person I encourage you to consider another dining option. The "ito" suffix is in the name for a reason. The table and chairs could accommodate small children, but my friends and I were extremely uncomfortable.

Great as usual. I am told they have now opened a spot in Hackney which I will go checkout!

I thought I didn't like tortilla, then I tried Morito 🤤. Staff is amazing too

Em van recomanar aquest lloc però em va decepcionar. Racions molt petites, massa personal al local i preu excesivament car. No el recomano ni tornaré.

Really surprised & disappointed. Expected similar quality to Moro. Found this food very bland. The most uncomfortable counter I’ve ever dined at. Left hungry & unsatisfied. Don’t fault the staff who were friendly.

服務很親切，我們點了四份tapas，其中蔬食beetroot borani 蘸醬配麵包超級好吃，lamb chops烤的不錯，但squid有點像鹽酥龍珠、pork belly是深炸肥三層肉，跟想像中的不太相同。另可能是配酒的關係菜色均較為偏鹹，肉類都有點太過油膩，下次會多試蔬食菜色。

Yes a touch overpriced. Food pretty good but in some ways not authentic. But we did enjoy it. Staff get a lot of comments in the reviews; ours were fine apart from young girl dark hair, possibly Spanish - she was ok until the end when she literally threw dessert at us. Everyone else pretty good, especially the blonde woman who clearly knows her customer service, very professional and welcoming, the star of the place. She got on so well with our toddler and kept squeezing his cheeks when she went by. She made the experience for us and that’s why this review is a 4 not a 3. Tables and chairs not great, but bearable

The food was really nice and tasty but the portions were too small for the price (all vegetarian dishes). Also the service wasn't good. The food arrived in a weird order and had to wait too long between dishes. Some of the waiters were rude and didn't make any effort in the service. One of them didn't say a single word during the all time, while we were being very polite to them. Won't go back again. Such a shame, as their margarita is superb!

Delicious tapas - as good as any I've had in Barcelona. Buzzy atmosphere. Good choice on the menu including vegetarian options. They have a few tables outside which was perfect for us as it was a warm evening. Service was a bit slow.

Boldly presented middle-eastern flavors with Spanish flavours served tapas style in the ever-lively exmouth market. Very good!

I came here with my two friends, the food was amazing,the service was attentive and friendly, the atmosphere was chilled. Definitely recommend this place.

La comida exquisita!!! El servicio súper genial!!!! Cada plato una sorpresa increíble de sabores

Highly recommended. Best spot for a date, drink and light tapas on Exmouth Market, much prefer food here than the larger sister Moro next door. Wine list is small but very well put together, reasonably priced and very tasty, including carafes. We have been here several times and tried everything - do not miss the chorizo, pan con tamate, chickpeas, squid, lamb chops or raisin ice cream.

Had a few tapas for dinner with a friend: asparagus tortilla, slow cooked cauliflower, beetroot borani and deep fried baby squid. Unfortunately I find the food is generally on the salty side. Our favourite is the beetroot borani which is an excellent dip for bread!!

Very difficult to get a table here. I found the food quite heavy.

Love this place. Food is always top-notch as is the atmosphere. Would particularly recommend the prawns and avocado, the lamb chops, and the deep fried baby squid. Already excited for my next visit!

A frosty welcome as we were curtly informed twice that we had to order food. Sat at the bar (now called a counter so I was corrected) which was fine although very uncomfortable and we were constantly in the way of the staff reaching across us - which annoyed them more than it did us. Ordered a vermouth which was served in a spirit measure no more than 25ml which was odd for vermouth and was impossible to drink without first removing all of the ice cubes that had been used to fill the glass to give it some sort of respectability. Ordered squid which, being in view of the kitchen, was fried then ferociously chopped into almost dust with a wallpaper scraper which was curious and was not very pleasant to eat. Prawns in garlic were small, on the shell and overcooked so disappointing. Had a rice dish and tortilla which were ok at best. Had half a bottle of the cheapest and the most expensive red wine and had no preference. Was glad to pay up (£130) and leave really and won’t be back. I think we may have been too old (40’s) and polite for them but the place was half full of older polite people who likely are the only ones who can afford the inflated prices, luckily don’t have huge appetites and probably like us will not return.

Delicious food, lovely atmosphere and service

Great for small plates, tapas and wine.

Lovely evening. Fantastic food, very thoughtful combinations of flavours.

Hands down, MORITO served the best tapas I’ve ever eaten in my life! That’s saying something coming from this foodie. It was packed yet maintained a relaxed and lively vibe, with customers enjoying conversations and the servers offering excellent service and well informed selections. My favorite was the jerusalem artichoke and merinda tomato salad with crickets & cardamom. So fresh, crispy and flavorful. My partner loved the chicharrones - pork belly, lemon & cumin. Outstanding! We also savored the gambas al ajillo (shrimp sautéed in garlic). Walk-ins only, this restaurant is worth a short wait on a busy night. The orange and pink wines match perfectly! BRAVO!!

An absolutely dreadful experience at Morito due to the waiting staff — I brought my 72 year old mum for Sunday lunch. There were 2 tables occupied leaving the rest empty. The waitress put us on high stools by the window which made my mum really unstable and uncomfortable. We asked for a regular low table but the waitress said the tables were only for parties of 4. After we ordered, mum became very uncomfortable and we asked again. The waitress was snappy to the point of being aggressive in her attitude, telling us that “I told you before the tables are for 4”. The place remained empty for the rest of Sunday lunch. Then a couple came and were seated at a low table. The bad attitude and lack of care for elderly customers was upsetting, especially when the place is not cheap. All in all it was a physically uncomfortable lunch and, combined with the aggressive staff attitude, an overall dreadful experience. In the past, I have brought a lot of business custom to Moro. However, I won’t be back to Moro or Morito, nor will I recommend them again.

Excellent Tapas, the food was of very good quality and the restaurant didn't break the bank either. I highly recommend this restaurant.

We spent a few days in London and this was the absolute best restaurant we‘ve been to. The food was delicious, the staff super friendly and helpful and there were several options for vegans!

A great late lunch. Really tasty... Will be back.

Great food and great service, would definitely return to try more tapas 😋

Cool selection of delicious tapas, great cocktails and chill atmosphere

Great food and vibes! Our server gave amazing recommendations, and the food we ordered came out v speedily. My only minor comment is that the tables were a bit too close together so I was back to back with the person behind me - didn't impact on the quality of my experience, but I can imagine this wouldn't be ideal of larger groups.