Tapas Bar Near Me in Clerkenwell: Morito on Exmouth Market

Typing tapas bar near me somewhere between Farringdon and Angel usually ends at a narrow room with an orange counter on Exmouth Market. Morito, at number 32, is the little sister of Moro, the North African and Spanish restaurant Sam and Sam Clark opened next door in spring 1997. The couple added Morito in 2010, and it still feels like the louder, more playful half of the family: Moorish mezze, Spanish small plates, sherry and low-intervention wine served shoulder to shoulder.

The Moro story starts with a road trip. Sam and Sam Clark, both cooks, married, bought a camper van and drove through Spain, Morocco and the Sahara before opening Moro on Exmouth Market. Time Out named it the best new restaurant of 1997, and the BBC Good Food awards followed in 1998. Thirteen years later they took the space beside it and opened Morito as a tapas bar, a place for a plate and a glass rather than a full dinner.

That family link shapes the room. Morito has its own small kitchen and its own menu, but you can feel Moro's cookbook DNA in the spice cupboard: sumac, za'atar, date molasses, harissa and tahini turn up next to Spanish staples such as chorizo, boquerones and tortilla. In 2016 the Clarks were given the Outstanding Contribution to the Industry award at the London Restaurant Festival Awards, a nod to how much this one street has shaped how London eats small plates.

The menu is printed daily, and the Exmouth Market sheet dated 15 October opens with a run of small things that arrive almost as soon as you order. Morito olives, almonds and bread are £5 each, a gilda skewer of anchovy, olive and pickled chilli is £3, and boquerones dressed with moscatel vinegar and lemon zest cost £9. Pan con tomate is £8, or £10 with either chorizo or anchovy laid on top.

If you only want one plate with a drink, the board of tortilla, padrón and chorizo at £14 is the efficient choice, because each of the three is also sold alone at £8. A spoonful of harissa costs £3 and is worth adding to almost anything here. Ordering two or three of these first and then deciding on hot dishes is how regulars pace a meal at the counter.

The vegetable column is where Morito stops looking like a standard Spanish bar. Beetroot borani with feta, dill and walnuts costs £12, spiced labneh with chopped salad and za'atar is £13, and crispy aubergine with whipped feta and date molasses is £13. Crispy chickpeas and okra with tahini yoghurt come in at £12, while raw kale with roasted pumpkin and a tahini dressing is £11.

Patatas bravas with alioli, £11, keep one foot firmly in Spain. For something more filling, chickpeas with migas, spinach and saffron cost £12, and the wild mushroom arroz is £15, or £17 with confit duck added. Between two people, two mezze plates, the bravas and one rice make a complete meal without touching the meat section.

Fried things are a strength. Salt cod croquetas with piquillo pepper sauce are £12, fried squid with sumac and aioli is £14, and cod fritura with piri piri alioli is £12. Gambas with mojo verde, the green coriander sauce from the Canary Islands, cost £15. Order the fried dishes one at a time so they reach the counter hot rather than all at once.

On the meat side, chicharrones of pork belly with cumin and lemon are £15 and turn up on most tables by the window. Spiced lamb with aubergine yoghurt, pine nuts and mint is also £15, two lamb chops with anchovy butter cost £16, and white beans with chorizo and churrasco sauce are £14. That bean dish is the one to order on a cold October evening.

Morito's drinks list leans hard on Jerez. Gabriela manzanilla from Sánchez Ayala and Tío Pepe en rama fino from González Byass are £7 a glass, Viña AB amontillado is £6.50, and Leonor palo cortado is £7.50. For pudding, a 50ml pour of Emilio Hidalgo Pedro Ximénez costs £5. Vermouths, including La Copa Extra Seco and the house El Bandarra in red and white, are £9 and come over ice with citrus.

Wine is sold by the glass, carafe or bottle, which suits a long counter session. The house Casa Morito white and red, both from Ourense in Galicia, are £7.50 a glass, £19 a carafe and £32 a bottle. Cocktails sit at £10 to £12, from a Morito 75 of gin, cava and lemon to a PX espresso martini made with Pedro Ximénez. A caña of Alhambra is £4.

Morito opens at noon every day. On Monday it closes between lunch and dinner, serving 12:00 to 15:00 and again 17:00 to 22:30. Tuesday to Saturday it runs straight through from 12:00 to 22:30, and on Sunday it closes at 21:30. The all-day hours make it easy to avoid the evening rush: a 15:30 plate on a Thursday is a calm, unhurried way to try the menu.

Tables can be reserved online through OpenTable, and the narrow room fills fast after work, so book if you are a group or want a specific time. For bigger parties, Morito takes up to 35 people standing or 22 seated, and can borrow the Moro alcove behind the bar for larger events, arranged through info@morito.co.uk.

Exmouth Market is a short pedestrian street of cafes, restaurants and independent shops running between Farringdon Road and Rosebery Avenue in Clerkenwell. Moro sits right beside Morito, so it is easy to compare the two in one evening: a sherry and a few plates at the counter here, then a full dinner next door another night.

From the top of the street, Sadler's Wells Theatre is a few minutes north on Rosebery Avenue, which makes Morito a natural pre-show stop if you eat at 17:30. Spa Fields, a small park a couple of minutes from the market on Northampton Road, is a quiet place to walk off the chicharrones, and Farringdon station, with the Elizabeth line, Thameslink and Underground, is about ten minutes south on foot.

Address: 32 Exmouth Market, London EC1R 4QE. Hours: Monday 12:00 to 15:00 and 17:00 to 22:30, Tuesday to Saturday 12:00 to 22:30, Sunday 12:00 to 21:30. Bookings are on OpenTable through the Morito website. Nearest stations are Farringdon and Angel. The food menu is printed fresh each day, so a dish or two rotates with the market. Moro, the parent restaurant, is next door.