Moro, 8/10

For our last couple of anniversaries, we have splurged on a really fancy meal out - Pied a Terre in 2007 and The Square in 2008. Both were exceptional meals (unfortunately before I started this blog) and a lovely way to spend our anniversary. This year, our anniversary fell two days before moving flats and three weeks before a visit back to Australia. With the finances already feeling a little pained, it was hard to justify a super-expensive, Michelin-starred meal out. In the end, we decided on Moro, a restaurant that always gets great reviews, including recently being recognised as the Best Restaurant in the 2009 Observer Food Monthly awards.

Being so close to my work, we were fairly early and so headed to The Ambassador across the road for a drink. The Ambassador is a restaurant (and the food smelled really good - I'd like to go here one day), but they were more than happy for us to grab a drink at one of the tables. There was a great wine list (I had a glass of Deutz champagne) and a few beers on tap (Kyle had a Budvar). The service was great and it had a really lovely vibe. Unfortunately, by the time we were ready to go, it was absolutely pouring down! Luckily, Moro was close.

We had a reservation, which you absolutely need - they were busy the whole time at both tables and the bar. There was a real buzz to the restaurant. We were shown to our table and given bread and olive oil, offered tap water and then asked if we had any questions about the menu. This was a bit of a theme for the night - our waitress was very intent on making sure we didn't order something we didn't like.

For starter, I chose the grilled squid, rocket and coriander salad with preserved lemon. The squid was so soft, it was silken in texture with just a few crispy bits on the edges. The rocket and coriander salad was coated in an oily, lemony dressing and dotted with pieces of chilli, adding a spot of heat to that soft calamari. The recommended drink was a glass of Tio Pepe sherry, which I have had before in Spain but struggle to order. As it was recommended, I decided to give it a go. It is an amazing drink - cold and oily to start, then immediately warm and exploding with flavour in your mouth.

Kyle's starter was the very simple para negra jamon with figs. As this contained only two ingredients, it was vital they were amazing. I think the ham was - it was so meaty, deliciously salty and almost tannic like. Two out of three of the figs, however, were a bit average. They didn't look that good and were slightly mealy in texture.

My main was the wood roasted pork with field and wild mushrooms and braised chard. I was warned by the waitress that the pork was roasted whole and cut into slices, so contained some fat and crackling - was that okay? I agreed it was, but when the dish arrived, I can see why she mentioned it. It was very fatty, but the fat was meltingly soft against the crunchy crackling and pork meat. It was a huge portion and was piled onto an equally large portion of chard. All of that was sitting on a pool of jus and piled with mushrooms. The mushrooms were really tasty, lots of flavour and meaty texture. Initially, the jus tasted similarly beefy flavoured, but the salt in the jus became increasingly overwhelming and ended up being the predomiant flavour in the whole dish. I do like salt in my food, but this was just too much.

Kyle's main was charcoal grilled sardines with salpicon salad and corn migas (fried corn breadcrumbs). We did have to ask what both of these accompiments were and the waitress also checked Kyle liked oaky wines before he proceeded with his order of an oaky white Rioja. The dish was very summery and almost like an over-sized tapas plate. The oiliness of the fish was balanced by the crunchiness of the migas and the freshness of the salad. And the oaky white Rioja went well.

After these enormous (well, mostly mine) main meals, dessert was a bit of a challenge, so we decided to settle for the malaga raisin ice cream and a couple of glasses of Pedro Ximenez sherry. In fact, in retrospect, this was also the anniversary of when we first discovered PX at Pied a Terre. Truly one of the most amazing drinks - liquid raisins. The ice cream was a perfect conclusion - light and creamy but with chunks of fruit and the odd hit of rum to give it a kick.

I think Moro mostly lived up to expectations. It can be a risk going to places like this that carry a lot of hype, but the restaurant did offer a great night out. It wasn't perfect - there were some problems with some of the food, the chairs were pretty uncomfortable and I did find it somewhat disconcerting that the couples sitting either side of us were Australian (do they group us?!). That being said, some of the food was really good, the service was excellent, the menu was interesting and the atmosphere was brilliant.

Food: 8/10
Drinks: 9/10
Service: 9/10
Ambience: 9/10
Overall: 8/10

Moro
34-36 Exmouth Market
London EC1R 4QE