Bar Moruno

Approved by my Spaniard friend for the authenticity. We had two beers, a bread with tomato and skewers of beef and vegetables. They all taste very good. I love they peeled the tomatoes and the yoghurt with pita.

The portion is a bit big for me. I was so full after finishing.

We tried several of their dishes and liked them all, our least favorite was the spinach and chickpea dish, a little on the dry side. While the food isn't completely traditional Spanish fair, the food tends to have a "so-cal" twist to the recipes. They are all well prepared and enjoyable to eat. So if you're looking for fully authentic Spanish food, this might not be it. But I don't know of too many other places in LA that get closer. Take the tortilla española for instance. It's a much sweeter version than anything you'd find in Spain, but that doesn't mean the tortilla is bad. It's just a different flavor profile.
The drinks are stiff, which help when you're a walk-up without a reservation and need to hang in the standing bar area. They do have a seated bar area as well. But when that's full, you can stand and order drinks, but no food. You need to be seated for that. Lastly, don't be scared and just try some "conservas".

This place is always full so make a reservation. We didn’t have one but Went anyway and got a table around 5pm. The food is incredibly good. Brings me back to Spain. They have a good selection of mixed drinks, innovative dishes and the pork chops was perfectly cooked. I would come back to try the rest of the dishes. This is definitely a must if you’re craving spanish food.

Incredible job designing this place! Especially lovely lighting, tables and ambiance. We got the roasted feta which was incredible though could use a little bit more bread. The sweet potatoes had excellent texture though a little pricy at 22$ compared to the rest of the menu. The chicken which was very moist and flavorful. Tried the lemon cocktail which was a bit sweet for me but the rest of the table loved theirs. Unfortunately the service wasn’t very accommodating and a bit rigid. Overall, had a lovely dinner and excited to come back!

Came here on a Thursday night around 6pm. We had a reservation and the place was starting to fill up at that point. Walking in, the vibe with its dim lighting immediately reminded me of being in bar in Madrid. Our waiter Jamie? Jamison? was wonderful.

My friend and I shared a few small plates (fyi they weren’t actually that small):

Anchovy Matrimonio - these anchovies were nothing like the ones you get on pizza (which are gross). These were more meaty and almost like teeny white fish.

Oven roasted marinaded feta - flavor bomb in the olive oil it was sitting in. I wish the pan was a little hotter though so it could’ve melted the feta more. The bread it came with was fine but spreading the feta on the pan con tomate was even better.

Pan con tomate - delish but it would’ve been nice if they smashed the tomatoes a little more and for me it could’ve use more garlic to enhance the flavor.

Setas con huevos - hen of the wood shrooms!!!!!

Sweet potato morunos - okay, this was good but I probably wouldn’t order it again. I guess I was expecting more of the earthy sweet potato taste and texture but it tasted more like sweet potato falafel to me. And it was served on a of pita bread where the ratio of pita bread to everything else was largely biased.

Ordering a bunch of things to share is definitely the way to go. They kept the bar intact from when the restaurant used to be Black Kettle and the cocktails are worth coming back for. The menu has a tilt towards gin so I had to try one of those, but it was the expresso martini made w tequila that was more memorable.

Street parking or valet stand across the street

I’ll be back!