Bar Moro — Restaurant in Clayton

Ben Poremba is a St. Louis treasure who understand the holistic experience of fine dining which starts before you even walk through the door. Be prepared for all 6 senses to be inspired during your dining experience. We live in the neighborhood and are excited to be able to walk here. The outside has tables, chairs and heaters which looks like a lot of fun especially when the weather warms up in the spring. We were greeted by the Mâitre d and he took our coats and seated us right away. The place is cozy and the dark interior feels very sleek and modern. Their was a total positive energy vibe throughout the place between the Spanish music, waitstaff in white coats and a beautiful well-stocked bar with a jamon they were freshly slicing when ordered. (The Gin cocktails are amazing as they have curated the most unique botanical gins) See photos for the amazing piece of art Chef Premba must have commissioned specifically for the primary wall. Service was excellent. Our waitress was very knowledgeable and all the staff worked together to make the experience seamless. Now on to the food We started with the Ensalada Wedge - check out the pictures as not only was it beautiful to look at, the flavors and textures were outstanding! We then tasted the gazpacho soup which was serve with a small glass of this very fragrant gin that you were supposed to add to your soup in small amounts. It was brilliant and complemented incredible flavors of the soup. Next was the eggplant with yet another beautiful presentation (see picture). We ordered the Bikini Con Trufa as this was noted in many reviews. Think of this as a decadent Croque Monsieur but half covered in a mushroom, truffle cheese sauce. Saving room for dessert we had the cheesecake which was NOTHING like an American Cheesecake, it was a little more like a flan for me. Need to go back and try the following; more gin cocktails, the gambas (shrimp), Jamon Iberico and the Carne Asada. YOU WILL NOT BE...

Probably the most adventurous dining experience we’ve had in St. Louis, and we loved it. Truly unique Spanish cuisine that is prepared to perfection. Bar Moro really does fill a void in the local restaurant scene, and we can’t wait to return.

In addition to the wonderfully fresh and savory cuisine, our waiter really was phenomenal. He was the perfect balance of attentive, kind, funny, and very knowledgeable about the menu.

Review update: Unfortunately this experience was very different from our first visit. Our server seemed to have an issue with us, and I’m not sure why, but he was very short and cold with us while being very energetic, and kind to his other table. We felt like we were inconveniencing him the whole time. He would drop our food off and immediately dart away.

The food seemed over cooked, or maybe the burners were too high. I love the paella rice that sticks to the bottom of the pan, but I can always scrape it from the pan onto my plate. That wasn’t possible here. It was glued to the dish which was upsetting because that’s a good amount of rice that we couldn’t eat. The octopus was quite chewy, and two pieces were burned. The cheesecake wasn’t warm throughout, but it did have the burned top.

It was our anniversary, and it felt like we overpaid for the experience. We have family in the Basque Country, and we visited this summer. We were so excited to come back to this restaurant, and that makes the experience even more...

The space was absolutely beautifully curated. My fiancee and I have been dying to try Bar Moro because we love Olio. Everything was extremely tasty.

We left feeling a bit odd because of the service. Our server was great and friendly, but a man who appeared to be the manager had one too many conversations with staff that should have taken place outside of our earshot.

First, the manager approached a young server about her uniform. It was just weird to me that he called her out on this in front of my fiancee and I. Second, the manager approached our server to ask what was going on with mine and my fiancee's table. The server told him that we were having tapas and drinks and didn't get dessert. After that, I felt like we had to rush to finish our drinks because we didn't feel very welcome.

Our reservation was for 4:45 p.m., and we were out probably before or around 6:00 p.m. Even though this place is always booked up, there were several empty tables, and lots and lots of servers around for a restaurant that seats around 30-40 people. I was surprised that there was so much concern about my fiancee and I sitting there enjoying our drinks!

And, just like many others, I second that the portions (including drinks) were extremely small at high prices. They are...