Grand Mexican at Colibri

There has been an upswing in the number of new and inventive Mexican restaurants in San Francisco lately.  Places such as La Urbana, Nopalita, and Tacolicious have successfully combined cutting edge Mexican culinary techniques with an upscale and chic ambiance that has both locals and visitors flocking to them.

Colibri Mexican Bistro is anything but a regular bistro!  With Spanish colonial interiors - a combination of dark wood and Mexican Talavera tiles - and a distinctive menu, this restaurant clearly aims for a very different dining experience.



Being located in the busy Union Square area the restaurant and bar areas were both full but they were able to get me seated fairly quickly.  I sipped on my cocktail and ordered the popular and freshly-prepared Guacamole with hand-made Tortillas.  The guacamole was prepared table-side and served in a stone-hewn bowl which was pretty cool.  The totillas were soft and warm and as I tasted the dish I could see why this item was so popular with their patrons.

 

I had ordered the Carnitas, Michoacan-style marinated tender chunks of pork served with guajillo and arbor chillies salsa along with Mexican rice.  The Carnitas were great, nicely crunchy on the outer sides and juicy, tender on the insides.

 

Finally, a memorable dessert of Churros Rellenos!  This traditional Hispanic pastry filled with cajeta caramel cream and served with dulce de leche ice cream was completely lip-smacking.  A visit here can be worth it just for this dessert alone.



While the Carnitas were good, the highlight were clearly the Guacamole starter and the Churros dessert.  The cocktails, drinks and the 'casual but upscale' ambiance worked for me too.