***UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS****The Barrio Cafe Grand Reserva is located in Phoenix Arizona and is an upscale modern Mexican Restaurant. The executive chef is James Beard Nominated Silvana Salcido Esparza. She is well known and famous for her tender flavorful Oochinita Pibil, Chiles en Nogada and her bright chunky Guacamole topped with pomegranate seeds. The menu offerings at Barrio Cafe Gran Reserva are about half vegan and half with cheese or meat. The menu offers a la carte options and tasting menu options that are vegan or non-vegan or flexible. Often special hard to find Mexican ingredients are used in dishes offered. Most of the dishes are very complex and some but not all do run extremely hot and spicy but also very flavorful.
The restaurant is only postage stamp sized. The dining room is a vestibule of about 8 tables. The bar only seats two.
The walls are an art gallery that tells Mexican Folklore.
Around the restaurant are amazing decorations. Much more than these photos show. Many whimsical things. Trees that are crocheted…..hanging dolls…lots of colors and lights.
Tonight they started us off with complimentary extra spicy but delicious nuts and seeds.
We shared an amazing dish that was made with fresh lime, cilantro, seaweed, a few different hot peppers, onion, radish, cucumber, watermelon, pear, pomegranate, sushi grade ahi tuna and some other special things.
OMG this is so refreshing, light, delicious and oh so spicy……but delicious…..I got sort of hypnotized. It’s almost too hot. ……but did I mention how Forking Delicious this is???? It’s so light and all the flavors pop!
We also shared the Huitlacoche (corn smut also known as the Mexican Truffle but it’s not truffle) with corn, chile, corn masa tortilla and salsa de xoconostle.
This was tasty…..but I think my mouth was sort of numb from the last dish and my spicy cocktail……I’m not certain that I was able to taste everything here…still tasty.
My dinner was a masterpiece. I had the Pescado en Mole de Rojas.
Pan seared Corvina, this unique delicious salsa d Xoconostle (cactus fruit) tatemado (fire roasted), red pine nut and rose petal mole sauce and vegetables. It was more delicious than I can describe. Different flavors were all around the plate. The salsa was more delicious than other salsas I’ve tasted…..Rose mole…who knew that this could be delicious? It was a very spectacular plate!
Same thing with the Amarillo con Chicharron de Pancita.
Here we had tender pork belly in a amarillo mole sauce also with different flavors around the plate and lots of fresh vegetables.
For dessert we shared this incredible light as air vanilla cream filled chocolate dome with orange mole and the plate came with these whisper thin tasty sesame crisps.
Everything was Forking Awesome!
Barrio Gran Reserva is always Worth a Fork!
www.BarrioCafeGranReseva,com
Every THING is subject to change and your experience MAY or may NOT differ.
