CLOSED: Jibarra: Closed. Reopening in November.

This is not your father's Mexican food.

The owners might well be advised that some passersby will simply keep driving when they see the word "Mexican" on the exterior wall of Jibarra. It certainly is an inadequate descriptor for this unique Triangle restaurant.

Judging by other reviews, people either love it or hate it. If you go, go with an open mind and try to order something you’ve never had. Jibarra will deliver.

The first time I was there I had an appetizer featuring the candy Pop Rocks! I'll admit: that was a bit too bizarre for me, but the remaining visits have been simply wonderful.

Start in the sleek bar where they feature a dizzying selection of fine tequila. I ordered a Caipirinha, the Brazilian national cocktail (of which I’ve made hundreds at home). The menu indicates that it is prepared the traditional way, by crushing a quartered lime in the bottom of a glass. But, it was not prepared that way and I found that odd.

Try the trio of cebiches appetizer:
seared ahi tuna and white beans with balsamic vinegar-soy reduction
smoked and rare diced salmon with sliced avocado and pico de gallo
lime-marinated seasonal white fish with tomato, green onion, serrano chile, cilantro, olives, oregano, and e.v.o.o.

It's a beauty on the plate and a pleasure in the mouth.

On our last visit, I also had the Tacos de Camarón: achiote-beer battered shrimp served with a cabbage-cream salad, guacamole and salsa. Served with corn tortillas, this is do-it-yourself finger food. (We thought the slaw was too creamy and there was way too much of it on the plate).

If you go, a must-have is the Chilpachole de Jaiba. This is a slightly spicy blue crab soup poured table-side over what appear to be small cannelloni in the bottom of your bowl. Well, the cannelloni are not pasta--- they're made of butter. And, when the hot soup is poured into the bowl, the butter melts away to reveal rich pieces of crab.

I like this dish so much, I created for my family one Christmas.

For an entree, I chose Cabrito Asado al Horno: slow-cooked, bone-in, young goat served with potato confit, guacamole, chunky salsa molcajeteada (*see below) and flour tortillas to make tacos. This was absolutely incredible. There was some work to separate meat from bone and fat from all, but it was worth the effort. Simply a fantastic dish. and reminded me of a shoulder of kid I had in Barcelona.

I can’t remember what the others had, but all were pleased.

Total was about $175 (cocktails and tip included, no dessert and one of us was not drinking).

Recommended.

*Some claim it to be the very best of all salsas. It’s called molcajeteada because of the volcano-shaped container in which it's made, a "molcajete", meaning "little box for salsa."

It's commonly believed that nothing replaces this technique for making salsas because when you use the tejolote (a palm-sized volcanic rock) to hit the molcajete, the stone breaks the seeds of the tomatoes and the chiles, liberating essential oils that cannot be released with the electric food processors.