Movida — Restaurant in San Francisco

What a fantastically amazing dinner we had while celebrating our 35th anniversary of being together.

The staff were kind, courteous and attentive. We had a reservation for a table but upon arrival decided we would prefer to sit at the bar. Our hostess said that would be no problem and we were welcome to choose any seat we wanted in the restaurant.

The bartender immediately asked us if we would like some water while we were looking over the menu. He brought two large glasses of ice water and to our surprise and delight it was cucumber water, my personal favorite.

There were so many interesting items on the menu we had a difficult time deciding what to order. Our bartender was able to offer us some of his favorites as well as some of the most popular items ordered by other guests. We ordered about half of his suggestions and were not disappointed by any of them.

Starting with our cocktails. I has a drink called Cara de Rosas. It was presented in a beautiful glass with a rose shaped ice cube. My husband enjoyed a gin and soda made with one of Hendrick's Neptune specialty gin he had not had before. My second drink was one of there speciality drinks called Leon y Sol. A deliciously light Tequila drink with round saffron ice cubes. The attention to detail on every level heightened our experience.

The entire top shelf of the bar was filled with Mezcal & the lower shelf was all Tequila. Plenty of choices.

Moving right along to our food selections. We decided to go the small plates route so we could try more items. Our first choice was chips, salsa & guacamole. I know that sounds boring but it wasn't. There were multiple choices of salsa, we chose the pomegranate one & guacamole as our second item. You were allowed to pick 2 to go with your chips from a list of several choices. The chips were different types, one was the standard tortilla chip & the other was listed as a lovash chip which had a tasty sprinkling of spices on it. Both were light & super crispy.

Next we had the pomegranate chicken wings. This was a much larger portion than we expected. It had 4 full wings. They were succulent & had a delicious sauce generously covering every wing not just the top ones. Plenty of pomegranate seeds were sprinkled on top. I would highly recommend ordering these, they were our favorite amongst everything we ordered.

Another must try item were the corn ribs. Small pieces of corn on the cob with the tiniest part of the cob attached so the corn held together. Once again seasoned perfectly and a sauce to add on top that made this dish irresistible!

On the recommendation of our bartender we tried the fish tacos and the filet mignon tacos. The fish was light and fluffy, it melted in your mouth. The filet was amazing. Tender and juicy. You could defitely tell it was a filet cut you were having. Each order had 2 tacos which made sharing perfect.

My husband had never had bone marrow so we gave that a try. It was served with a pomegranate chutney and seeded bread. The combination was outstanding.

The only item we had that wasn't beyond spectacular was the dessert. We ordered the churros. Crunchy on the outside & creamy on the inside. Too much cinnamon sugar coating for my taste & served with a very heavy chocolate sauce that overwhelmed the taste of the churros. This dish would have been better with a light powered sugar dusting, which would have melted onto the hot churros, and served with a thick Mexican hot chocolate to dip them in.

There was a long banquet that ran the length of the main dining area with several very small & short cocktail sized tables with round, short, stool like chairs that had barely any back on them. Taller patrons would find this seating to be a challenge.

We will definitely be back. Great place to...

My boyfriend and I dined at Movida to celebrate our anniversary. Movida is a Persian & Mexican fusion tapas lounge; based on the description alone, I didn't know what to expect, though I heard good things about this spot and was very excited for my visit.

The first thing I noticed is the gorgeous interior, especially the large hexagonal chandalier. The second thing I noticed is the live DJ up on the second floor. Absolutely loved the vibes all throughout my meal.

Now onto what's really important, the food.

✨ SHISHI COCKTAIL $19 [Grapefruit-rose ketel one, coit caravan, lychee, yuzu, bergamot black tea] Absolutely LOVED this cocktail. It seems to be their most popular, because it comes with an edible bubble; if it happens to pop too early, the server will redo it for you. As for the taste, it was marvelous. I would definitely get it again.

✨ CHICKEN WINGS w/ POMEGRANATE BBQ $16 These seem to be their most popular appetizer. It comes with 6 wings covered in house made bbq sauce and pomegranate seeds. It was tasty and perfect for sharing. I do feel there could have been a wee less bbq sauce (maybe it was just my dish), but it was a very good appetizer I recommend.

✨ POMEGRANATE CHICKEN TINGA $8 Boyfriend wanted a simple chicken taco, and this taco is definitely it. It's large, simple, and tasty.

✨ JALAPEÑO BEEF & LAMB KOOBIDEH $9 This comes with lavash bread, veggies, sauce, sumac, and a delicious beef and koobideh (kebab). It's surprisingly light in the jalapeño, which I personally liked. Can't go wrong with a delicious kebab.

✨ STEAK ENTRANA $48 [Fusion skirt steak, Persian blue salt, Léon y Sol tequila butter, Gaufrette potatoes, crème fraîche, caviar bump]

This is their most expensive item on their menu, and their most luxurious. The caviar is what really enticed me! The tequila butter was decadent, and the skirt steak was very tender. The saltiness from the cavair paired very well, though I preferred to enjoy the caviar by itself. A very bougie and delicious main!

Movida quickly became one of my new favorite lounges/restaurants in SF. I absolutely loved the vibes, food, and service. I will point out it is pricey, yet expected given this is SF. I definitely recommend Movida for an...

Very fancy small-plates dinner location with a lot of very unique flavors integrated into Mexican-influenced cuisine. There is an interesting tradeoff in the atmosphere between a classy, small-plates restaurant and a contemporary bar as there is a DJ on a second floor balcony remixing songs for the tables below. Some tables have little lights on them, some do not, which was interesting. We tried several different plates: chips and dips - tortilla and lavash with the za'atat guacamole and the tahini queso: well seasoned and cripsy chips. The guacamole was quite tasty and the pomegranate was a bit of a surprise but complemented the guacamole well. The queso was good as well. Pomegranate adobo chicken taquitos: Probably the closest to authentic-tasting taquitos that I have had in an up-scale restaurant in the bay area with notes that remind me of really good road-side taquitos. Again, the pomegranate was a surprise, but tasted good. Saffron chicken mini skewers: Did not come on a skewer, rather as 4 pieces of chicken sitting in a line on a plate. Tasty, but not as expected. The peppers and flat bread on the side is a good touch and the sauce is quite tasty. Jalapeno beef and lamb and the pomegranate chicken tinga tacos: Also very tasty, but only come as a single taco for each order. These tasted similar to street-side tacos closer to the border, but were about 60% of the way to authentic-tasting street tacos, so they did not fully make it, but were still good nontheless. Churros: Interesting modern take on churros with a rose-flavored chocolate dip. The rose flavoring is strong, but the churros are still crunchy and tasty.

Overall, great experience and would definitely return again. There is also an interesting moving art piece in the forward bathroom. Definitely recommend making...