For those not fortunate enough to have been there (you need to visit me, because I will take you there!), Jaleo is the Spanish tapas (small plate) restaurant of famed chef José Andrés. (Chef Andrés also owns Cafe Atlantico--and mini-bar, Zaytinya, and Oyamel, all located in Washington, DC.) There are three Jaleo locations in the DC area, but the best is the one in DC proper, in the Penn Quarter neighborhood (which happens to be close to my office!). The Crystal City location is really beautiful and the food is still quite good, but I have a soft spot for the DC location. Which is where my husband took me for dinner last night. It was a special treat for a weeknight, especially since he works out in the suburbs and had to drive all the way downtown to go there.
Clearly I was very excited to go there. But as it was not planned in advance, I only had my iPhone camera available. And while the camera is surprisingly good, the lack of flash means it does poorly in low light. Sorry! I hope you'll forgive the poor quality photos.
We started the evening with a half carafe of their famed red sangria. Something you should know about me: I love sangria. I cannot go to Jaleo and not have sangria. It makes my soul cry. A glass of the sangria after a long day at work? Makes my soul giggle with joy.
We ordered 7 separate tapas plates. I can't remember them all, but some standouts: the sauteed spinach with apples and pine nuts (as always), the fried salt cod fritters with honey-garlic aioli, the fried bacon-wrapped dates (I mean, come on!), and the gambas al ajillo (garlicky sauteed shrimp). All so yummy. And fun to share. The only thing I wasn't excited about was the special we ordered--it was the sauteed asparagus topped with romesco sauce. That's a regular on the menu, for the special, they topped it with some melted cheese. Said cheese turned out to be a very strong aged goat cheese. As I have previously comments on my feelings about strong cheeses...you can see why I might not have been excited.
But the best of the night? The surprise winner? Was the duck and rice tapas. Specifically, the "Arroz de pato ‘Jean-Louis Palladin’."
Sure, it sounds fine if you like duck (which I do). But the description really does not do justice to this dish, which I would describe as ridiculous. And our waiter agreed with me. It's so rich and decadent. I mean...duck confit AND foie gras cream?? It was almost too much. But this being Jaleo, we got just this small plate...and it was gone in three minutes flat. I am not one of those snobby food people who eats foie gras on a regular basis (maybe once a year or once every two years?), but let me state for the record that while I know it's not a politically correct food...but it is certainly a delicious one. And to make it into a rich cream sauce? Almost too much to handle.
Between this amazing food and the good service we had...Jaleo gets an A on this occasion.
After we licked our plates clean, we paid the bill and headed across the street for dessert. Why, you might ask? Jaleo's desserts have never done much for me. And there's a Red Velvet across the street.
Sue me...I like their cupcakes. Theirs are the best in DC, in my humble opinion. Their cake is moist and light (some others are too dense), and the frosting is creamy and rich, but not too rich. Neither is it too sweet, which I appreciate. Last night I had their peanut butter cup flavor, which is a chocolate cupcake with a peanut butter frosting--topped with a sprinkle of sea salt. It was perfection. My husband tried the key lime pie. Good, he said, but light. We may or may not have bought two more to stick in the fridge for dessert tonight. (In my defense, the flavor of the day was Italian Country Side or something, which is a zucchini cupcake with a lemon-basil-mascarpone frosting. How on Earth could I not try that???)
That duck dish was pretty ridiculous. It's good that we had it last!
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