Monday, February 08, 2010

Jaleo Revisited, Washington DC

Whenever I'm in DC, I make a stop by my favorite Spanish tapas joint, Jaleo. I've reviewed this place before, so I skipped the upload of many repetitious pictures but here are some dishes that I tried for the first time.

A starter of smoked chorizo and pata negra (jamón ibérico de bellota apparently), cured meat of the black Iberian pig which was thankfully released for sale from Spain to the USA in July 2008 . Oily, smooth and salted just enough, this was good stuff.

Shrimp quick boiled and drizzled with a chili and garlic infused olive oil was up next. The seafoods really shine at Jaleo and I've never been disappointed with the freshness and quality of the seafood here.

Broiled octopus with baby potatoes; fresh seafood well cooked again with a nice sprinkle of paprika.

A great winter dish was the stew of tenderly braised veal cheek with a medley of mushrooms including fresh porcini! A lot more subtle in taste than the dried ones, this should still delight the porcini lovers out there.

We finished our meal with a pair of desserts including this rich vanilla flan with brandy whipped cream. Deceptively rich, it went well with our coffee.

The service as usual is impeccable and they were still just as hospitable and gracious towards us despite the fact that they were planning to close early that day due to the crazy blizzard. That's a photo from the window by the way.

D

7 comments:

eve910 said...

me first!! Porcini~!! OMG drooooll~~ can just imagine the sweet, earthy taste when you bite into those spongy stalks...mmmmmm~~

red fir said...

Nice. Sadly, there's a dearth of good Spanish restaurants here.

J said...

buena comida en los Estados Unidos!

Patient Bunny said...

i love the way the dessert looks! dunno what porcini is but must be a big deal apparently??thanks for the upload man!!

Sammy said...

Hello D, I see you're still blogging about sausages and pancakes and all the sinful food in the world but still mysteriously able to keep the weight off!

Been awhile since you start hey! I'm now back into blogging again; just not about food. Drop by if you have the time :) www.samuelgoh.com

,YD/Yummy Dummy

D said...

eve910: Yup, love porcini, dare I say... more than truffles even!

ice: I heard there's this pretty good one called Don Quijote? You may want to check it out.

j: Gracias.

P.M.: Porcini is a relatively affordable fungus but is normally available in the dried variety which when reconstituted creates a very good stock (which I love in risotto). Yes, the desserts here are quite lovely =)

RuninDC said...

At Jaleos, not only was the food out of this world, but the service was hospitable. Thanks for your very appealing post.