jaleo

been tojaleoseveral times when i am hurting for spanish. been to spain and family comes from there so think i can judge the varied regional grub.jaleois good for the “cool” arlington vibe...for authentic spanish...not so much. the fusion thing may be in play here butjaleoalways leaves me disappointed.

april 12, 2015 evan #dctravelblogger , crystal city ,jaleoleave a commentjaleocrystal city   [this is post #004 towards #100daysoffoodblogging , our goal to do 100 posts in 100 days as part of the 100 day project .] if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to attend a blogger meet-up, i’ve got the dirty secrets right here in this very post. yup. it’s like general hospital up in this crazy blogger world. betrayal, murder, paternity tests… okay, aside from maybe stealing someone’s sangria, there wasn’t any soap opera drama.  and kinda hard for there to be any secrets when everything is tweeted or instagramed the second it happens. such is life for a blogger. anyway, jessica at the dining traveler was kind enough to set up a brunch atjaleocrystal city  for dc/va/md-based bloggers. most of the attendees have travel blogs, but a few of us food bloggers snuck in and there were even a few fashion-focused folks as well. it was a great mix and i’m happy to have made some new friends in the local blogging community. i’ll get to jaleo’s phenomenal food in a second, but it goes without saying that the people are what made the event successful. for fear of leaving someone out, i’m not going to attempt to list everyone, so check out the hashtag #dctravelblogger on twitter or instagram to find the folks who partook in the fun. it was great to share stories of gumbo, dc traffic, blog traffic, dc weather, cocktails, food,

my favorite way to share a meal is with a large table of friends, sharing ever-flowing plates of hot tapas and pitchers of rich, red sangria, stories and laughter flooding the atmosphere. this was what i experienced while in madrid, spain last year, when a friend took me outside of the city to a small, dimly lit tapas bar to join 20+ of her friends in celebration of a birthday. their tradition, which i hope to steal one day, is for the group to purchase a birthday gift for the guest of honor and he/she takes the entire tab. we ate for at least 4 hours, experiencing sobremesa , the spanish term for sitting around a table post-meal and relaxing through conversation. while i haven’t visited spain yet this year, i was able to virtually travel there with the fun, adventurous #dctravelblogger group this weekend atjaleoin crystal city . we indulged in multiple tapas and pitchers of sangria, sharing conversations on travel and personal stories as head chef domenick torlucci demonstrated how to make a few dishes. i arrived halfway through a demonstration of preparing  aceitunas ‘ferran adrià ’, or liquid olives, which tasted like an olive soaked in olive oil with a hint of mustard which tasted citrusy once swallowed. the meal continued with, my all-time guilty pleasure, jamón ibérico  – paired, of course, with picos to munch on with the sangria. following that were camarones de cádiz con huevo frito , fried baby shrimp with a sunny-side-up egg on top that we cracked open and mixed. delicious. my favorite dish was the pan de cristal con salmon anumado y huevo duro , smoked salmon on top of crusty bread with a hardboiled egg, goat cheese, and capers in-between. the chef also introduced us to asparagus cooked to perfection, drenched in a nutty sauce; a combination i’ve never thought of before. the presa ibérico  de bellote , or grilled boneless shoulder from an i bérico  pig, was perfectly tender and juicy, the pairings exquisite. the final entrée was, of course, paella , bro

let me just say, if i ever make a significant 10 year marker, i hope i can throw a party likejaleo. this past wednesday was jaleo’s 10 year anniversary in crystal city, and boy, did people show up to enjoy the food,drinks, and atmosphere.jaleoinvited guests to take a journey through andrés’ native spain with an evening packed with authentic tapas, demonstrations, and a live band band playing some great spanish music. (also, there was a live performance from flamenco dancer emily mazzotti. while i tried to pick up some moves, she took away the show!) the restaurant was transformed into 4 distinct stations, valencia, barcelona, sevilla, santander, and cadiz – each showcasing their unique flavors and specialties. five dollars from each ticket sold for the anniversary party benefited world central kitchen  - andrés’ non-profit (inspired by his work with dc central kitchen ) that helps developing countries in crisis build kitchens to feed the hungry with local ingredients. i spotted jos

what happens when you meet someone you had strong feelings for after a long absence? it can be a bit jarring, but also a bit exciting. you remember with fondness the qualities that originally attracted you to her and marvel in the ways in which she has changed and grown since your last encounter.


these were my feelings when visitingjaleoin bethesda for its grand (re)opening. at first, there were the feelings of anticipation. is she still beautiful? is she still delicious? does she still exhibit that warm hospitality that makes me feel special? yes, yes and yes! whew!

jose andres, jaleo, sets the standard for spanish restaurants across the country, and is now offering a little something special this summer. jaleoin bethesda and crystal city want you to experience and celebrate the culture, cuisine, and grapes of spain with their 11th annual paella festival, monday night flight nights, and tour of spain program. recently, i had the chance to check it all out, and it was quite a delicious experience.

deception: tapas and no bread to suck the juices. i've been enjoying tapas atjaleosince i arrived to dc in 1997.
last year i went and they did not bring the bread and oil as usual, after asking they told me they bring only bread upon request...
yesterday i visited the one in arlington.
this time they refused to bring bread.
it seems that jose andres is not involved any more and should take his name from the place, if he is still involved, he needs to pay attention to his restaurant. it became another typical chain restaurant.
how can you serve tapas with no bread??? this is inexcusable and a cheap move.
other issues i found:
- service was horrible
- dishes were bland, pollo al ajillo had no garlic, served with a dark sauce and chicken consistency was uniform, that chicken was boiled and not seared. bean salad the same, lack of taste.
- tapas sizes seem to be getting smaller

it is a shame, i used to enjoy this place very much and i will not be coming back.

a culinary gem in crystal city.jaleoin crystal city, virginia is a tapas bar featuring traditional spanish dishes. if you’ve never dined at a tapas bar, they encourage each person to order two or three small dishes to share with the entire group, so everyone can enjoy a wide variety of food. of course, if you’re the only person in your party ordering gluten free, your culinary experience will be somewhat limited.

fortunately,jaleooffers a gluten free menu, but it has a disclaimer for those with gluten allergies. as usual, there’s a risk of cross contamination, and the fryer is shared with other non-gluten free foods. that being said, i safely enjoyed a salad with tuna, potatoes, green beans, tomatoes and hard-boiled eggs, shrimp sautéed with garlic, and flan for dessert! now, i’m off to the gym! after eating a georgetown cupcake earlier today and flan tonight, it’s time to pay the piper. =)

for more gluten free restaurant reviews, check out kareninreallife.com!

bad, very bad. before i talk about our experience in this restaurant i have to say that we love the cuisine jose andres presented to food lovers in his other restaurants like zaytinia and (unfortunately closed) cafe atlantico.
we also had an ok experience in his oyamel.
but in thisjaleolocation we had a very disappointing experiences and had it twice (i don't think there will be any more because we've decided that enough is enough)
now to the point:
ambiance - nice
food - promising in menu descriptions but never delivered anything but disappointments in more or less degree depending from the dish. most of the sauteed or roasted dishes are drenched in oil of very bad quality. even in "endives, goat cheese, oranges and almonds" they managed to pour so much oil it was almost inedible. we had an impression that oil is the main component of their dishes. speaking of taste it wasn't present in any dish we've tried except of beet soup (that was ok but definitely wasn't worth $9.50 they charge for it). the dessert ("apple charlotte") was basically dough stuffed with applesauce on the top of which was half melted ice cream. ugh! our impression was we are sitting in an italian restaurant of poor quality southern italian cuisine. their was nothing that reminded us of a wonderful spain tapas with flavorful sauces and refreshing taste of unique and creative small miracles that are happening in your mouth with every bite. that kind of spanish tapas we've experienced in dali restaurant in boston and loooved it.
i think if jose andres tasted the kind of food that his chefs "create" as spanish tapas he would be ashamed for the way his native cuisine is presented here. but he probably haven't been visiting this restaurant for a long time.
service - pretentiously "nice", intimidating with pushing their opinions about dishes when not even being asked, absent and ignorant when needed, not friendly and all together not professional starting from the hostess and finishing with the waiters. as i mentioned we've been there twice and both times with the different staff we experienced the same kind of service.
value - not good for an experience we had (5 dishes + 1 dessert + 1 coffee + 1 tea = $75 all including)
conclusion - not recommended (particularly if you are a foodie)

recently, some friends and i went tojaleoin bethesda for happy hour (orjaleohour--yes, it really is called that). featuring red wine sangria for $4 a glass and small plates for also $4,jaleois a great place to relax and enjoy the early evening. whil

excellent service, good tapas, a little pricey. details: the garlic mushrooms were the star - perfectly cooked and seasoned with fresh rosemary and thyme. dip that bread in it! pulpo gallego was tender and flavorful. both these had a nice sized portion for sharing. the calamari a la romana were perfectly cooked, tender, and the garlic mayo went well. the escalivada (roasted eggplant, peppers, and onion) tasted like home made, the vinegar was just right. i thought the portion was a little small, but at $6, still a good bet. hats off tojaleofor bringing in secreto iberico. the meat was slightly overcooked, but the flavor of secreto is so wonderful, it was still a treat. (know that this is a tiny portion for $14, but still worth a taste.) the beet salad was excellent, and a good size for sharing. the drinks, a friend had sangria, and i got the (tiny) carafe of tempranillo - were good, but really undersized for americans. all in all a good meal, well presented, but right at the upper edge of what i will pay for those dishes.