Jaleo, D.C. Review - Athos

jaleo.com
480 7th St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20004
202-628-7949
Subway – Gallery Place/ChinaTown Metro is nearby
Parking – Street/nearby garages

I caught the ending of Iron Chef America a few weeks ago, and Chef Jose Andres just finished beating Bobby Flay. The other Dudes On Foods suggested coming down to D.C. and attending one of Andres’ restaurants. Porthos made his way this past weekend, and we dined at Jaleo, the downtown D.C. location. The website states the address is 480 7th St., NW, so I knew where the place was. Or so I thought. I remember driving by a Latin place several times, and it looked very appealing from outside. When we arrived at Jaleo, I was very confused, since it looked completely different. Quite the opposite, actually; almost run down with a lot of scaffolding surrounding it. We went in, gave them our name for a table due to an hour wait, and we explored D.C. nearby at Gallery Place. During this time, I discovered the place I thought we were going to was down the street called Rosa Mexicano. So an hour later when we returned, I admit, I was kind of let down. Since his other restaurant, Zaytinya, didn’t impress me with his food, I was waiting for another bad experience. While we were waiting, I had to go to the bathroom. Even the bathroom gave me a worse taste in my mouth, since it was kind of dank. The hostess was very friendly, so she helped the situation. We finally sat down, started perusing the many items on the menu, and decided to let Porthos order, since he has read a book related to this chef's mentor. I threw in an order of chorizo (sausage), and drank sangria as I waited for the dishes to arrive to the table.

It’s a Spanish restaurant, and a type of Spanish style of serving food is called tapas. Tapas, directly translated to English, means “lids.” There are conflicting reasons how the name came about. Since tapas is essentially many appetizer-sized plates served for tasting, most of the time at prices of what I don’t even spend for lunch, when the bill comes along afterwards, usually people want to put a tapa/lid on top of it! I’ve had tapas a few times prior, and I have to say that I would not mind paying the bill at Jaleo. The food was damn good. Was it good because I had such low expectation? Not really, it was just good all around. Whether it was squid in its black ink or the blood sausage, everything put in front of me was good to delicious. There were even some moments where we had to sit back, close our eyes, and just take it all in and really appreciate it. Since it wasn’t an elegant place, the plating wasn’t overly done, so it matched nicely. The smells, texture, flavor, and environment were all wonderful.

Overall: A-
Food: A
Service: B
Atmosphere: B+
Price: B

The deco was nice and Spanish including murals on the walls, pottery, candles, and dimmed lighting creating a dark and intimate feeling. I guess I was expecting more, so I lowered the rating down slightly, but that’s my own fault. It’s not fair, but that’s how I felt at the time.

The service was normal, nothing above and beyond, but it wasn’t bad, either. The hostess was helpful and helped raise my rating, though.

Now, the food... I loved it. I want everyone to experience it. Do yourself a favor, and go there. If you don't like it, I will pay for your dinner. But before I do, I will pay for a taste bud operation for you, because that's nonsense. If you're not adventurous to get the squid in black ink, which was quite delightful, get the sausage, which is my favorite dish. Extremely flavorful and a shame that only one is served. Note to self – order more next time! Hell, bring extra for home!! Lots of times, quail can be very dry. This was not the case. It was cooked well. Although it’s a Spanish establishment, the pork belly brought me back to China in the way it was prepared. This is a good thing, since it’s done almost perfectly. The flan was, well… flan. It’s rare that a flan stands out as better than another. I had a very good flan once, but it was not here. The chocolate mouse torte was decent, but nothing spectacular. But face it, tapas does not concentrate on that, so what they do is done well. I won’t review the other tapas I sampled, since there are too may, and I’ll ruin your keyboard from your drool spilling onto it. Go to Jaleo, and post a comment here if you liked it or not.