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| - After eating at Jaleo I cam away with one life lesson- all pigs should be fed nothing but acorns. Seriously. I would definitely recommend going to Jaleo at least once to try it, though I probably won't become a regular here.
I will say off the bat two things prevented Jaleo from getting a 5 star review.
1. The Chairs- the table we sat at was one of those awkward high tables, and I sat on the side that had a weird bench instead of individual chairs. After about 10 minutes all I could think about was the 30 rock where Jack sells his awful couches to the government to be used as torture devices. This sounds like a comedic exaggeration- but seriously it was so uncomfortable, and when you are going to be somewhere for three hours a good chair is a must.
2. The service- was very slow. We had a conversation about how we probably would of ordered twice as much stuff if the server had actually come around frequently. Paying the bill from the time we requested it took about 40 minutes.
Now, given those two things imagine how good the food was to earn 4 stars-pretty freaking good.
Jamón Ibérico De Bellota Fermín- this is like prosciutto I guess- it comes sliced very thinly and artfully arranged on a plate. I have often heard people say "melt in your mouth" but honestly I have never really had anything melt in my mouth... until now. The white, fat part of each slice did in fact quickly turn to a liquid when you put each piece into your mouth. Now, this comes with some bread (Pan De Cristal Con Tomate Fresco-which we also ordered as an appetizer) and I have to say there is no better illustration of a tale of two cities than this bread paired with the pig- it is terrible. It was very hard/crusty, and it has what appear to be raw tomatoes just sort of mashed into it. Did not like-although the people I was eating with liked it- but trust me they are morons.
Dátiles Con Tocino 'Como Hace Todo El Mundo'-as far as I know I have never eaten a date before. Wrapping something in Bacon and then frying it is a good way to introduce someone to new foods- try it with your kids and broccoli.
Croquetas De Pollo- these are awesome- like a mini chicken Cordon Bleu
Chistorra envuelta en patata frita - this is a little cocktail weenie sized chorizo sausage wrapped in a potato chip and fried. They are good, but not one of our favorites.
Gambas Con Gabardina- these tempura shrimp were hands down our favorite of the appetizers- amazing ( if lobster tempura at Flemmings is a 10, these are a solid 9) and the sauce that comes with them is great.
José's Taco- this is a play on "taco" NOT AN ACTUAL TACO. That is key. Its basically a little piece of the Jamón Ibérico De Bellota Fermín with a scoop of caviar on top. It is quite tasty, but not an actual taco.
Mini Pepito De Ibérico-this was one of the group favorites, in fact one person lamented in hindsight that they should have just gotten 8 of these. Its a little "wet" for lack of a better word- I assume due to all the pig inside it there is a lot of grease- and that could be a turn off for some people, we call them quitters.
Chorizo Casero Con Puré De Patatas Al Aceite De Oliva-this was one of my favorites- little slices of chorizo in a potato pure- both elements are excellent.
I definitely wanted to try more things (like the pork skirt steak) but we decided to wrap it up after 3 hours.
Overall I really liked Jaleo but I think honestly I prefer Julian Serrano- they have a more diverse menu (like those little pizzas that must have heroin in them) better regular human height chairs, and better service. Jaleo seems higher end, and the acorn fed pig is truly delicious but the total package of the restaurant is not as good.
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