The Alex & The Eleanor + 1

Saturday in DC we had the pleasure of a visit from my father-in-law Mac, who was nearby on business so of course it would be criminal not to come visit little Stewart. This in turn meant a visit to the nicest restaurant in town that we felt was baby friendly. Enter Jaleo, a DC tapas mini-chain run buy José Andrés, the award winning chef who brought tapas to DC.

We’ve been here a few times during previous visits to DC, and it’s been a very enjoyable meal. Being a foodie, I love tapas, especially with a good sized group, as it affords a chance to taste 10 or so dishes instead of 2-3. Beyond that, it’s also a very social meal, as plates are being constantly passed, and everyone can share their thoughts on the dishes with each other. Of course in any large group of dishes, there’s bound to be some you like, and some you’re not so fond of, but ideally, if every dish is a good execution, then the differing tastes among the group will take care of that problem. And so it largely worked with our group at Jaleo.

We each ordered 3 dishes, with the addition of two orders of the deep fried bacon wrapped dates (because really, who can resist the combination of sweet, salty and fried), a favorite from times past. I can’t quite recall everything that was ordered, but my personal highlights would be the aforementioned dates (of which we ended up ordering a third plate), the bechamel mushroom and ham fritters (which even the mushroom shy Eleanor loved - and we ordered a second plate of) which were gooey bursts of flavor; salty, earthy, creamy and crunchy. The salt cod fritters were tasty with a honey alioli dipping sauce, although I think more than one would have been overkill (again the beauty of shared plates) with how rich it was. Also the Basque cake that we had for dessert was delicious, somewhat like a vanilla version of a molten chocolate cake.

Not all dishes were completely successful. The tortilla (spanish omelette with potato and onion) was a mixed bag for me, after the first one which we all loved(fresh eggs with perfectly cooked slices of potato adding a density and the onion giving a high note), we ordered a second, which seemed underdone and watery. I found the pork sausage with white beans to be a very bland, and the seared salmon with apple sauce and trout roe to be a bit dry, and the trout roe gave the dish a fishy taste that was unappealing.

The wine list is - shockingly - Spanish, with a good amount of depth throughout the country and a wide range in cost that should have something for everyone’s taste and wallet. For this trip we stayed in Rioja, first with a more traditional style rioja, Vina Albina , which elicited rave reviews from everyone at the table, myself included. Very bright fruits with enough tannins to cut the sweetness and hold up well to the food. The second wine was a modern style rioja, Finca Valpiedra , which was a much richer wine. When first in the glass the tannins were still too sharp, but after a little time in the glass it opened up a bit and was much better. Still, not as appealing as the first one. Score a point for the traditional style.

The service was somewhat spotty, but it probably wasn’t a fair night to judge them, as there were two tables of about 20 behind us having dinner before homecoming, which I’d have to assume stresses the serving staff somewhat. It’s been a while since I’ve been there last, but I don’t remember having any serving issues last time, so I’ll give them a pass for this one.

Even though not all the dishes were a success, many more were successes than failures, and the beauty of tapas in a group is that a few bad dishes don’t ruin a meal. Overall the Jaleo experiences is very positive, and while I don’t know that it would be my first choice of restaurants for a couple, I’d be hard pressed to find a more interesting and inviting restaurants for a group in DC.

On a final note, as I mentioned in the beginning of the review, we were not just out with the in-laws, but also with our 6 month old nephew. Even though the restaurant has an award winning chef, a fairly deep and interesting wine list, it was still a comfortable place to bring a baby. There aren’t many (if any) other restaurants of this caliber where you can say that. So maybe that means that it’s loud, and there’s a casual rather than special feeling, but in a city like DC, which has only recently begun to break from it’s long standing reputation as a city of stuffy restaurants with boring cuisine, they could use more restaurants like this.

B+