For Bethesda-Chevy Chase Restaurant Week, trendy tapas restaurant Jaleo whittled its detailed menu down to a five-course meal featuring the best of its traditional and modern Spanish fare. For a mere $30, diners were able to share generous portions of Jaleo’s most popular dishes, served on modern white flatware at a relatively speedy pace.
The first course offered a beautifully presented onion soup with a poached egg, and an endive, goat cheese, orange and almond dish that balanced bitterness and sweetness. The standout of the group, however, was the pan con tomate y queso pasamontés, a trio of toasted slices of rustic bread vigorously scrubbed red with tomatoes, topped with a thin slice of Manchego cheese and drizzled with a few drops of olive oil. The Manchego slightly overpowered the tomato, but the crunch of the bread, the sweetness of the tomatoes and the tartness of the cheese was the perfect little bite, and a great start to the meal.
With the second course came the vegetables, featuring an interesting plate of seared piquillo peppers filled with goat cheese and seared onions with blue cheese and pine nuts. The tangy romesco sauce paired with the grilled asparagus dish was just too good not to mop up with a slice of bread.
The third course, Modernas y Clásicas, brought one of the best dishes of the night, the patatas bravas — fried fingerling potatoes topped with a spicy tomato sauce and a thick, rich aioli sauce. The popular tapa of shrimp sautéed with garlic and pepper and the chorizo wrapped in a crispy potato chip were also highlights.
The fourth course was an overall disappointment with the grilled marinated chicken and parsley purée falling flat in flavor, and the small, perfectly cooked portion of salmon oddly combined with pomegranate and a thin cauliflower puree. The scallop and butternut squash puree was perfectly seared but served lukewarm, and could have done without the tart clementine sauce.
By the time the dishes were cleared, a sweet bite to end the meal was needed. Luckily, the fifth and final course of the night was the best. The stars of the evening were the rich and fluffy chocolate torte and the refreshing homemade chocolate, vanilla and (surprising) goat cheese ice cream.
The sloppy service and the overlap of courses was a damper on the meal, but with high-backed, cushy chairs and Spanish-style tiles adorning the walls, Jaleo is a cozy and comfortable dining setting.
You can reach this writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
