Jaleo – Las Vegas, NV

Recently, for the second time, my palette was absolutely delighted with the flavors provided by the creations of José Andrés, the ThinkFoodGroup team and Head Chef Luis Montesinos.
Jaleo is a Spanish tapas restaurant located on the 3rd floor of the East Side Tower in the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. High energy, beauty and culinary skill are only a few of the characteristics of this amazing eatery. From the very first time I sat down and ate there a few years ago, I knew this place was going to remain high on my go-to list.

An open-fire paella grill in the center of the front dining room where the bar and high tops are located immediately grabs your attention and then you look at the menu and oh man, you are taking a seat in there.
Tapas are dangerous because if they’re good, you can eat, and eat and eat! Yep… That definitely happened.

Here, take a look at some of what I indulged in for lunch this time around:

I know, everything sounds incredible. Everything IS incredible. The first time I ate there it was for dinner and I must say, the paella they make is ON point. Rob on the staff shared with us that throughout the week for dinner they have 8 different paellas rotating, with two different types they make per night.
This time for lunch they had a chicken and mushroom paella which I had a taste of, thanks to him! Personally mushroom anything wins my heart, but the rice was so perfectly cooked in this paella that everything from the flavors to the texture of things combined was just a divine treat.

We started off with a Sherry Flight, a typical aperitif made in the province of Spain known as Cádiz.
Ours included a glass of La Cigarrera – Manzanilla(exclusively from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, or simply Sanlúcar)
a glass of Lustao Los Arcos – Amontillado
and a glass of Alfonso – Oloroso

All of these are considered ‘fortified wines’, which means there is more alcohol added to increase the alcohol content. The differences in them vary from dry and pale to sweet and rich.
My personal favorite was the Oloroso.

Moving on to our tapas, we ordered La Seleccion de Embutidos which includes a variety of cured hams, which are called Jamónes ibéricos, chorizo, and some lomo ibérico. 

So, good.
This is an article I found from TheGuardian.com that has some details about the ham.
The flavors of every piece eaten gets better and better with each bite, and the pairing with the sherry, absolutely phenomenal.

To accompany the jamón, another traditional tapa would be the Pan Tomate. That, my friends, is the best bread with tomato and garlic you will ever eat, in my opinion at least!
Perfectly toasted, perfectly cut into rectangular pieces, rubbed with tomato and garlic right onto those bad boys. I wish I took a picture of it but honestly, we devoured it completely in minutes!

Finally the last thing we had was Torta Pascualete con membrillo, higos, y pan de cristal.
translation: “Creamy, raw sheep’s milk cheese served with toasted bread, quince paste and fig jam”

If you enjoy cheese, you’ll die for this one. The creamy texture of the cheese with the sweetness of the fig makes you wish it would never end. It is pretty filling, especially for the last course, but, it’s one of those things where you’d keep eating it no matter how full you got because it’s so delicious.
🙂

Ah, what a wonderful meal. From the traditional jamón and chorizo to the sherry to the cheese, excellence was a factor.

If you’re ever in Vegas, go give this place a shot for some tapas! You won’t be let down.