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Jaleo is a tapas restaurant by Spanish chef José Andrés located at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. It features several traditional tapas dishes with a creative twist by the award-winning chef.
We visited Jaleo for dinner on a Saturday night and were excited to get started as soon as we sat down. The server enthusiastically explained a few of the most popular dishes on the menu and we took a few minutes to make our decision.
Round One
Our first set of dishes were the selección de embutidos (an assortment of meats including jamón ibérico de bellota), a selection of three cheeses, and pan de cristal con tomate (toasted bread with fresh tomato). Each dish was a hit, especially the bread, and we enjoyed the pairings for each cheese.
My dad ordered a soup called salmorejo. The server brought a bowl with a raw egg inside and poured a hot broth into the bowl, which cooked the egg and softened the vegetables inside.
Round Two
Next, we had berenjenas con miel (fried eggplant with honey), pulpo a feira Maestro Alonso (boiled octopus with potatoes), and gambas al ajillo (shrimp sautéed with garlic). The eggplant and shrimp were especially tasty but the star was the octopus.
Dessert
Finally, it was time for dessert. We chose three for our group – gin and tonic (a creative sorbet that turns the drink into a dessert), helado de aceite de oliva (olive oil ice cream), and flan. I didn’t care too much about the gin and tonic, but the olive oil ice cream was a great surprise.
¡Paella!
One of the highlights of the evening seemed to be when a paella dish was ready to pick up from the open kitchen (it’s right in the middle of the restaurant and you can watch the chefs at work). When a paella was finished, a chef would ring a bell and the entire staff would stop and shout “paella!” in unison. Since we wanted to try the tapas dishes, nobody at our table ordered paella, but it’ll definitely be a priority if I visit Jaleo again.
Conclusion
With drinks and tip, the bill wasn’t terrible considering it’s Las Vegas. The food alone was priced fairly, but the two pitchers of sangria and tequila shots hiked up the price quite a bit. All in all, I would definitely visit Jaleo again in any of their locations.
