Jaleo Comes Through for Bethesda Restaurant Week

I almost made it through another Bethesda Restaurant Week without taking advantage of any deals, but when my friends said they were going to Jaleo for lunch, I immediately made an exception.

Jaleo has one of the better deals for Bethesda Row Restaurant Week – for $15 you can choose three items from three sections of tapas. I added up the cost of what mine would have been a la carte and it easily came to around $30.

As soon as we were seated, we were served a basket of bread with olive oil, rosemary, and garlic. After sifting through the menu, it seemed that everyone wanted to order three items from the middle “classic” category, instead of one from each section.

In the end, I settled on gazpacho estilo Algeciras, their very famous gambas al ajillo, and seared scallops. We decided to share most of our plates, so I also got to have some bacon-wrapped dates, apple Manchego salad, calamari, and pollo al ajillo con salsa verde.

I won’t go into too much detail about the food itself since we previously reported on many of these items, but I can’t say enough about the quality and consistency of the food at Jaleo. Our waitress was a little slow and we noticed tables around us were served before ours, but I guess that is the nature of tapas.

In an age with so much restaurant turnover, especially in Bethesda, it’s amazing that Jaleo has been around for over 10 years and remains a flagship destination in the area. Every time I dine there, I feel that we should come more often and take advantage of the fact that we are so close to such a well-regarded dining establishment in the DC area.

Although as much as we try to branch out with the menu items, it is hard to move away from such classic dishes that made Jaleo famous to begin with. You have to admit, the patatas bravas, gambas, and bacon-wrapped dates are really, really addictive.