Over the holiday season, we travelled to Las Vegas. Las Vegas is where Popo (our grandmother) likes to spend her birthday every year. And her Birthday is December 18. So we had her birthday dinner at a Spanish restaurant called Jaleo. We were looking forward to the food there because Jaleo is managed by a famous chef named Jose Andres.
We would describe the atmosphere at Jaleo as vibrant. Here are some pictures of the place:
Above is a picture of Popo, Pei-Pei Ahyi (our aunt) and our cousin Annika. We think that the open kitchen adds to the atmosphere’s vibrancy. An open kitchen also instills confidence in the food. Below is a picture of one of the chefs roasting the pig.
And of course, we took a close-up of the pig.
Like most Spanish places, this place serves tapas. Tapas are small spanish dishes. Our server recommended that we try quite a few delicious appetizers including a chacuterie platter of meats and cheeses. They, of course featured iberian ham, serrano ham, and spanish cheeses (like manchego). This is what they looked like:
And of course, we had chorizo. Chorizo is a spicy sausage in the form of salami.This was our cousin MIna’s favorite of the meats and cheeses!
And of course, we had to include a smiling picture of Mina! That’s what she looked like after enjoying her chorizo!
Since Tapas are very small and we had a large party, we were able to sample quite a few tasty dishes. For example, we also had a ham and cheese bocadillo (that’s a sandwich), Jaleo’s patatas bravas (these are sometimes like french fries or potato chips. In Jaleo, they were like fresh-made potato chips with a spicy sauce), and Buñuelos de bacalao (this is a fritter with cod, honey, and cheese). We thought the bocadillo was competent – the bread was good, the ham was good, and cheese was good. But we expected just a little bit more. The potato chips were perfectly crispy and not oily at all. The spicy sauce was mild – even Mina was able to have some. And the Buñuelos de bacalao were mommy’s favorite! They were perfect pastries with a little cheese, saltiness (from the cod), and sweetness (from the honey). If we returned, we’d probably order the Buñuelos again. Here are pictures of those tapas dishes – bocadillo first, patatas bravas next, and Buñuelos last:
Our server also suggested the gambas al ajillo, the mushrooms, the calamari, and a salad. The gambas are a traditional Spanish shrimp dish. The shrimp is cooked with garlic and with just a little shell on the tail. Karsen loves the crunchiness of the tail.
The mushrooms, pictured below, were absolutely delicious! If you like mushrooms even just a little bit, you should most certainly order these! You won’t be disappointed. 
The calamari was okay – like the bocadillos, they were not as spectacular as we had hoped. The salad, however, was absolutely delicious! And of course, we feel good about ourselves when we have vegetables! This is what the calamari and salad looked like.
And of course, if you go to a Spanish restaurant, you must order some paella. Paella is Spanish, or more specifically Valencian, rice dish. This is a delicacy that requires quite some time to cook so that the rice soaks up all the flavors. Since we had a large party, we were able to order a special paella – the Iberian ribs paella. Here is a picture of the paella being made.
It takes about 45 minutes to make Paella. So make sure you order it early and then get lots of appetizers so that you can eat while waiting. When they finished making the paella, several servers brought it to show us. They needed several servers because it is heavy!!
Also arriving at the same time was the “Secreto Iberico con pan con tomate y salsa verde.” This was listed on the menu as a secret – which of course is irresistable to us! This is the Iberian pork with tomato bread and green sauce. The green sauce was the most delicious sauce! We had to ask for extra because the sauce made everything on the table taste better!!! Thank goodness for the green sauce because the Iberian pork was a little chewy. This means that Karsen takes at least 20 minutes to swallow a small piece.
Since it was Popo’s birthday, we had to have dessert! And Jaleo’s flan is quite famous. Here is a picture of Popo blowing out her candle with our cousin Mina.
We are BIG dessert fans! If you read our blog, you will know that we have an extra dessert stomach. And you need to save space in your tummy for this flan. It is soft, creamy, sweet, and everything you hope for in a flan. In fact, Papa says it may be the best flan he has ever had in his entire life and he is quite old. But not as old as Popo! Thank you Popo for sharing your birthday with us! A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you and may you have MANY MORE!!!
As usual, we have a five happy-face rating system (with five being best). Since we could not agree on the rating, we give you both of our assessments.
Anya’s rating:
😀 😀 😀 😀
Karsen’s rating:
😀 😀 😀 😀 1\2
If you are in Vegas, this place is certainly worth going to. Here’s a link to their website and dinner menu:
http://www.jaleo.com/index.php/contact/las_vegas
http://www.jaleo.com/images/uploads/Jaleo_menu_dinner.pdf
To end the post we have a picture of Mina and Anya saying YAY because they made good food for us!!!!!!!
P.S We were told by Mina that she and Anya were saying YAY dessert because dessert just came.
P.P.S We were told by Pei Pei Ahyi and Annika that Annika was eating with gusto.
Here is a picture of that. Isn’t she cute??????:
Whatever happened to saying “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” (ask your parents what that means)? Anyway, seems like Popo had a fantastic birthday with her favorite kids.
Anya has consistently loved salted cured meats. I remember when she was 4 she said her favorite food was prosciutto.
Mina is also starting to like prosciutto at 4. she ate a waffle sandwich the other day with gruyere and prosciutto inside a couple of days ago.
After years of eating cured meats, I, Anya, can tell you that prosciutto is delicious. But Iberian ham is much better!! Also, I discovered prosciutto at the ripe old age of 11 months on my first trip to Italy. Lucky, huh?
-Anya, one of the sophisti-kids.
You kids should try Portugues bacalao. It is said that they have come up with 365 different ways to prepare bacalao, i.e., one for every day of the year!
I’d like to see a Sophisti-Kids blog post of standard public school lunch fare.
WOW!!!THAT IS A LOT!!!!!!!
What about leap years because they have 366 days not 365?!?!?!?!?
We can’t bring Mommy’s phone to school so we aren’t going to do a post on that.
Maybe some day when we are old enough to have our own phones? What age do you think that will be?
i just thought i’d point out that you can take pictures using a camera instead of an iphone. is that allowed at your school?
We are not allowed to bring a camera to school. And anyway, I don’t have time to take pictures. My lunch is only 15 minutes and I spend 10 minutes waiting in line for the bad cafeteria food. Trust me, you’re not missing anything by not seeing pictures of our cafeteria food!!!
Annika and Mina loved the food. i’ve never seen Annika eat with such gusto!
also, when i showed Mina that last picture, she said that Anya and she were yelling “yay, dessert!” because popo had 2 birthday cakes (flans)
Tell Mina that we said thanks for correcting us and we will fix it soon.
And you are right, Annika ate with lots of gusto. In fact, we are going to put up a picture of Annika in our P.S. – Keep looking!!!
We have to go on a New Year’s Eve hike so we will post the postscript (that’s what P.S. stands for) after that.
wow. you guys are VERY responsive.
Happy New Year!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU TOO!!!!!
We might go to Jaleo too. Persen and I are taking Zander to Las Vegas next week. We will be staying at the Cosmopolitan. Is it easy to walk to City Center with a baby from the Cosmopolitan? The pictures of the calamari and the Secreto Iberico look fantastic, so I am a little disappointed that they didn’t turn out as well as you had hoped. Persen loves paella. I heard mixed things about the Jaleo Paella. What did you guys think specifically regarding the paella. We’ve been to Jose Andres’ restaurant in LA called the Bazaar, several times. We like it a lot, so I hope we like Jaleo too. We aren’t going there 100% for sure, but hopefully we will.
It is easy to walk to city center with a baby as long as you have a stroller and we went with Annika from Vdara. Jaleo is in the Cosmopolitan and the city center so it should be easy peasy lemon squeezy. Another restaurant in Cosmopolitan that we tried is China Poblano. We haven’t gotten around to doing our post on that yet but it is also a Jose Andres restaurant. It is unusual though because it has Chinese and Mexican food. Weird right? But it was really good (not as good as Umami).
Have fun in Las Vegas and let us know which restaurants you liked!!
So, Zander, Persen and I ended up eating at Jaleo, China Poblana X1 1/2, Holsteins (a gourmet burger place in the Cosmpolitan), Julian Serrano (which was fantastic!), Estiatoria Milos (Greek Seafood in Cosmopolitan), and Lotus of Siam (awesome Thai food off the strip). I’ve heard mixed reviews on Jaleo, but we had an amazing meal there! Standouts included fresh oysters with gin and tonic sauce, mussels in escabeche sauce, jamon iberico, amongst others. We’ve been back home for a week now, so I’m forgetting the exact dishes we ordered. Both Jaleo and Julian Serrano were amazing for excellent versions of traditional Spanish food. Both paellas were amazing, but I think we liked the Julian Serrano paella better.
Mommy and papa say that we’ve been to Lotus of Siam a long time ago. But we don’t remember.
Based on your comment, we will be sure to check out Julian Serrano next time we are there. Did you like Holstein’s? How does it compare to Umami Burger?
Persen, and I enjoyed Holsteins a lot, but we thought Umami probably has the better burger. I ordered mini lobster rolls, because we were a little to full from eating all weekend, so we shared a burger. The burger was fantastic, it was called “The Rising Sun”. It was made of Kobe beef, sauced with teriyaki glaze, seasoned with nori furikake, topped wtih crispy yam strips, spicy mayo, and a tempura avocado. If you ever go there, the Rising Sun, seems to be the one that everyone likes best on their reviews. Their steak cut fries were very good as well. They are also known for their alcohol shakes. I had a cereal flavored one that had captain crunch, and ice cream, and vanilla flavored vodka. It was good but not great, and I would probably try a diferrent flavor next time.
Lotus of Siam was awesome! Tell your parents that they remodelled and expanded now, even though they are still in the same strip mall. It is much nicer, and can hold a lot more people. Many people consider this the best Thai restaurant in the United States, and I wouldn’t disagree. We loved their pad thai, Hoh Mok Plar (curry paste with fish, Issan style), sai oua (chiang mai style sausage, my favorite sausage in the world, great thai herbs in a sausage package!), and Khao Soi (burmese influenced northern thai egg noodle soup with coconut curry, and pickled vegetables). This restaurant might be one of Las Vegas’s best kept secrets. I wouldn’t go there over Jaleo or Joel Robuchon, but I would still definitely include it on any Vegas trip.