Jaleo by José Andrés is located in the West Side of Disney Springs by the AMC Theatre. It’s a beautiful space that specializes in traditional and contemporary Spanish cuisine. This was our second trip here and was totally different in the best way. [Read about our first trip here.]
Instead of sitting at the back bar like our first visit, we were seated at a table in the center of the restaurant (which made us nervous due to the traveling meat carving we saw previously). Our server greeted us and brought the dedicated allergy menus. I love the allergy menus here because they label all allergies and everything vegan is clearly labeled with an orange “V.”
We had only tried drinks and their famous ‘Pan de cristal con tomate’ on the first visit and we really enjoyed it so we decided to order it again. In addition, we ordered the ‘Escalivada Catalana’ and the ‘Ensalada verde.’
The Escalivada Catalana was our table favorite (even my non vegan mom said she would just order that next time). The roasted red peppers, eggplant, and onions were so incredibly flavorful. It came with what we think was the same bread as the Pan de cristal con tomate. I would order this again as my main course as it’s enough, in my opinion, to serve as an individual entree.
The Ensalada Verde was also really good and flavorful. The salad was dressed in a sherry dressing (which was also on the roasted veggies). The tomatoes in the salad had a nice coarse salt on them and the olives were some of the best I’ve had.
The Pan de cristal con tomate was consistently as good as the first time. I will say after trying the two new dishes that it’s my least favorite but I still recommend trying it.
The chef visited our table to see how we enjoyed our food and told us that he is on his way to eating plant-based (!). He was excited about it and wanted to bring us his personal favorite vegan dish on the menu (of course we were okay with this). He came back with ‘Empedrat de mongetes’ which was a traditional bean salad with tomatoes, olives, onions, and the same sherry dressing as the other new dishes we had. It was beautifully plated and also- delicious.
I would definitely order all of these options again. I would likely skip the first dish only because I prefer the roasted pepper and eggplant to the tomato as a spread. We did not see any meat carving while dining here this night but, it was not super busy while we were there.
Everything we have tried tastes like it came right out of a garden in Spain which we LOVE. It tastes so fresh and healthy; nothing is hidden in dressing, sauces, or meat/cheese alternatives. Jaleo really lets the natural flavors shine. This is a great spot for a date night or sharing food with a table of friends. We will definitely be back and are thankful we gave them another chance.
Review from November 2019.
Price $$$
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