Dinner at Jaleo in Washington, DC

Our last meal in DC was by far the best - Jose Andres' Jaleo.  Definitely the best Spanish food I've had outside of Spain, and considering the ridic amount of food we ordered, it was pretty well priced.  The only negative comment was that they ran out of octopus, but the calamari we ordered was pretty freaking amazing and almost wholly made up for it.  Everything was perfectly cooked and seasoned and each was special and added something to the meal.  And despite all the food we ate, I didn't feel gross afterwards. 

Sangria was excellent.  Had a little bit of umph in it

Jamón ibérico Fermín - Cured ham from the legendary acorn-fed, black-footed ibérico pigs of Spai.  Better than any ham you can get at a store here

Idiazábal cheese - A smoked, nutty-flavored sheep‘s milk cheese paired with house-made quince paste.  The cheese itself was wonderfully nutty but the paste blew my mind.  Together it was perfection.

Buñuelos de bacalao - Fried cod and potato fritters with honey aioli.  The fritters were perfectly crunch yet soft inside and the honey aioli was a perfect complement.

Warm green bean salad with apricots, apples and serrano ham.  The dressing was so light but there was still a great contrast with the warmth of the beans and ham.

Gambas al ajillo - shrimp sautéed with garlic with some tomato sauce.  Nice and garlic-y but I would have preferred it without the tomato

Lomo de buey de Valdeon - Grilled hanger steak with mustard sauce and Valdeón blue cheese.  Perfectly cooked with great charred flavor.  I loved the blue cheese but it was VERY blue.  I only wish there had been more meat

We tried to order octopus but they ran out :(  Instead we ordered Calamari seared on the 'plancha' with traditional squid ink and white rice.  So tender and meaty and the rice was so moist and great just eating with the ink. 

Some of the best flan we've ever had.  Classic spanish custard with ‘espuma’ of Catalan cream and orange.  The whipped cream was so vanilla-y it tasted almost like ice cream. So freaking good with the slight hint of orange.