I tried it for the first time at Greek Islands Taverna in Ft. Lauderdale and fell in love. It has a chewy texture with tons of flavor. The grilled octopus there was insanely good and only made me leave the restaurant itching for more. I wish more places would include it on their menus, but I guess it's not a popular item. I don't know why it wouldn't be. It's delicious. People should stop being so picky. It might sound a little strange to eat octopus, but come on...people have eaten way worse things.
I didn’t see my beloved octopus on any menus again until I recently when to Las Vegas. I saw it again on another menu at a place in Miami, but that dish must wait until another post coming soon! Back to Vegas — I had one of the most amazing meals while I was there at Jaleo in The Cosmopolitan. I mentioned it before; it’s tapas-style Spanish cuisine by chef Jose Andres. I highly recommend it to anyone who is vacationing out in Las Vegas and is looking for a good restaurant with lots of variety and options. Visit this website for more Vegas hotel tips. My cousin and her husband told me they used to frequent Jaleo's location in Washington, D.C. a lot while they lived there and absolutely loved it.
The menu has everything from small vegetable plates to hearty meat dishes. They are well known for their made-to-order paella that takes at least a half hour or so to prepare. You have to be lucky to catch the paella at the right time; otherwise you could be waiting quite a while. When I went, I was really hoping they were making their vegetable paella, but they were in the process of cooking up one with meat so naturally I wasn’t interested in trying that. I did, however, try a million other dishes. Octopus was one of the first to catch my eye. There was no question that I’d be ordering it. It was on the menu as Pulpo A Feira Maestro Alfonso: boiled octopus with pee wee potatoes, pimention an olive oil. The octopus was cooked differently than what I had tried at Greek Islands, but it was just as delicious. The little potatoes were really good too; everything was smothered in this delicious light sauce and seasoning and I devoured the entire plate. My boss, whom I was eating with, didn’t even want to try a piece; not his thing, I guess. That was fine — more octopus for me! We tried a huge variety of things off the menu. The toasted ethereal bread with tomatoes and manchego cheese, gazpacho with tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, salmon tartare, sautéed spinach with pine nuts, raisins and apples, potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce and aioli, sautéed wild mushrooms with potato purée, and piquillo peppers filled with goat cheese. Everything was delicious. But that octopus...still ranks high at the top of my list.Jaleo has a pretty extensive food menu; even the dessert and cocktail list is lengthy, too. Whatever you’re craving, you can find. It’s great because tapas style dishes come out as they are ready, so by the time you finish one thing, you have another dish being served to you, piping hot. Nothing is too large of a portion, either, so you are able to try a lot of different things without overdoing it. I wish I had been able to try one of their famed paellas, but I think I still got a nice taste of all their other offerings. If...scratch that, WHEN...I go back to Vegas in the future, I’ll definitely be hitting up Jaleo again. There were so many other things I wanted to try. I already know what I’ll order this time around. The Salpucin de Cangrejo: jumbo lump crab with cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, cauliflower and brandy sauce; Escalivada Catalana: open fire-roatsed re peppers, eggplant and sweet onions with sherry dressing; Manzana con Hinojo y Queso Manchego: sliced apple and fennel salad with manchego cheese, walnuts and cherry dressing; Remolacha Con Citricos: a salad of red beets, citrus, la peral cheese and psitachios with sherry dressing (hm, Jaleo really likes their sherry dressing!), and hopefully I’ll catch the paella-makers at just the right moment to try the Paella De Verduras De Temorada, paella with seasonal vegetables.
Photo courtesy of Jaleo
Anyway, the point of this post was that I found my favorite food, wasn’t it? I got carried away because Jaleo was just so good. The octopus was just the icing on the cake. Mm...which brings me to another dish I have to try there: the Pastel De Chocolate y Avellanas: chocolate cake with hazelnut praline ice cream and salted caramel sauce. Oh my god.So, how many of you just booked a trip to Vegas and have already planned your first meal (which will obviously include octopus!)? ...Yep, that’s what I thought!
As for octopus, I am on the lookout for more restaurants that include it on their menu. So if you know of a good place for me to try, please share!