One of the few definitive things Id planned in advance was a visit to é by Jose Andres. It's a mini Restaurant that seats 16 people per night over the course of two “shows”. I had a reservation for the early seating at 5.30. Didn't do much in the way of being productive prior to this, just had a wander around the strip.

Upon arrival at Jaleo which is the restaurant é is inside, I was greeted and presented with the drinks options for the night. There was a wine pairing along with a non-alcoholic pairing, or you can just order from the regular drinks menu. I'm not much of a wine drinker, so opted for the non-alcoholic option with the plan of having a couple of drinks from the normal menu thrown in. Regrettably I didn't take pictures of the drinks and am struggling to remember their names, though they comprised an extremely interesting combination of flavours and worked very well with the meal. Drink highlight was the Pineapple Upside-down cake. It turned out that they'd had some cancellations and the result was that there were only 3 diners; myself and a couple in their 60's. It became apparent that they were well travelled food-wise and had been to a couple of Jose Andres' restaurants previously and made the meal more interesting by asking lots of questions.

Let's dive right in – I’ll do my best to describe everything, but some of it was pretty off the wall and I’ll struggle with the right foodie nomenclature. Thankfully they presented us with a copy of the menu after dinner, so I wasn't worried with remembering the names of everything. Unfortunately the lighting didn't work too well with my rubbish phone camera, so the pictures didn't turn out as well as i'd have hoped.

The Menu:


Gin and Tonic:

Not just any Gin and Tonic, this was made with liquid nitrogen and was fantastic, though still not as good as the “regular” G+T from the regular drinks menu.

Spanish 'Clavel”

This is a delicate crispy fruit “flower” served in a plate in the shape of Jose Andres' hand. The overall course of the menu was to start and finish with “sweets”.

Caramelized Pork Rinds:

These were exactly what they sounded like and were fantastic.

Apple 'Brazo de Gitano':

This was an incredibly light 'Swiss roll' with a creamy cheese inside. This was pretty much the only thing on the menu that I wasn't taken with, just felt the texture/flavour combination that many of the dishes go for didn't do this many favours.

Nitro Almond Cup:

Unsurprisingly this involved liquid nitrogen again and was really interesting. It was topped with caviar giving a subtle salt flavour against the melt in the mouth creamy texture of the cup.

Crispy Chicken Skin in Escabeche:

The first dish to involve foam – i'll go on a mini-rant about foam in a later section/day of the trip report, but this was an excellent dish. The crispy chicken skin combined with chicken pieces that were hidden under the foam made for an intense flavour.

Jose Taco:

This very simple dish was 'just' caviar on top of jamon iberico de belloto and was delicious.

Oliva Sferica Ferran Adria:

This was a recipe from Jose Andres' mentor Ferran Adria of El Bulli and may have been the best example of the importance of the texture/flavour contrast that ran through the menu. The dish was an olive shaped bubble that burst as soon as it was in your mouth for a deep, rich olive flavour.

Bocata De Calamares:

Introduced as a play on one of Jose Andres' favourite childhood dishes, this was a plan on a calamari sandwich with the calamari replaced with uni in a brioche bun. They could have done with serving 5 of these!

Cava Sangria:

This was another flavour bubble, bursting with the flavour of sangria and was a nice fresh interlude before the start of the “main courses”

Artichoke puree with Vanilla:

This the only dish other than the Brazo de Gitano that didn't blow me away. It was primarily down to my indifference to artichokes, but still had a lot going for it due to the wonderful accompanying sauces.

Lobster with Citrus & Jasmine:

This was absolutely incredible, and one of those dishes where you wish they'd given you three portions. Some beautifully cooked lobster served with a sauce made from the lobster head/shell with a stunning citrus/foam accompaniment.

Chickpea Stew with Iberico Ham:

Another textural delight – the 'chickpeas' were more flavour bubble and made for the best soup you're ever likely to have.

Turbot with Bone marrow:

Like the lobster dish, this was highlighted by the perfectly cooked melt in the mouth turbot which could have easily been served on its own to great effect but the accompaniments complemented it superbly.

Rosemary wild mushrooms in papilotte:


Calling this “mushroom soup in a bag” does it a big disservice, but that's what it is. Only it's the best mushroom soup i've ever had.

Secreto Of Iberico Pork with Squid:

Another dish that could be served without the add-ons but they only contribute further to some amazing ingredients.

Orange Pith Purée with La Serena:

The first of the desert menu. Probably the weakest of the desserts and was still very good.

Flan:

This was my favourite of the deserts, beautifully prepared mini flan round, surrounding orange ice. The rich creamy flan played fantastically against the sharpness of the ice.

Pan Con Chocolate:

This was a de-constructed chocolate cake and was wonderful. It consisted of cream and caramelized bread piped against the side of the bowl covered in cocoa/chocolate powder with olive oil in the bottom of the dish. The idea of the dish was to eat downwards and pick up all elements of the dish. Only just edged out by the flan as the best dessert.

Arroz Con Leche:

This was a play on a crème brulee with the cone taking the place of the top of the crème brulee and with three different flavours piped into it. The idea being that you eat it in three bites with each bite producing a different result.

Fizzy Paper:

This sounds exactly like what it is. A little tower of “paper” with citrus/sherbet fizz as it melts in your mouth.

25 Second Bizcocho:

Cooked in 25 seconds in the microwave this minute cake with cream inside made for a satisfying end to the meal.

“Air” Chocolates:

These would usually be served alongside an espresso, but i'm not a coffee drinker so they were washed down with the aforementioned pineapple upside-down cake drink.


Now the ugly bit – the meal itself came to a total of $322 (menu is 160, plus drinks, tax and gratuity).
Obviously this isn't your run of the mill meal and as an occasion, it's worth every penny. The only thing likely to stop me from going again on my next Vegas trip is my desire to go to Joel Robuchon.
The service is fantastic, with all of the courses explained as they're being plated in front of you which is a nice touch.


Back to the mundane:

Two of the guys from Dublin arrived and were staying at the hard-rock hotel. I headed out for a few beers followed by some 1-3 NL. Pretty uneventful night for me despite our efforts to liven up the game. I'm a huge fan of the Hard-Rock straddle – it's a Mississippi straddle with the button being the last to act – action goes from utg to cut-off as normal, then skips to the SB and BB and then finally to the button. Finished the game down $30 after the guys quit to get some sleep, but not without one of them getting busted with a pretty ugly slowroll when the villain had KJ on a JJK board. Stay classy bro!