I went back to Las Vegas (my second trip as a vegan) less than two months after returning from the first trip. A friend of mine was going and I decided to tag along. This time I was staying at the brand new Cosmopolitan and was pretty excited about it. On a side note, I really enjoyed it there and would definitely recommend the resort.
As you could expect, I immediately looked into the menus on their website. I was concerned at first that I couldn’t find anything definitive within their 13 restaurants so I decided to call their Concierge Desk for assistance. The woman I spoke with immediately suggested both Jaleo and China Poblano once I told her I was vegan. I had seen their menus already and didn’t think there would be anything that interested me but I took her word anyway. What’s the worst that could happen? I’d have to venture out to the same restaurants I’d been to already? So what? No big deal. I’m a pro now as a Vegas Vegan. Haha
On my first night I called again to the Concierge for suggestions on where to eat. Why? I don’t really know. She also suggested Jaleo and China Poblano. I was so hungry at that point that my friend and I just headed down to Jaleo in hopes of finding not only something vegan, but something delicious. That IS the point, no?
My friend and I were starving so we were extremely happy that we were seated right away. When our server arrived I asked her for suggestions on what to order given my “special dietary needs” (as my friend likes to call it). Haha She went through the whole menu and pointed all the different tapas I could order. I must say, she did a great job of selling the menu. She also advised us that most people order 2 or 3 different tapas so given how hungry we both were, we ordered three each. My (carnivore) friend surprisingly ordered two vegan tapas (Pan con Tomate and Gazpacho estilo Algeciras) and one non-vegan. I chose Setas al Ajillo con La Serena, Trigueros con Romesco and the Papas Arrugas.
The tapas are served as soon as they’re ready and the first to arrive was the Pan con Tomate. My friend was kind enough to share and for that I’m grateful. I expected it to be similar to bruschetta but it was actually very different. It was less oniony and more tomatoey (yes, those are culinary terms).
Next up was the gazpacho. I'll be honest, I had never tried gazpacho before because it always weirded me out that it was a soup that's meant to be served cold. My friend started raving over how good it was and that I should try it. I decided to step out of my comfort zone and just taste it. It blew me away! I'm now officially a gazpacho fan and scouting the perfect recipe...
Finally one of my tapas arrived - Trigueros con Romesco which is grilled asparagus in a romesco sauce. To put it simply, it was fantastic. If you like asparagus you must try this one.
Another tapas I ordered came next - Setas al Ajillo con La Serena (sauteed wild mushrooms over a potato puree). Being the mushroom lover that I am, this one was over the top. If memory serves, there were chanterelles, trumpets, wood ears, possibly others...? The mushrooms were served over a potato puree, but more on that later (read Part Two).
The last of the tapas were my friend's non-vegan dish (no need or reason to discuss here) and my Papas Arrugas which are baby potatoes meant to be dipped in one of two sauces - mojo verde or mojo rojo. This tied with the gazpacho as my favorite tapas of all. The sauces were out of this world! I asked a couple of times what each one was made out of and despite how similar and simple they were, I can't remember now. All I know is that I was really bummed that I was so full already and couldn't eat more than a few. My friend was more than happy to polish them off!
Needless to say, we had a really great meal! The food was truly exceptional and the service was too! It was so great that I stopped in a couple nights later. For more on that visit, read Part Two!
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