after dinner sneeze

t says: Some time ago, g and kp and I went to Jamonera and were quite unhappy with it.  Apparently, I had criticized one of their dishes by calling it a snoozefest (much like driving a Kia Cadenza) – yikes – I totally forgot about that – it’s a good thing we have this blog to remind us!  Undeterred by my “cute hyperboles”, a and v journeyed out to 13th street to sample Jamonera’s vegetarian tasting menu … and were blown away!  Check out their tasting menu for $40

t says: they took no pictures, but when we crashed their dinner (literally … we knew they were at dinner, we walked over to the restaurant, and then we invited ourselves over to their table before they had finished eating … I apparently have no manners …), but their summary is “it was the best vegetables we’ve had in Philly!”  When I inquired as to which dish was their favorite, they named very nearly every dish – but I suspect that the setas et juevos was their decided favorite.

t says: when we went last time, we didn’t get dessert.  Wow – we missed out on the best part!  We sampled some of a & v’s this time, and they were out of this world.  In the foreground above were some of the best fried dough I’ve had in Philly (with some beautiful caramel + ?chocolate? dipping sauce) …

… and this cake was absolutely delicious.  Thumbs WAY up.  Sure, both of these desserts are filling/hearty/heart-artery-clogging as all hell (i.e. these are not frilly itsy-bitsy desserts that’ll just slide in to an already full stomach – you need some space at the end of your meal otherwise you’ll be hurtin’!) but boy were they great!

Ok … so I guess the sneeze will have to lift its internal ban on Jamonera and give it another shot … eventually …  I think the biggest thing that stops us from visiting now is the wine program.  Much like Barbuzzo, it’s not the wine selection that’s a [big] problem, so much as the wine service: the red wine is served at warmer-than-room-temp!  We just don’t understand!  And this isn’t me just being hoidy-toidy about “correct” temperatures – it’s about cheap Spanish and Italian wines tasting like burning hellfire when consumed at too warm of a temperature – especially during summer!  At this point, I’d recommend they just stick all their wine in the walk-in and serve it super-cold … at least that way it’ll pass through an acceptable temperature range as it slowly warms up in the glass.  Geez!  *gets off his soapbox*.  Ok – I feel better.  Summary: Go to jamonera.  Eat the vegetables.  Try a meat or two.  Avoid their wine.