Chris V.
Yelp
So good, you'll probably món.
Jamón jamón is a Spanish tapas spot that relocated to middle-of-nowhere Henderson earlier this year. We're talking the entire plaza looking deserted on Sunday afternoon. I mean it's so far that even the chef had trouble getting there on time.
I'll be here all week.
Well, no, but I actually do wish I could be here the whole week after seeing the values on their weekday happy hour menu (M-F 3-5pm). Sadly, the best we got was a complimentary order of their bread ($8.00) for our wait. On the plus side, that was one of my favorite parts of the meal. The bread has a nice thick crust and good levels of chewiness throughout. The freshly grated garlic and the sweet tomato jam are great accompaniments too.
You may be well-served to save some bread to enjoy with some of the tapas. The Mixed Olives ($10.00) are really potent on their own, but the bread and tomato jam worked well to temper them, and the Salchichon Bellota ($16.00) also worked well with bread alone or bread and garlicky oil. FYI, there is a mild acorn note on that sausage, although it's not as prominent as in a Jamón Iberico (which I skipped out on this time). These items, as well as the flavorful but slightly salty Mushrooms Al Ajillo ($15.00), would also work better if we'd ordered an alcohol pairing of some sort
The best bite was actually the Cubanito ($16.00), a mini Cuban sandwich that was amazing in every way. The crispy bread, the savory roast pork, the mustard and pickles were absolutely symphonic. I shy away from superlatives like this, but it's really the best Cuban I've ever had.
Coca de Higos ($16.00) is a very fun small app too. Described as a Spanish pizza, it's got Jamón Serrano, goat cheese, arugula, and fig glaze on a crispy cracker crust.
The Mussels ($19.00) were interesting. They're tinier than most and don't taste especially better on their own, but the orange, vermouth, and spices are a drastically different and more subtle flavor profile than what I'm accustomed to. Dipping the bread in the sauce worked well here too.
Last but not least, the Crispy Pork Belly ($21.00) showed up. It was not quite the star of the meal as I'd hoped as it was a bit tougher than other crispy pork belly preparations I've had in the past. We're talking like both my friend and I were struggling to cut through that sucker with a serrated knife. On top of that, the rice was a bit dry. The mustard sauce worked so well with the pork though, once we got it into smaller pieces. It was good overall.
The music was mostly Christmas-y since that's just around the corner. Service was solid, which was expected because only one other table showed up while we were there, so hopefully word gets around and more people discover this restaurant.
Jamón Jamón is truly a hidden gem and is worth a trek for something far from the usual. I'm looking forward to returning for happy hour and to try some of the bigger entrees (paellas, steaks) and desserts some time.