Martin's Tavern, Georgetown, D.C.

After our evening at the Kennedy Center for the Mahler, our little group headed up to Georgetown for an aprés-concert supper at Martin's Tavern. Even though it was 11 p.m., the place was busy and we had to wait a bit for them to empty and then clear a table for us.

Robert drank Dewars on the rocks, Laurent had some kind of cloudy beer, Ian did Coke and I had tea.

For starters, Laurent got the French onion soup. It smelled strongly of beef broth. Ian had a simple side salad.



For main courses, Ian got the penne with tomato vodka cream sauce and added grilled chicken. Robert had fish and chips with cabbage slaw (and it was a big slab of fish, too).


Laurent had the Martin's Delight, an open-face turkey sandwich topped with Welsh rarebit (cheese) sauce and slices of tomato and bacon served in a little iron skillet. I had a Cobb salad with long strips of grilled chicken breast and avocado.



After our meals, Ian and I got dessert. He got the bread pudding in bourbon butterscotch sauce (everyone loved the sauce but thought the bread pudding was "eh") and I got the carrot cake.



Laurent and Robert drank their dessert, each having an Irish coffee.


The food for the evening was generally okay. The problem? Service. Yes, I know it was a busy evening, but not only was our waitress seldom around, it was nearly impossible to get her attention when she was in the dining room. Drinks were not refilled. Inquiries about the satisfactory preparation of our food were not made. Plates were cleared only because there was a busboy running around, and many of our requests had to be relayed through the busboy. Other nearby tables with different waiters seemed to be getting much more satisfactory service, so it wasn't a universal issue.

When we left, we timed it perfectly, as the Circulator bus was just then coming down the street to take us home.