Taberna del Alabardero, Washington, D.C.

It has been so busy this week, I've not had an opportunity to get out for Restaurant Week until today, and now that I've been out, I am so pleased with our choice! Ryan and I went to a late lunch at Taberna del Alabardero, an elegant Spanish restaurant just northwest of the White House.

The "Tavern of the Palace Guard" comes from an eponymous restaurant in Madrid, and has been in Washington for over fifteen years. The dining room is very attractive with a window wall to 18th Street allowing lots of sunlight into the room, where walls and ceiling are painted dark red with white ornamental architectural elements. Austrian shades in bold stripes cover the windows and also provide a presumptive room divider. Tables are covered with floor length golden yellow silk tablecloths topped with white cloths.

The Restaurant Week menu (for the uninitiated, during Restaurant Week, participating restaurants provide a three course meal for $20.07 at lunch and $30.07 at dinner) was rather limited, with only two choices per course, but we still were able to order different things and be happy.

Ryan opened with ensalada alabardero, the house salad with hard-boiled eggs, artistically carved tomatoes, and some delicious green olives (Ryan doesn't eat olives, so I took them).



I had the cold gazpacho soup. Their version is fully puréed, and the melange of vegetable flavors were nicely balanced.



For his main course, Ryan chose the trucha con arroz meloso de setas, judias verdes, y salsa Cantábrica, a grilled trout filet with a Cantabric sauce, accompanied by green beans and a risotto-like rice with mushrooms and cream. He said it was very good.



I had the pollo al ajillo con patatas al Romero, sautéed morsels of chicken cooked with garlic and presented topped with flash-fried rosemary-scented shreds of potatoes. While the potatoes, while good, weren't really that exciting, the chicken morsels were a pleasant surprise with their bold flavor and juiciness.



What excited me most about the restaurant is that after Ryan ordered his fish, an assistant came, removed his stock place fork and knife, and replaced them with a proper fish knife and fork! I loved it! (They were placed in the correct positions, but I moved them for the photograph.)



Dessert was a pair of very standard Spanish/Mexican desserts. Ryan had the flan tradicional, an egg custard flan with a dollop of crème chantilly and some strawberry sauce, and I got the arroz con leche, a rice pudding in a thick, rich, sweetened cream and garnished with aromatic cinnamon.




After dessert, I had a lovely little cup of espresso.

So, we had an excellent lunch in a lovely setting. I look forward to coming back again, though I will warn you that their prices are very definitely on the high side.....at their standard menu prices, this lunch would have cost twice the Restaurant Week rate. But, you know, it just may be worth it, and I'm very tempted to go back in September when they are having "Paella Month."