On Saturday, I was invited to a birthday dinner at Taberna Del Alabardero. It’s a Spanish tapas restauraunt located on I Street NW in Washington, DC. We really liked the look of the place, with its high ceilings and red walls.
We were seated and placed our order for tapas and paella. They also give you as much bread, cheese, and olives as you’d like. They leave a bottle of olive oil on the table for dipping your bread. We all agreed that their olive oil tasted better then Italian olive oil. For tapas, we tried:
Deviled Eggs Stuffed with Tuna served with a Red Potato Vinaigrette and Fried Arugula – This was an absolute hit. We actually ordered two orders of this because it was so good.
Piquillo Peppers Stuffed with Braised Oxtail – This was my personal favorite. The oxtail was very tender and flavorful.
Marinate Dogfish Fritters with Creamy Tomato Sauce – The best part about this dish is that the dogfish was flash fried so they actually tasted very light. I also really liked the dipping sauce.
Jamón Serrano and Manchego Cheese – This was very thinly sliced ham with cheese. Very good, but a little pricey for what you get.
Marinated Octopus, Scallops, Mussels, Shrimp, Peppers and Onions – This was a seafood salad. Very good and fresh tasting.
Andalusia Style Fried Calamari – This was another one of my favorites. The calamari was delicious, and it came with this dipping sauce that took it to the next level.
We also ordered some paella because Saturday was the last day of their paella festival. We ordered the paella with suckling pig. It was very tasty, and they provided lemons to squirt over the food to give it a little kick.
We also ordered a few Spanish beers that paired perfectly with tapas. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the name of the beer they were serving. However, if you find yourself checking this place out, make sure you try a few.
We mentioned to the server that we were celebrating a birthday, so they brought out a strawberry with a candle in it surrounded by cookies. They also gave her a bottle of olive oil to take home.
Being that the bread, olives, and cheese are free, you can have a really great meal, be totally satisfied, and not break the bank.
[…] I returned to Taberna Del Alabardero for a birthday dinner. While the food was good, we did find that it was not as tasty as the last […]