Restaurant: Taberna del Alabardero (http://www.alaberdero.com/)
Location: Farragut West
Total Rating: 4.3
Food: 5, Price: 2, Service: 4, Ambience: 5, Accessibility: 5
Summary: With its traditional Spanish cuisine and beautiful atmosphere, evocative of Old-World Spain Taberna del Alabardero has been designated as the “Best Spanish restaurant outside of Spain” by the Spanish government and has received recognition as one of the best restaurants in the country by Washingtonian magazine, Gourmet , The New York Times and Condé Nast Traveler. Though the restaurant regularly plays host to diplomats and dignitaries, General Manager Paco Pena treats all guests specially, and welcomes them as he would into his own home. Executive Chef Dani Arana continues the restaurant's mission of providing the best of Spain's cuisine by offering classical dishes, which reflect various cooking styles from the country's regions, including Basque, Andalucía, Valencia and Galicia. In addition to lunch and dinner menus, guests may choose from a tapas menu and a complete vegetarian menu. Closest Metro is Farragut West.
We decided to try this restaurant after hearing of their offering of a Paella Festival. Fifteen different varieties of paella available to try for $28 per person (each dish serves 2) for 15 days in September. The décor was bold and romantic, and we were seated right away by the friendly staff. We opted to splurge on the Lobster Paella for an extra $7 each. Figuring the dish would be large enough we passed on appetizers, which seemed to displease our waiter as we did not receive an amuse buche that we saw other tables getting. We did order a nice bottle of Spanish white wine though. Presented table-side, the paella was colorful and lovely with a large lobster split in two. After devouring my meal, I was too full to order dessert, but the options looked delicious. Several of the tapas items seemed tasty as well. Although a little overpriced for my taste, I would go back to Taberna del Alabardero for a special occasion.
What I ate:
Rice dish served with a whole lobster in the shell, scallops and calamari.
