Food Pics of the Week (FPOTW): Taberna del Alabardero

Taberna del Alabardero (***)

1776 I St NW, Washington, DC 20006

 
Taberna del Alabardero's awning
 

Since the hubby wanted food from his homeland, we decided to hit up Taberna del Alabardero in DC for brunch last weekend.

Boy oh boy walking into this restaurant really takes you to an old school bar/restaurant (i.e., taberna) in Spain.

 
Taberna del Alabardero bar area
 

Like most of our brunch excursions, we decided do brunch with bottomless cocktails. In additional to the $35 brunch (one starter and one main) menu, the restaurant offers bottomless red/white sangria, mimosas, and Bloody Marys (for an additional $18). Unfortunately, you have to stick to only one type of bottomless beverage. This was kind of sad because I wanted to have one rebujito – a typical beverage of sherry or white wine plus 7Up or Sprite. Oh well, next time.

Overall, the restaurant was amazing from the service to the food. However, I will say that the husband’s Spanish dishes that he makes at home are a little better. We had a lovely spread of food that included: huevos rotos con txistorra (eggs over easy with txistorra sausage), ensaladilla de atún (tuna & potato salad), patatas bravas (potatoes with a spicy mayo sauce), and pulpo (grilled octopus).

 
Huevos rotos con txistorra (eggs over easy with txistorra sausage) and Ensaladilla de Atún (Tuna And Potato Salad) at Taberna del Alabardero at Taberna del Alabardero
 
 
 

HA! I just realized that all of our plates were very potato-rich. I guess we can visit again when I need to carb-load before a half or full marathon.

The restaurant even gave the hubby a little treat for his b-day.

 
 

Random thought/question: Since this was a Spanish restaurant and the hubby has a Spanish name, I’m surprised they didn’t put Feliz Cumpleaños instead of Happy Birthday.

Since we were down to keep the party going, we decided to grab couple of scooters and hit up JR’s (on of our favorite LGBT post-Brunch bars).

 
Kwame and Pablo in DC
 

Fortunately for us, we arrived right before the deluge of rain, which took out a few trees in the area.

 
 

FOOD PICS OF THE WEEK - Bay Local Eatery

Bay Local Eatery (***)

72 Laskin Rd Virginia Beach, VA 23451

What an amazing brunch joint. This spot definitely is on the top of my list for weekend brunch excursions. The only issue: the place is super popular so wait times can be a bit long, and the place does not take reservations. Fortunately for us, we had to wait about 30 minutes for a table. You know how I am . . . I don't believe in waiting more than 45 minutes for a table. Actually, that was my rule for NYC dining. Perhaps, I might have to update this for my suburban life in Virginia.

Great Advice, Bay Local Eatery.

As some might know by now, I love Eggs Benedict, and I love oysters. . . so of course, my brunch dish was a combination of the two. Overall my dish was pretty delicious. Although the prep crew could have worked on the plating just a little bit. ;)

A slight rant:

Before I begin, this rant more or less is about dining in the mid-Atlantic region (specifically SE Virginia) and not about Bay Local Eatery.

Ok, I get that particular regions, states, and/or cities want their claim to fame in terms of cuisines. For example, N. Carolina and Texas, BBQ; NYC and Chicago, hotdogs and pizza; Southern California, fish tacos, etc. This region is known for crabs (and other shellfish delights) from the Chesapeake Bay, which is fine. BUT, here is what bugs me. Why do restaurants in the area have to put Old Bay Seasoning on EVERY GODDAMN THING?

Even in the picture of my food, you can see some Old Bay Seasoning on the lemon wedge. During brunch, my aunt and I were discussing this. I had to ask her to refresh my memory on whether this was a thing back in the day because I only remember having Old Bay Seasoning whenever we had steamed crabs. I never recalled seeing beverages with Old Bay Seasoning rims. Now, we have Bloody Marys, mimosas, margaritas, mojitos, and plain old glasses of water accompanied by Old Bay Seasoning.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO PUT OLD BAY SEASONING ON EVERYTHING because it really doesn't elevate the taste of eggs . . . or water.

Ok, rant over

FOOD PICS OF THE WEEK - Mel’s Place

Mel’s Place (***)

5020 Ferrell Pkwy Virginia Beach, VA 23464

Nothing too fancy . . . or even near fancy with this entry.

At this point, I think Mel’s Place is our local watering hole, especially since most of the bartenders know our names. Mel’s Place was the first bar that the hubby and I visited when we moved to Va Beach back in July. We came here immediately after unpacking the UHaul truck because 1) it is within walking distance from the house and 2) I did not feel like driving that damn truck anywhere else for the next 24 hours.

Mel’s pretty much is a come as you are and no frills type of place. Oh yeah, the food . . . pretty general bar/pub delights. Also, I had no idea that Virginia still allowed smoking in bars as long as there is a non-smoking area that is closed off from the smoking area. It’s funny how the smoking area/room is a smaller room in most places. Nope, not at Mel’s. At Mel’s the smoking room IS the main room.

The picture below is from our visit after I ran 16 miles for the (virtual) Crawlin Crab Half and NYC Marathon Training long run. Normally, my go-to, post-long run meal is more on the brunch side of things (ie some sort of meal with eggs). However, I did not really feel like driving anywhere, and the hubby still does not have his driver’s license, so we settled on Mel’s.

 
 

Here we have a screwmosa (mimosa plus vodka), lumpia, and chicken waaaaaangs. If you eat anything at Mel’s, you gotta go with the lumpia. Hell, Mel’s lumpia tastes a bit better than the ones served at the Filipino restaurant a couple of miles down the road. Oh, lumpia is like the filipino version of spring rolls. Oh (part II), since we made this visit on a Sunday afternoon, the wings were only 50 cents for Sunday football.

Also, it was here that I learned that there is no such thing as the Washington Redskins anymore. Now, they are the Washington Commanders. Sorry, I only watch football during the Superbowl.

FOOD PIC OF THE WEEK

The Rustic Spoon (***) 

1658 Pleasure House Rd., Ste 101, Virginia Beach, VA 23455

Dining here for breakfast (or was it brunch0 was the perfect way to end our quick ‘getaway’ to Virginia. Also, it is conveniently located near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. I am so glad that I had an opportunity to try (for the first time ever) a fried oyster eggs Benedict. I’ve had fried oysters plenty of times during my family Christmas brunch celebrations. But, why not combine these delicious bivalve mollusks with eggs?

fried oyster eggs Benedict.

I gotta say that going forward The Rustic Spoon will be one of my go to spots for brunch doing my trips to VA.

Food Pic of the Week

Jackson’s Eatery (***) 

 10-37 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101

Bringing in the fall season with a bang.

I took an ‘adventure’ to Long Island City to visit an old friend, catch up, and get my grub on for Labor Day weekend. I will say that I was pleasantly surprised that the 7 train was running quite efficiently during the weekend. Sometimes the 7 train is hit or miss with more misses than hits. Coming here was not really planned. We pretty much ended here because the restaurant had open tables in the shade and it was like half a block from the Jackson Vernon subway stop.

OMG! I want to come back to this restaurant at least eight more times so I can try more of their brunch items . . . and cocktails. What’s brunch without a few adult cocktails? Seriously, I was experiencing FOMO looking at the food at other folks’ tables.

In addition to the amazing food, the service was also top-notch.

Can’t wait to go back.