You could be in our nation’s capital, Washington, DC for weeks eating out for breakfast, lunch, dinner and late night snack, and still not experience all the good restaurants that are available. So when a colleague and I went to set up a lunch meeting in DC, and they were the one making the arrangements, I was curious where we would end up.
Room 51 (aka Tabard Inn Restaurant) is on the first floor of the Tabard Inn, which is the oldest continuously operated hotel (since 1922) in Washington, DC. Located on N Street NW in between 17th and 18th Streets about a block east of Dupont Circle, it’s actually pretty easy to find. As with many older city hotels, parking is specific to street parking and local garages (which are plentiful in this section of DC). In addition, we got there by using the DC Metro (around a 7 minute walk from the Farragut North Metro Station), which is the same method of transportation we used when we went to the Cherry Blossom Festival.
When you first walk into the Tabard Inn (hotel), the concierge is immediately on the left to greet you in the lobby. Just beyond the concierge also on the left is a set of double doors taking you into a lounge that serves multiple purposes. For us it was a waiting area before going into the restaurant itself, but we took notice that they have a rotation of excellent musicians that play throughout the week in the evenings in the lounge area. Check out this Youtube of Lena Seikaly and Steve Herberman playing/singing there one night in 2016. According to the schedule, Steve was scheduled to play in the lounge the night this article posted two years later!
Once escorted to your table, the restaurant/bar itself is warm and welcoming. It’s not a particularly large restaurant, and as such reservations are highly recommended, particularly if you’d like to secure a seat. It was crowded even for lunch when we went on a Monday.
The four menus (Brunch, Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner) exhibited a good choice of options, both traditional and new, accommodating pretty much any diet or diet restriction that someone may have. As an example, breakfast had such traditional favorites like their Tabard Donuts and Baked Scones, but also on the menu were berries with Wisconsin ricotta cheese, fresh-picked berries, orange zest, granola, and local honey.
For lunch, we kept it simple. We each ordered salads with meat, one with grilled chicken (no butter), the other Rockfish. The server was spot on with all the extra requests we made, smiling the whole time. The meal came out in a timely manner, and we both enjoyed our meal, leaving nothing left over (and they were sizable portions), attributing to the quality and taste of the dishes.
For DC, it’s certainly a reasonable cost, so that added to our overall positive experience.
It’s a great spot tucked in among numerous other restaurants in the area, but without question a quiet place to eat and a pleasant surprise for the palate.