Tabard Inn
Coffee
Sugar Donuts and Whipped Cream
Blueberry Peach Scones with Blueberry Jam and Peach Butter
Housemade Granola and Yogurt
Housemade Bagel with Cream Cheese and Blueberry Jam
Boneless Fried Chicken and Bacon Waffle with Maple Cream Cheese Icing and 100% Pure Maple Syrup
Originally opened in 1922 and now the oldest continuously running hotel in Washington DC, a transfer of ownership to Edward Cohen and his wife in 1975 seeing the Restaurant reimagined as a place where everything would be cooked from scratch using locally sourced ingredients, The Tabard Inn had long been on a bucket list of American classics to visit and on Friday after a disappointing Breakfast elsewhere the decision was made to finally stop by.
Harboring more history than all but a handful of historic Inns, its utilization during World War Two as housing discussed in literature found on a table in the lobby filled with art and antique furniture plus various other relics, it was after checking in with the clerk that guests were led back to a dining room where several professionally dressed Men and Women sat lingering over Coffee, the concise menu presented before Dark Roast Coffee was poured and kept filled throughout the morning.
Dimly lit and heavily wooded, ownership intentionally leaving things as intact as possible including the rooms upstairs which supposedly still lack televisions, it was a team of two men speaking Spanish to one another that service was provided throughout the morning, most interaction perfunctory but efficient and orders taken without delay with check delivered shortly after it was asked for.
Perhaps as famous for their Sugar Donuts as the Hotel’s history, a strange fact as the DMV has seen a boom in Artisan Doughnuts recently that are far better than the somewhat dry rings served with Whipped Cream at $2 each, those looking for a better product at a lower price are encouraged to instead take a look at Tabard Inn’s seasonal Scones, the $5 trio served with housemade Jam and blended Butter currently Blueberry and Peach with the Scones not dry like those in England but Muffin-like, buttery and soft.
Still taking the ‘everything made in house’ theme as seriously as ever, both the Yogurt and Granola as well as Bagels with a good skin and nice chew made fresh daily, it was with a daily special of boneless Chicken and Waffles that the order was rounded out, the thigh meat exceptionally juicy with deeply penetrating spices while the bacon-studded Waffle was also quite pleasant, the Maple Cream Cheese largely unnecessary as the $15 plate was served with plenty of 100% Maple Syrup out of Vermont.
