-
Market Lunch
Inside historic Eastern Market alongside the butchers and bakers and candlestick makers, this unassuming take-away counter serves some of DC's freshest, tastiest seafood. Crab-cake platters, soft-shell crabs and fried oyster sandwiches don't get much better than this. Saturday and Sunday morning brunch features equally delicious, butter-and-syrup-soaked pancakes (blueberry, buckwheat or blue-bucks).
-
Martin's Tavern
John F Kennedy proposed to Jackie in booth number three at Georgetown's oldest saloon, and if you're thinking of popping the question there today the attentive waitstaff keep the champagne chilling for that very reason. With an old English country scene, including the requisite fox and hound hunting prints on the wall, this DC institution serves a mean burger and icy cold pints of beer to college students and senators alike.
-
Marvelous Market
Besides gourmet grocery store items, this chain also carries fresh bread, pastries and sandwiches, making it a good bet for stocking up on picnic items or healthy cheap dinners to eat back at the hotel. There are other branches scattered around the city.
-
Maxim
Russian and Georgian specialties, regional wines and vodka, and international panache will take you to the Motherland for dinner. And we're not talking sad-looking Soviet salads here. Thick, rich soups, spicy Georgian treats like shashlyk (shish kebabs) and khachapuri (cheesy bread) and bliny (Russian crepes) with caviar reveal this Old World cuisine as it was meant to be. This is the place to meet Russian-speakers in the DC area.
-
Meskerem
To many folks, Adams-Morgan means just one thing: Ethiopian food. You can eat it at several restaurants, but the leading place is Meskerem, named for the first month of the Ethiopian calendar. This place goes for an exotic atmosphere, with traditional woven straw-basket tables and camel-leather hassocks. Use your hands to sample beef, poultry, lamb, seafood and vegetarian dishes, which are served on whole-wheat injera (pancake-like bread).
-
Mie N Yu
It's been around for more than a few years now, but Mie N Yu shows no signs of losing its coolness. Featuring an eclectic menu and exotic decor, it's the coolest lounge-restaurant in Georgetown. The seven different rooms represent the world's exotic wonders - from the suspended birdcage room in the back to the opium-den colonial Silk Rd bar.
-
Mimi's
It calls itself an 'American bistro' but the menu and decor say otherwise: Walls are elegantly draped with Persian rugs, an appetizer for sharing, called the 'Peace Meal,' features hummus and baba ganouj (eggplant dip) and, the last Sunday of the month, Mimi's hosts an Arab-Jewish dialogue for anyone wishing to participate. Meanwhile the waitstaff, all starving musicians, occasionally break into singing opera or playing jazz piano.
-
Minibar At Café Atlantico
Located in a corner of Café Atlantico, adventurous foodies flock here for a unique dining experience. The pre-set menu of 30 tasty morsels - ranging from cotton-candy-slicked foie gras to a whisky sour frothed up in a shot glass - is whisked up by well-known local chef José Andres before your very eyes. Many of the creations are delightful, but the chef sometimes seems more interested in creating something bizarre than worrying about its taste.
-
Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe
As much a sensory experience as the exhibits themselves, this fabulous cafeteria is tucked away in the Museum of the American Indian. An airy joint with booths as modern and curvy as the museum it resides in, it features five food stations each focusing on a different Native American region and its indigenous ingredients. Menus rotate daily. If in doubt, you generally can't go wrong with the South American station near the entrance.
-
Moby Dick House Of Kabob
Why it's called Moby Dick is a mystery, but this is another hole-in-the wall joint serving tasty Persian food into the wee hours. The highlight is the pita bread, fresh and warm from the clay oven. Daily lunch specials are around US$7 .
-
Advertisement
-
Monocle
The best place to spot your senator off-duty and glass-in-hand is this good ol' boys' club just behind the Capitol. The dark bar only helps to boost the haughty atmosphere. Check out the walls festooned with politicians' quotes ('If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog'). The food - surf-and-turf American classics like salmon and rib eye steak - is less appetizing than the people watching.
-
Montmartre
You may mistake Capitol Hill for Paris if you dine on the patio at the city's best French bistro. Apparently the building used to be a post office, but you wouldn't know it now for its pretty dining room and clean-lined bar. It's chaotically cozy and perfect for lingering over a bottle of red. Culinary masterpieces include delicious chilled soups in summer, fresh fish seared to perfection and tender, juicy steaks.
-
Mourayo
Art Deco meets seafaring at this Greek restaurant known for its low-key yet intimate dining experience. The seafood dishes are delicately prepared and full of robust flavors. There is a lengthy list of ouzo and reasonably priced Greek wines. Be sure to save room for the desserts, which are as simple and appealing as the ambiance.
-
Nam Viet
Serving consistently good Vietnamese food, this homely place features uncomplicated cooking including especially rich and tasty pho (beef noodle soup). Digs are a bit unimaginative, although a few creative pieces of art grace the walls. The quality of the food compensates for any lack of ambiance, however. This place has scored numerous awards for taste and bargain.
-
New Heights
This airy 2nd-floor restaurant, winner of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) design award, overlooks Rock Creek Park. Acclaimed chef Arthur Rivaldo serves up delicious new American dishes with Asian and Mediterranean influences and complementary wines. Specialties range from local jumbo lump crab cakes (and they do mean jumbo) to the exotic Opaka-Paka Hawaiian red snapper grilled with black trumpets and grapefruit.
-
Nora
Nora is the queen of the Washington food scene. She has made her reputation serving food from local farmers and ranchers, usually organic and always fresh, and combining ingredients in innovative ways. All this happens in a quaint carriage house on one of Dupont's loveliest corners.
-
Obelisk
Oh the pleasure of dining at Obelisk. You need only do it once, but you need to do it. The small and narrow dining room feels almost like eating at someone's kitchen table, and the three-course Italian feast is lovingly prepared with first-rate ingredients. The menu changes daily, but doesn't offer much selection (picky eaters should call ahead).
-
Occidental Grill
This DC institution is practically wallpapered with mug shots of congressmen and other political celebs who have dined here throughout the years. Although the Occidental isn't the nerve center it once was, plenty of bigwigs still roll up their pinstripes to dive into hamburgers, chops and steaks.
-
Old Ebbitt Grill
This all-American saloon has been a venerable favorite with Washington's good ol' boys since it opened its doors around 1846. Serving local choices like Maryland rockfish, crab cakes, steak and burgers, the brass and wood lends a powerful atmosphere and the place is always popular with DC's power-broking crowd. Don't miss the delightful Sunday brunch.
-
Olives
Just north of the White House, Boston-based chef Todd English operates this stylish, two-story hotspot. The kitchen-side bar upstairs offers prime seats, particularly for solo diners: You can watch the sous-chefs chop and stir, then order whatever whets your appetite. Handmade pastas are a good bet, if you can resist the aroma of the juicy, wood-grilled steaks and veal.
-
Advertisement
-
Oohh's & Aahh's
You'll find DC's best soul food at this barebones U Street joint popular with everyone from the homeless to sports superstars. The down-home southern cooking comes in plentiful portions and remains affordable for the residents living on this still edgy part of town. A plate of three heaping side portions costs just around US$8 , while for around US$13 you can score meat or fish plus two sides. The ambiance is as unfussy as the food - this is a spot meant for eating not socializing.
-
Palm
Fun for people-watching as well as meat- eating, this classic American steakhouse is a media and political celebrity magnet (Larry King likes to hang out here). Everyone's lunch seems to consist of sirloin, straight-gin martinis and cigar smoke. Its waitstaff are renowned for giving their customers a hard time.
-
Paolo's
Pop into this Italian bistro at night when the vibe is rowdy and crowds waiting for a table (try to score a coveted on the outdoor patio or by the big street-side windows) spill onto Wisconsin. Brick-oven baked pizzas, grilled meats and pastas complement the award-winning wine list and with the white table clothes and lots of ambient noise it makes an easy-going first date spot.
-
Pasta Mia
People line up on the sidewalk for generous servings of 20-some kinds of pasta made the way your mother does (if she is an Italian gourmand). The heaps of delicious pasta are worth the long waits and brusque treatment, which are all part of the experience.
-
Pavilion Café
Boasting a panoramic view of the National Sculpture Garden , the Pavilion Café offers specialty pizzas, sandwiches, salads, desserts and assorted beverages as well as a children's menu. The café features a seasonal tapas-style menu on Friday nights in the summer, when DC-area jazz musicians put on free concerts.
