Washington, DC travel guide

48 Hours in Washington, DC: Cherry Blossoms, a Half Marathon, and Where We Actually Ate

We came to DC to run the Rock 'n' Roll Washington DC Half Marathon, raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and cross off arena #24 on our NBA Arena Quest at Capital One Arena. We ended up staying for the food, and this is the full list of everywhere we ate across 48 hours in the city, real names, addresses, and what to order.

$600 Money raised for St. Jude

#24 of 30 NBA arena

13.1 Miles run

▶ Watch the video See the Washington Wizards on our Arena Quest →

Where we ate.

 Bonkers' Chinese Burger 736 6th St NW, Washington, DC (Chinatown) 

Chinese, first meal in the city

Get: The crispy Chinese hamburger (a flaky, pork-filled pastry), liang pi cold noodles, saliva chicken, spicy beef noodle soup, and Hunan lamb

Our first stop in the city, and it set the bar. The Chinese hamburger came out ridiculously flaky and the beef noodle soup had real five-spice depth. The steamed dumplings tasted more like good frozen dumplings than fully house-made, but the noodle dishes were legit.

 Capital One Arena concourse Chinatown / Downtown, Washington, DC 

Arena food, Wizards vs. whoever's in town

Get: Skip the $20 Fuku chicken sandwich and the $14 fountain soda

Home of the Wizards, arena #24 on our quest. The building's layout genuinely reminded us of Crypto.com Arena, but the concession prices did not reward exploring: a $14 fountain soda and a $6.50 bottled drink, no Coke Zero anywhere, and Fuku wanting $20 for a chicken sandwich. We passed.

 Maketto 1351 H St NE, Washington, DC 

Michelin Guide, Cambodian fusion

Get: Crystal shrimp dumplings with tuk trey dipping sauce, sourdough scallion pancake, Cambodian noodle soup, five-spice fried chicken, and a pandan latte

The standout meal of the trip. The crystal shrimp dumpling has a wrapper way silkier than a Chinese har gow, and the Cambodian noodle soup is essentially a chicken pho with its own herb profile and a crispy fried donut on the side. The fried chicken had a thick, five-spice glazed crust that held its crunch. Their pandan latte, one of several coffee drinks on a genuinely broad menu (Cambodian, Chinese, and a little Thai), came out tasting like a sweetened latte with a mild pandan note. Not cheap (20% is built into the bill), but worth it.

 Union Market 1309 5th St NE, Washington, DC (NoMa) 

Food hall

Get: Po'boy and a shrimp basket, plus Puddin' and Cucina Al Volo if you have room

A cramped, chaotic, very local food hall, more so on a rainy day. The po'boy bread was soft to the point of being more bread than filling, and the fried shrimp basket ran salty, but the flavors were there. Puddin' (desserts) and Cucina Al Volo (Italian) are two more vendors in the same market worth a look if you're doing a full lap.

 Yeung Fong Chinatown, Washington, DC 

DC specialty: mumbo sauce wings

Get: Wings with mumbo sauce

Looks sketchy from outside, wings are legit. Mumbo sauce is a DC-only condiment, sweet more than tangy, and honestly we liked the wings on their own better than the sauce.

 Sabai Thai-Lao Dining 1610 20th St NW, Washington, DC (Dupont Circle) 

Lao food in a converted 100-year-old house

Get: Beef skewers with Lao dipping sauce, papaya salad, and sticky-rice sausage

One of the only places we could find for Lao food in DC, and it's set inside an actual century-old house, complete with a working fireplace. The beef skewers came out unusually tender for skewered meat, and the accompanying sauce had a sourness that cut through the fat. The sticky rice sausage was closer to Korean soondae than anything else we could compare it to.

 Heat Da Spot Café 3213 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 

Ethiopian breakfast

Get: The staff-recommended platter with eggs, injera, and a sambosa, all with a cilantro-avocado sauce

We went in on a recommendation and came out agreeing: this might be the best breakfast in the city. The injera had that expected light sourness, and the cilantro-avocado sauce carried a peppery kick that made the whole plate.

 DUA DC Coffee 923 15th St NW, Washington, DC 

Indonesian-style coffee and pastries

Get: A tea latte and a beef rendang pastry

DUA specializes in Indonesian-style coffee, and the latte we tried had a lighter body that read more like a tea latte than a typical espresso drink. The beef rendang pastry was the real find: a little fried, savory on the inside, and a genuinely unique way to eat rendang if you've only had it as a stew.

 maman 2000 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 

French-inspired bakery and cafe

Get: An oatmeal cookie, an 'eggs in a nest' pastry, and a chocolate croissant

A mid-walk tea break after four miles of sightseeing, and worth the stop. The oatmeal cookie won us over even though we don't usually go for oatmeal cookies, the 'eggs in a nest' pastry was distinctly chewy in a good way, and the chocolate croissant was our first since Paris, loaded with chocolate inside.

 Ted's Bulletin Washington, DC 

American, steak frites

Get: Steak au poivre and a Caesar salad

We hadn't had steak au poivre since Paris and had been looking to get it again all trip. This wasn't quite Paris-level, but the peppercorn cream sauce on a New York strip (not usually our cut of choice) won us over anyway.

 Kinfolk Washington, DC 

Southern kitchen

Get: Catfish, burnt ends, and a half dozen oysters

Our last full meal in the city. We skipped the line for a well-known oyster spot and paid double for the privilege of no wait here instead, and the catfish's cornmeal crust and the smoky-sweet burnt ends made that trade worth it.

Good to know before you go

Cherry blossoms weren't fully bloomed on our dates; if peak bloom matters to your trip, build in a few flex days or go a week later than you think.
The free Smithsonian museums and the public transit are both genuinely great and worth building your itinerary around.

Questions people ask us about Washington, DC.

What should I eat near Capital One Arena in Washington, DC?

Skip the arena concessions if you can. Fuku's chicken sandwich runs $20 and fountain drinks were $14 with no Coke Zero on our visit. Bonkers' Chinese Burger, a Chinese restaurant in nearby Chinatown, is a short walk and a much better value for a pre-game meal.

Where can I find Cambodian food in Washington, DC?

Maketto, a Michelin Guide-listed Cambodian fusion restaurant on H Street, is our top pick. Its crystal shrimp dumplings, five-spice fried chicken, and pandan latte stood out as the best meal of our trip.

Is there good Lao food in Washington, DC?

Sabai Thai-Lao Dining in Dupont Circle is one of the few dedicated Lao spots in the city, set inside a converted century-old house. The beef skewers and papaya salad are standouts.

When do cherry blossoms bloom in Washington, DC?

Peak bloom timing varies year to year and is genuinely hard to predict. We visited during a Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon weekend and found the blossoms only partially bloomed; build in flexibility if seeing them at peak matters to your trip.

What is mumbo sauce, and where can I try it in DC?

Mumbo sauce is a sweet, tangy condiment that's a genuine DC-only specialty. We tried it on wings at Yeung Fong in Chinatown; the wings were good enough on their own that we actually preferred them without the sauce.

Where can I get a good breakfast in Washington, DC?

Heat Da Spot Café for Ethiopian breakfast (eggs, injera, and a sambosa with cilantro-avocado sauce) was arguably the best breakfast of our trip. For something lighter, maman on Pennsylvania Ave NW is a solid pastry-and-coffee stop.

Is Union Market in DC worth visiting?

Yes, though it's cramped and chaotic, especially on a rainy day. We got a po'boy and a shrimp basket; Puddin' and Cucina Al Volo are two other vendors in the same market worth trying if you have more time.

Where can I find Indonesian coffee in Washington, DC?

DUA DC Coffee specializes in Indonesian-style coffee drinks. We tried a light, tea-like latte and a beef rendang pastry, a savory, slightly fried pastry that's a unique way to eat rendang outside of the usual stew form.

Is Washington, DC a good food city?

Yes, and it's more varied than its reputation suggests. In 48 hours we covered Chinese, Cambodian, Lao, Ethiopian, Indonesian, Southern, and French-bakery food, plus a DC-only condiment (mumbo sauce), all without leaving the city.

What should I skip at Capital One Arena?

The Fuku chicken sandwich at $20 and the $14 fountain sodas; there's no Coke Zero on the concourse either. Eating beforehand in Chinatown, a short walk away, is the better move.

More trips like this one.

See all travel guides →