The Best Doro Wat in Washington, DC

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Photography by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr.

Walk past any Ethiopian restaurant in Washington, DC, and you’ll likely be met by the enchanting scent of smoky spices and rich butter. To the region’s vast Ethiopian diaspora, the largest such community outside of Africa, this is unmistakably the aroma of doro wat, a chicken stew slow-cooked in a blend of spices known as berbere and a herb-infused clarified butter called kibbeh. The dish represents creativity, customs, and culinary pride.

Doro wat’s significance stretches back generations. In 1965, it was one of several courses served during a banquet for Queen Elizabeth II as part of her official state visit to Ethiopia, where she dined with Emperor Haile Selassie I. The dish, served inside the Imperial Palace, was accompanied by tej, or Ethiopian honey wine.

Doro wat is typically prepared with onions, garlic, berbere, kibbeh, chicken, and hard-boiled eggs. The dish is sometimes made with whole chickens broken into 12 pieces—purportedly to honor Jesus’s apostles—though many restaurants opt for the convenience of drumsticks. Other restaurants prefer chicken breast, making it easier to grab the meat with a torn, folded piece of the spongy Ethiopian flatbread injera.

When it’s ready, the stew is dark and fragrant, abundant with generous pieces of succulent chicken and eggs bronzed from cooking in the potent blend of seasonings. Doro wat is served with bundles of injera and vegetable sides designed to play off the tantalizing sauce.

In the DC area, cooks continue to perfect their versions of doro wat. Rich with history and plenty of spice, these are the eight best representations.

Chercher Ethiopian Restaurant & Mart

1334 9th St. NW

Alemayehu “Alex” Abebe comes from a restaurant family in Ethiopia. He opened Chercher in 2012 in DC’s Shaw neighborhood and has since opened two other locations—one in Bethesda, Maryland, and the other in DC’s Columbia Heights, which houses the central kitchen that prepares his doro wat. The dish is cooked in a berbere spice mix that Abebe’s cousin makes in Ethiopia to his specifications. It’s served with a healthy helping of thick yogurt on the side, a traditional way to temper the heat. The restaurant welcomes diners from all over the world thanks to thousands of positive online reviews and its proximity to the massive Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Indeed, one of the first things customers see upon arrival is a sign on Chercher’s door that reads “welcome” in 11 languages.

Tsehay Ethiopian Restaurant and Bar

2429 18th St. NW

Doro wat is not on the menu at this cozy Adams Morgan restaurant, but in-the-know diners head here for their fill on Ethiopian Christmas and Ethiopian Easter, when the restaurant serves the celebratory dish. It takes 24 hours and 10 chickens for co-owner Selam Gossa to cook her massive pot of doro wat. The process often leaves her hands blistered from stirring pounds of shallots as she adds berbere, kibbeh, garlic, ginger, and other spices to the mix. Gossa cooks the dish traditionally with all 12 pieces of a broken down chicken and serves it with ayeb, a homemade crumbly cheese that tames the spice. A waiter walks the bustling dining room scooping the savory stew onto plates. Gossa and her husband, Ted Yirdaw, offer it at no cost to guests as a service to the community. Lean into doro wat’s religious roots by enjoying it near a brown-and-white-paneled wall inspired by the ancient Yemrehanna Kristos Church in northern Ethiopia.

Das Ethiopian Cuisine

1201 28th St. NW

Diners at this white-tablecloth Georgetown mainstay have, over the years, included the likes of Stevie Wonder, Deepak Chopra, and Jessica Alba. The draw here, though, goes far beyond people-watching. Doro wat is customarily served over injera, but here the stew, prepared with juicy thighs and tender drumsticks, is served on a plate with injera on the side. Diners eat to the soothing soundtrack of classic jazz from the collection of owner Sileshi Alifom, who refers to the restaurant as “my house.”

Elfegne Ethiopian Cuisine

2420 18th St. NW

Mahlet Woldemariam calls herself an accidental restaurant owner. The Ethiopian immigrant originally planned to open a bridal shop. Instead, she joined forces with her family to open Elfegne in 2022, in the Adams Morgan space that previously housed Zenebech, a celebrated Ethiopian restaurant and bakery. Both of Elfegne’s cooks came to the restaurant by way of Zenebech, and prepare their doro wat with chicken breasts, an adaptation made at the request of loyal customers. Their version is prepared with no less than 100 pounds of onions cooked into each batch, giving it a distinct body and sweetness. If you have time, sit for a traditional coffee ceremony and savor it all in the inviting dining room.

Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant

1114-1118 U St. NW

This U Street spot has enjoyed a resurgence since Lydia Tefera, one of the owner’s daughters, took to TikTok to announce that the restaurant might close following a decline in business and the death of her father, Tefera Zewdie. Luckily for tourists and regulars, the community came out in full force to support the iconic restaurant, and a rave review from social media food critic Keith Lee drummed up even more buzz. Among many standout dishes is Dukem’s doro wat, made with chicken breasts cut into chunks and enveloped in a berbere red pepper sauce that’s spicy enough to make your lips tingle. The dish shares the spotlight with a flavorful tomato salad traditionally known as timatim—though the restaurant bills its version as Dukem tomato salad. Customers enjoy it all as they watch three large screens playing music videos of Ethiopian artists including Maritu Legesse and Teddy Afro.

Ethiopic Restaurant

401 H St. NE

At this H Street staple, opened in 2010, the husband-and-wife team of Samuel Ergete and Meseret Bekele take pride in serving what they eat at home, the same way they grew up eating it in Ethiopia. Doro wat, one of the menu’s highlights, is prepared with kibbeh that Bekele makes in-house to better control the balance of spices. To give the dish brightness, she plates it with timatim featuring tangy diced tomatoes, onions, garlic, and jalapeño. The cozy restaurant attracts celebrities and regulars alike, who dine in the glow of three showstopping illuminated columns decorated with letters that Egrete and Bekele stenciled from the Ethiopian and Eritrean alphabet.

Beteseb Restaurant

8201 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD

Across the street from two Ethiopian markets in downtown Silver Spring, this warm and modest restaurant attracts locals and eager tourists who eat under a large mural of Addis Ababa. Darmyelesh Alemu, who owns the restaurant with her brother, Aynalem Zedlek, makes her doro wat with a middle-of-the-road spice level that most diners can handle; Zedlek says it is traditionally much spicier back home. (By request, Alemu is happy to amp up the heat.) The dish arrives with zesty green salad to cut the richness. You’ll want to wash it all down with one of three imported Ethiopian beers: Castel, Habesha, or St. George, the country’s most famous.

Hawwi Ethiopian Restaurant

1125 Queen St., Alexandria, VA

Generous pieces of halal chicken are coated in a slow-cooked sauce to make the doro wat at this modest restaurant across the street from a barbershop and church in a quiet residential area; for the owners, high-quality, well-cooked chicken is key to the dish. Hanan Salim oversees the kitchen, and her husband, Befekadu Mosa, manages the space. The couple opened the restaurant in 2013, naming it for their daughter, who now works side by side with her parents. The restaurant’s proximity to historic Old Town Alexandria means customers come from all over the world.

Originally Appeared on Bon Appétit

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