TEN years ago you'd have had to recruit a team of special agents to find a half decent restaurant in Washington DC.

Because, despite being the capital of the United States of America, it was notable for its dreary dining.

But I am pleased to report, after immersing myself in a meal at Zola in the historic Penn quarter, that there has been a terrific gastronomic makeover.

Affable chef Frank Morales chats with chomping customers, agreeing that my braised bison with crispy shallots was a particularly good choice.

Hmmm. Mind you, the devilled jumbo lump crab cakes with a lobster-sake dressing looked equally mouth watering.

New restaurants are springing up in Washington like ants at a picnic. The Firefly close to the fabulously named Foggy Bottom district boasts a tree laden with lanterns set in the dining area.

Or you could dip into the astonishing Caf Atlantico where the intense Latino and Oriental ingredients are like white water rafting for the taste buds: crispy coconut rice squid, duck confit with passion fruit or oysters with mango-lime oil are a must.

I capped off my evening of feasting with a saunter along the northern bank of the sweeping Potomac, the river that separates the city from the rolling hills of Virginia.

I mused that life in this sedate city is sweet. The air was heavy with the pungent aroma of cherry blossom trees that were originally planted a hundred years ago as a gift from the Japanese government.

In fact, the Cherry Blossom Festival, held in the early spring, attracts droves of Americans. But to UK visitors, despite being ranked just behind Independence Day, it is still one of America's great secrets.

The gentle blossoms, captivating scent even made the long queues for the Smithsonian Institution, one of the world's finest museums and collections of historic memorabilia, upbeat.

And the stunning National Air and Space Museum, another arm of the Smithsonian, proves that when Americans do something they do it on a monumental scale. Now on two locations, the flagship can be found in Independence Avenue, known as the National Mall, in the heart of the city.

With ten million visitors every year it is arguably the most visited museum in the world. And it's all free.

Seven miles beyond the Beltway close to Washington Dulles Airport in Chantilly, Virginia, is the Udvar-Hazy Centre. It opened last December, to mark the 100th anniversary of the first powered flights by the Wright Brothers.

Here you can stare in awe at the Enola Gay, the huge Boeing B-29 that dropped the first atom bomb, or marvel at the space shuttle Enterprise.

Close by is the Apollo 11 command module Columbia that took Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins to the Moon.

And you are allowed to touch a piece of hallowed rock from the Moon.

Tagged America's Hangar, the exhibition contains John Glenn's Friendship 7 spaceship that nestles alongside Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Vega or Lindbergh's Spirit of St Louis, the first aircraft to breeze across the Atlantic.

But here's another intrigue: a dedicated Spy Museum, offering the biggest public collection of international espionage artefacts. It is an interactive exhibition encouraging visitors to pretend they are a spy and choose a cover identity. Later they are interrogated' over the details as they try to leave. It's hugely popular and marvellous fun as the School for Spies reveals the secrets of the trade.

My suggestion that spying should be secret was met with a loud but friendly guffaw from an attendant.

He pointed to a sign that told how in 1777 General George Washington asked Nathaniel Sackett to set up a network of spies to obtain the best intelligence of the designs of the enemy'.

Presumably he meant us Brits. Well, we get our own back because there is a section dedicated to James Bond, and he never existed.

A must though on any agenda is a hike up the pencil like Washington Monument, which at 555 feet is the tallest building in the city where planning laws ban skyscrapers.

Your gaze is drawn to Capitol Hill and, further down the Mall, the White House where crowds wait patiently for a glimpse of the President over the fabled lawns.

For lighter moments, do a spot of people watching over a latte in the city's remarkably gothic style Union Station, or ride a famous wooden clad tram on a sight-seeing tour.

If your experiences of America include wallowing in the heat of Florida or pushing through stifling New York crowds you'll find Washington a refreshing change.

In fact, with the lingering smell of cherry blossom, it could almost be a European city but keep that under your dinner plate.

Ken Bennett flew to Washington DC as guest of BMI who recently relaunched its transatlantic route with six flights a week from Manchester.

Return fares cost from £239 excluding taxes. The UK's second largest full service scheduled airline and flies to 46 destinations from 12 UK cities.

It launches a similar service to Chicago and Toronto this spring.

Further details visit www.flybmi.com or call reservations on 0870 6070 555.