Category Archives: Des Moines

July 8, 2014 · 11:26 pm

I’ve finally found a better Vietnamese restaurant in Des Moines – Pho All Seasons

Photo: Try our Mi Hoanh Thanh(Wonton Egg Noodle Soup) BBQ pork wrapped in wontons with egg noodles in a clear broth. Available with either steamed or fried wontons , shrimp is extra by request .

I’ve been shopping around for a better Vietnamese restaurant here in Des Moines and I finally found one. Pho All Seasons is a five-month-old restaurant on Des Moines’ east side  (Euclid near SW 14th north of Grandview College) and the food was as good as I’d heard. I had my usually dish Bun – charbroiled pork, grilled shrimp atop a bed of vermicelli, with lots of fresh greens, bean sprouts, mint leaves – and it was delicious. The meat wasn’t gnarly or icky (as it can be elsewhere) and well-seasoned. The shrimp was grilled and again lots of flavor. There were a few chunks of ham as well – which I’ve never seen in bun – and it was good ham. All right, all right, all right!

My friend had a bahn mi sandwich – well stuff with pork in an airy white bun – and a papaya salad that didn’t look like a papaya salad (the papaya was thin white strips) and there were slices of pork. She liked. We didn’t try the signature dish – the Pho or another soup Mi Hoanh Thanh (Wonton Egg Noodle Soup) BBQ pork wrapped in wontons with egg noodles in a clear broth. Available with either steamed or fried wontons , shrimp is extra by request .(see photo ) but maybe next time. Also intrigued by the eggroll within a springroll concoction.

The ambiance was also pleasant and the service prompt and cheerful. I’ll be back! (Check out the restaurant’s facebook page for some more surprisingly alluring food photos!)

Photo: Come in and try the Chef's signature five spice lemongrass grass beef, grilled on open flame served with broken rice, veggies and side of eggs by request.

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June 9, 2014 · 1:53 pm

British breakfast (what else? Scottish breakfast?) at The Royal Mile in Des Moines

 

 

On a bike ride Sunday through Des Moines we were looking for a place to stop for brunch downtown after finding Mullet’s  oversubscribed (perhaps it’s because there was a Cubs game happening soon at the stadium across the river from Mullets’s.) We chanced upon The Royal Mile and glad we did – the brunch menu had a wide selection (“American” and “British” breakfast) and the cozy pub interior was busy but not packed so we got a table for five easily. My poached eggs with Guinness roasted potatos and banger sausage was hearty, tasty. The Bloody Mary, a muddy brownish-red was spicey and good – it came with a little chaser of beer (never seen that before) that I gave to my coffee-drinking husband. The corned beef hash came with cubes of corn beef – I prefer shredded bits (aka “hash). The breakfast pastie – sort of cross between a Cornish pastie and an omelet – was heavy but good flavor. So we’ll be back if we’re in need of brunch. We rode an extra 5 miles or so (we’re not exactly sure since our speedometer is broken) on the Great Western Trail south of Cumming (Iowa) to work off, we hope, some of our brunch.

 

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May 21, 2014 · 2:48 pm

Dining options during evening bike rides in Des Moines

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Above is a rendering of what the Magnolia Kitchen & Grocery food truck will look like.(Photo: Special to th

In preparation for Ragbrai, we are trying to ride our bikes at least one weekday evening a week – often Tuesdays so we can eat at Tacopocalypse stand outside the Cumming Tap (in the small town of Cumming, Iowa.) But sometimes we ride on Wednesday or Thursday on the Great Western Trail south from Des Moines when tacos aren’t an option at Cumming Tap (Wednesday, we discovered last week, is steak night there, which is a bit heavy for us.)

So I was pleased to see other options available in Jennifer Miller’s latest excellent food column for the Des Moines Register. See below! They’re not in Cumming but they are along our bike route, which includes Gray’s Lake (where Confluence Brewing is located) and the trail at 63rd and Grand (where Pal Joey’s Lounge is).

Here’s the options:

TUESDAY Magnolia Kitchen & Grocery at Pal Joey’s Lounge; Tacopacalypse at Cumming Tap

WEDNESDAY Magnolia Kitchen & Grocery at Confluence Brewing 

THURSDAY  Magnolia Kitchen & Grocery at 515 Brewing on Friday evenings or The Levee, patio on the east end of Court Avenue. Woody’s Smoke Shack food, and Confluence  beers.  open 4 p.m. to midnight Thursday.

FRIDAY  The Levee, patio on the east end of Court Avenue. Woody’s Smoke Shack food, and Confluence  beers.  open 4 p.m. to midnight Thursday.

SATURDAY   The Levee, patio on the east end of Court Avenue. Woody’s Smoke Shack food, and Confluence  beers.  open 9 p.m. to midnight

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May 14, 2014 · 12:57 am

Eatery A – Malo – Des Moines!

seedcornphoto (57)Eatery A was as busy and noisy on a Saturday night as expected last weekend – also fun and good food so that helped. Located in a former Blockbuster video store on Ingersoll Avenue in Des Moines, the restaurant is a mashup of middle eastern and Italian from what I can tell. Lots of lamb, pizza, harissa, figs, dates, feta. We ordered a few too many things with figs – including a pizza with figs and proscuitto and greens and a green salad with figs. But the lamb sliders were excellent as was the “cucumber salad” – although it was more delicate fresh greens, including a free mint leaves, with some cucumber slices, feta, pomegrate seeds and a tangy lemon dressing. The desserts were interesting – we had “donuts” served with lemon curd, which were a bit like beignets, light fried dough dusted with sugar and a cake made with cornmeal or polenta that had an odd but interesting crunchy texture, served with a dollop of very good dark chocolate ice cream. The decor is lots of distressed wood that looks like it’s from an old barn and fun chandeliers. It was a bit too dark to be able to read the menu – especially the red section of the menu. We had to use our cellphone flashlights. We’ll be back.

We also peaked in at Malo, the new Latin restaurant opening this week in the way cool new former 1930’s firehouse location of the Des Moines Social Club – how great to have all these new options in Des Moines. We also wandered over to nearby West End Architectural Salvage, which had some great albeit pricey crafts including some terrific bags made out of old seed corn bags.socialclubphoto (56)

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April 28, 2014 · 7:12 pm

Tacopocalypse, The Cheese Shop, Creme, Trellis – expanding dining scene in Des Moines!

It really struck me last weekend when I celebrated my birthday on several occasions that Des Moines has so many more interesting dining options than it used to have, just a few years ago. Here’s a few:

Tacopocalypse – This hipster taco place in the East Village serves some creative tacos – including Korean versions like bulgogi – in a funky old building just east of the restaurant Alba. It was a little too quiet on a Saturday afternoon – but nice to be able to sail in and out quickly mid-bike ride. (We originally tried Zombie Burger but it was way too packed and the wait way too long.) Our favorite was the lemongrass pork taco but also want to try the sesame pork and one of the bahn mi sandwiches next time.

– The Cheese Shop – I’ve been here for lunch before but not for a pre-theater snack, which it turned out to be perfect for. On a Saturday at 5:30 the little place in the Roosevelt Shopping Center was packed but we still found a table and had a lovely cheese board and some hard cider for me (hazy dazy…good!) and beer for D. Just enough to last through a performance of the fantastic musical “Once” at the Des Moines Civic Center.

– Creme – And then after the theater we went for dessert and a drink (tea for me, wine for D) at this cute little place off of Ingersoll Avenue. I had an over-the-top flourless chocolate torte. Dirck was very happy with his pineapple upside down carrot cake. Cute place and glad to see it busy too at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night.

– Trellis – On Sunday at 11 we met two friends who also have April birthdays for our traditional joint b’day celebration, this time at this lovely  new restaurant (-top photo) at the Des Moine Botanical Center, which is getting a major overhaul and already looks much better. The chef is a friend, the talented Lisa LaValle, who used to work magic at the Des Moines Art Center restaurant and is doing it again at the Botanical Center. I particularly liked my red curry chicken soup – and my bloody Mary – and a superb piece of strawberry rhubarb pie (a b’day treat from Lisa.) There’s a cool exhibit of hanging plants (for lack of a better description) at the Botanical Center right now and I was impressed with the high-quality crafts and toys and garden-related stuff in the gift shop. We’ll be back!

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April 17, 2014 · 11:00 pm

Kinky Boots and Paul Taylor Dance coming to Des Moines

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Always look forward this time of year to finding out what shows will be coming to Des Moines during the 2014-2015 season – and as usual there are a few I’m excited about! Paul Taylor Dance comes on Nov. 8 to the Civic Center – following on the heels of the wildly successful visit by Alvin Ailey Dance in March, this is a good sign of more topnotch dance to come, which has been sorely missing in Des Moines and in Iowa City since the demise of Hancher Auditorium (soon to rise again on higher ground!). Also excited to see “Kinky Boots” – the Tony award-winning best musical. Saw the movie – look forward to seeing the show. Feel the same about “Once” which I’ll see next week on my birthday. What a treat!

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March 29, 2014 · 5:24 pm

Good food irritating service at the “new” Proof in Des Moines

We finally got around to trying the “new” Proof restaurant in Des Moines which has been under new ownership for some time.  The food was pretty good – especially the meat (pork, steak) which was well-seasoned and presented – but the server was way overbearing, which was irritating.

If you’re truly a sophisticated restaurant, you don’t need to point this out repeatedly to your diners. Nor do you need to repeatedly ask for feedback (i.e. compliments because really, what else will a polite diner say to the server’s question “How was it?” – although after hearing this several times, I was ready to growl.) To make matters worse, the actual serving of the dishes was slow and mismanaged – so the bread came long after the salad (which to my mind didn’t have enough dressing or dressing with flavor, although the greens were good) and the coffee was going to come so long after the excellent desserts that we cancelled it. The menu – which came in three pieces also needed streamlining. We were dining to catch up with old friends, not to do some light or not-so-light reading.

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March 2, 2014 · 9:01 pm

Coronado cafe, Biltmore Hotel – Phoenix

finally got a chance to see a little more of Phoenix after many years of whizzing past the city to Tucson (and occasionally Scottsdale). we were in the area around the Heard Museum, driving down straight flat residential roads lined with way tall Palm trees, past lovely old stucco bungalows and Spanish mini villas. we had an excellent lunch at the funky Coronado Cafe, which oozed low key charm and served a fabulous crabcake(the owner proudly revealed her Baltimore roots). also excellent key lime pie and fres lemonade. we did a quick drive through the Roosevelt arts district which had some promising looking galleries and boutiques and along 7th street and the Coronado historic district.

Also visited the famous Biltmore hotel, with frank Lloyd wright-like architecture, lovely gardens and a way cool pool.

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February 22, 2014 · 11:14 pm

Blue Tomato Kitchen in West Des Moines

Blue Tomato Kitchen

Tried out Blue Tomato Kitchen, a casual Italian restaurant operated by Baru 66’s french chef David Baruthio. It opened in  January a former coffee shop in what I guess is West Des Moine’s Valley Junction. It was hopping on a Friday night and we found one open table. Service was swift and we were in and out in an hour or so (although not in any particular rush.) The food was fine  – didn’t bowl us over. We had a thin crust pizza with anchovies (on my side at least, my husband doesn’t like them) olives, chilis, tomatoes. Good. Salty. Light. And spaghetti bolognese which didn’t have the long-cooked meat flavor of my version – more tomato-ey. Good enough.  We also shared a little piece of lemon ricotta cheese cake topped with gooey dark cherry sauce. Good too. We’ll give it another go and nice to have as an easy option.

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February 17, 2014 · 4:53 am

World Food Prize Headquarters and Howard Buffett photo exhibit in Des Moines: worth a visit

I finally got to walk around the renovated downtown library in Des Moines that is now the headquarters for the World Food Prize and was blown away by the restoration/renovation effort. It was always an elegant 19th century building but it got pretty shabby in the mid 1990s when my children visited the library there regularly as Downtown School students. With all its stain glassed windows and murals and wood it always hinted of a previous, more elegant life. Now it’s back to its former glory and well worth a walk around. The restored WPA murals on the bottom floor are particularly interesting, tracing the history do Des Moines from prehistoric era to 1941. And the Howard Buffett photos of people from across the world facing hunger issues is mesmerizing. So visit when
You can. (There was an open house last weekend.)

THE WORLD FOOD PRIZE HALL OF LAUREATES is open to the public for tours from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., free of charge, on most Tuesdays and Saturdays. Please call 515-247-2222 for open house dates. Click here for more information.

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