I hope this isn’t a trend but yet again, we’ve gone to a new restaurant in Des Moines hopeful and left disappointed. Great decor in a cool old building downtown. Very unexceptional food. We probably won’t return. In the case of last night, we thought +39, an Italian restaurant in a beautifully renovated old building across from the sculpture garden would be interesting contemporary Italian – which sadly we haven’t found in Des Moines to date – because the owner is from Italy and allegedly had a restaurant in Sardinia (as well as Ames, Ia.) But nothing we had was interesting or even particularly good – and in many cases it wasn’t even hot (cold pizza, cold pasta, even cold cappuccino) which was disappointing on a surprisingly wet cold May evening. The raspberry gelato was indeed cold but it had the texture of ice cream. Good ice cream but not gelato. This is the third restaurant we’ve been to lately in downtown Des Moines that looked great but tasted bland. I’d rather have bland decor and great food. Or better yet – great decor and food!
Category Archives: Iowa
Des Moines – East Village’s Iowa Tap Room and more Cedar Rapids restaurants
We continue to be amazed and appreciative of the new restaurants and bars opening up in Des Moines, especially along our favorite bike route through the ever-growing East Village. Yesterday we stopped at the Iowa Tap Room which opened about two months ago in what would have been an anonymous building in a remote location just a few years ago. It’s a beer drinkers mecca with a giant Sukup metal grain bin in the center of the room’s wood, brick and metal furnishings that sprouts taps from about a 100 Iowa beers and ciders. There were plenty of tables (it’s got a roomy dance-hall feel) but we enjoyed sitting at the bar in from of the metal grain bin, sampling some Back Pocket Gold Coin (from Coralville,Ia) for dirck and Wilson Orchard Cider (from Iowa City). The onion rings were quite good – the rest of the menu didn’t particularly interest us, lots of fancy burgers, sandwiches, heavy stuff. But we’ll definitely visit again!
The DSM Register followed in our footsteps from last weekend, visiting Cedar Rapids restaurants (http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/entertainment/dining/2016/04/20/cedar-rapids-restaurants-dining-tour/82907664/) and featuring two of the ones we visited – Cobble Hill and NewBo Market. Here are a few other places they mentioned.
Filed under Des Moines, DINING, Iowa
Exploring in and around Cedar Rapids: NewBo market, Cobble Hill restaurant, Anamosa, Stone city
I’ve been curious for awhile to visit the NewBo market area of Cedar Rapids and so we finally did yesterday. I would have to say that it’s not quite there yet but that’s fine – Des Moines’ East Village wasn’t quite there for several years and then suddenly it is is very much there. The Market – inside a cavernous metal building has food stalls and a few food-related or home-stuffs stores, none that knocked my socks off (but then D. kind of ruined it by reminding me of the truly awesome market we went to in Lisbon – yes, Lisbon, Portugal, last fall…) D. had some okay mexican food. I had okay Korean dumplings. We walkeded past some of the cool old rehabbed buildings near the market in NewBo (New Bohemia) – not much there yet. There’s several restaurants (we’d already eaten) and a few shops (DSM’s Raygun just opened, which should be a draw – except for people in Des Moines and Iowa City who already have their own; there’s a small well-cultivated book store.) There was an antique shop (of sorts) closed on Saturdays at 3 p.m. (Really??)
We wandered over to the neighboring Czech Village – which is sort of like DSM’s Valley Junction area with antique and junk shops, plus a famous old Czech bakery. Didn’t find that much of interest.
We did have a very good meal at Cobble Hill, in an old brick storefront downtown. It’s named after a Brooklyn neighborhood (which my brother used to live in) and did seem to pull off the Brooklyn hip-rustic-make/it/yourself vibe, combined with friendly unpretentious Midwestern service and fresh Midwestern meat and veg used to produce sophisticated one-of-a-kind entrees that usually worked. The chef hails from a restaurant, the Lincoln Cafe, now closed, that we used to enjoy in Mount Vernon, Ia and was recently a Jame Beard semifinalist. My lamb was delicious – served with a salad that had so many notes, favors, ingredients I can’t begin to pull them all apart. Eating it was a bit like a dissection – is that broccoli? this is a weird little shrimp? is this green soft thing the spietzle? The dessert was truly bizarre – an egg-shaped scoop of what we believe was guava sorbet. Deliciously sour. Then a strange pale triangle take-off on an ice cream dilly bar, but with white chocolate outside and an inside that didn’t quite work – it wasn’t quite ice cream, odd consistency and not much flavor, then there were crunchy bits scattered around the plate that looked and tasted like fancy grapenuts and little dabs of purple stuff that was also sour and tasty. On the flip side, I had a deliciously simple homemade pomegranate limeade. And a plate of house-cured meats and veg was full of interesting flavors – my favorite a duck rillette (sp?) spread that was delicious when spread on top of grilled nutty bread with a dried cherry marinated in balsamic vinegar (my best guess here..)
Anamosa prison
There still isn’t much in Stone City (where Grant Wood once painted) – except some very pretty old limestone buildings including an old “General Store” that’s now a very busy bar and restaurant. We sat on the back patio overlooking the Wapsipinicon River on a beautiful afternoon. Lots of bikers were inside the limestone-walled bar and family groups in the restaurant. We had to stop and visit our favorite state prison/”reformatory” in Amamosa, a bizarrely beautiful old building that, as I recall, was built with the idea that beauty could help reform the worst lawbreakers. The Prison’s museum – another oddity – appears to still be in business although it was closed by the time we arrived.
And who says they don’t have a sense of humor in the small town of Ladora, Iowa: (see below)
As seen in Ladora, Iowa
Trying out Roka on Court Avenue in downtown Des Moines
With all the caucuses craziness going on, I neglected to report on our recent visit to the restaurant Roka on Court Avenue in Des Moines. The place was packed with young, attractive 30-somethings (who are these people?) when we visited on a Saturday night in January – and it was a good place for our group of seven to have drinks and share some “small plates” – highlights including pork belly tacos, flatbread with mushrooms and goat cheese, Asian lettuce wraps and pork sliders. I had to sit NOT facing the giant television screen behind our table or else I would have found myself completely distracted by the classic film, “Casablanca” which was on view. With all the commotion going on – when dozens of people crowd into a small cozy brick-walled bar – who needs TV screens alight with movies and ball games ( although mine is a minority opinion…)
Filed under Des Moines, DINING
Angry donuts at Table 128 in Clive (suburban Des Moines)
We had to order the “angry donuts” at Table 128 in West Des Moines — the name alone grabbed us, as did the menu description and they turned out to be about the best thing we had for dinner just before Christmas. They were sort of like fritters – a bit bigger than a golf ball, cakey and warm inside, crispy on the outside, with jalapeno bits and sweet corn in the batter and dusted with “parmesan snow.” A sriracha aoili offered an added kick. Delicious. I also had a very good and not too heavy or creamy potato leak soup while N and D had a cold brussel sprout salad with shaved manchego cheese and bits of La Quercia prosciutto (an Iowa favorite).
the main sources were inventive – I’m not sure I’ve ever eaten pheasant but if this was my first, it was very good. Very flavorful and moist meat (although very small portion) served with potatoes, a vegetable pancake made with shaved squash and a teensy sliver of foie grois . N had the trout which he liked but wasn’t bowled over by; D had a pork shoulder concoction – also liked. For dessert we shared a deconstructed (it arrived in a jar) citrus cheesecake.
Definitely worth another visit!
Filed under Des Moines, DINING
New restaurants to try in Iowa City…
We are kind of stuck in our ways when it comes to dining in Iowa City but here are some places that may be worth trying accouting to “Bread & Butter: 2015 Dining Guide”:
- Leaf Kitchen (locally sourced food and freesh squeezed juice
- Nodo (fresh baskery items and Brew City fries, sandwich board
- Sushi Kitcchin
- Oyama – Japanese, chirashi suschi
- Clinton Street Social Club – pork belly
- Donnelly’s
- El Banditos – beef barbacoa taco, brunch
Trying out Lurra Cocina in downtown Des Moines
We tried out the new Spanish restaurant Lurra Cocina in downtown Des Moines last Saturday night with friends and it’s off to a good start but could use some refinements. For starters, the “one-person” paella should be considerably bigger. Good flavor and seafood/meat in the dish but surprisingly skimpy portion. Especially if you’re going to charge $18, there should be more rice at a minimum. I’ve never ordered or made paella that didn’t produce leftovers…But this time, I was almost hungry after I ate it. Others enjoyed their hanger steak and pork dishes.
The appetizers were good – especially the stuffed dates (and I don’t even like dates much). And I was very impressed with the flan which wasn’t too sweet or too heavy. Crunchy churros with chocolate dipping sauce were delicious too. Atmosphere was pleasant – a bit loud but not too and fun to have the big picture windows looking out on a suddenly hopping downtown restaurant scene!
Filed under Des Moines, DINING
Iowa state fair 2015: heat, prez politics, cattleman’s
As I was adding a kernel of corn to the jar labeled “Clinton” ( as part of a highly unscientific tv station prez politics poll) some old crank grumbled “She won’t win.” Then he dropped a kernel into the Trump jar, and I couldn’t resist coming right back at him with “he won’t win.” So it goes during this Iowa State Fair during the run-up to the Iowa caucuses.
I was surprised to see how tiny the Des Moines Register’s soapbox is, where presidential candidates can hold court, if they can bear a heckler or two. Sunday’s selection was less than thrilling — Ben Carson (who I’ve already seen twice, without trying at the farmers market downtown) and George Pataki. My husband got to see Marco Rubio, amidst a sea of umbrellas on a very wet Tuesday at the fair.
Other fair impressions:
— we were astonished to see that the top prize is $2000 for the winning “casual appetizer” in the food hall. I am trying to convince my sister in law to enter next year (mums the world that she lives in LA.) another $2000 purse for the top bacon dessert.
– we finally tried the cattleman’s beef quarters for dinner. Good ribeye sandwich but couldn’t bear to try the hot beef sundae on a hot and humid day. next year, must try the lamb again.
– no real birds this year in “the avenue of breeds” due to the avian flu outbreak but the ceramic chickens on display instead was sweet. I did get an egg on a stick in the ag building..
– we seemed to know every other young wholesome kid working the applelicious food booths
Filed under Iowa
Iowa State Fair (and fair food) here we come!
- ice cream at the dairy barn (we love the peppermint squares from Bauders – in photo – but can get those during the year in Des Moines)
- pork chop (not on a stick) at the pork producers’ spot or lamb (my preference) at the less popular lamb producers’ spot) or ribeye steak sandwich from the Cattleman’s stand (never tried but well-recommended, as is the “”Hot Beef Sundae” which doesn’t sound appetizing in 90-degree weather)
- hard-boiled egg on a stick (given out free in the ag hall, even with avian flu jacking up prices)
- fresh squeezed lemonade.
- and maybe a cinnamon roll to take home for breakfast tomorrow… at Buni’s.
Also may try out some new things recommended this story from the DSM Register on Fair Food.
TakeBetsywithyou 