Wasabi Chi

I have really enjoyed my experiences at Wasabi Chi.  It's located on Douglas right near the Merle Hay mall.  It's sister restaurant, Wasabi Tao opened last year downtown.  

As you can probably guess, I was in this last visit for a Bento Box to continue my Bento Box tour of Des Moines!  I assumed it would be a lot like the one I had at Wasabi Tao, which was great because I liked it a lot.

To my surprise, it was much different.  I ordered the teriyaki chicken box and was promptly presented with miso soup.  I did hear another diner ask for hot and sour soup instead of the miso, so apparently that's an option too.

The miso soup was ok, but not as awesome as the spicy egg drop at Wasabi Tao.  My salad could have used a little more ginger dressing, but overall it was a great box.  And at $7.95 a great value as usual.

The chicken was juicy and especially good.  The "obligatory fried side" was a shrimp rangoon (tasty).

I like that they offer kids meals (Little Ninja meals) and they really have a wide menu including lots of Asian favorites like Pad Thai, fried rice and of course lots of awesome sushi.  Wasabi Tao and Chi both do a great job producing constantly good sushi.  Check out both locations and see which is your favorite!

Wasabi Tao

Wasabi Tao is the sister restaurant to Wasabi Chi (which is located near the Merle Hay Mall) and is located downtown on Walnut St, right across from the Gramercy Tap.

Being that I'm on a Bento Box kick, I stopped in for a Bento Box of course!  I'm getting quite versed on the Bento Box offerings at each restaurant in town and I definitely have some favorites.  It's refreshing that each offers such different options and I was not disappointed with Wasabi Tao's.


They have such a large selection that it was hard to choose.  They offer chicken, steak or salmon teriyaki, shrimp tempura, yaki udon or sushi or sashimi boxes.

I went with the chicken teriyaki so I could keep it an even playing field to make a better comparison with other boxes I've tried it town.

I have to say, Tao's box stood up the competition pretty well.  At $8.50 it's just a great value.  I was first impressed that I was offered a spicy egg drop soup in lieu of the miso and it was fantastic.  You can't go wrong with creamy ginger dressing over some fresh salad and their California roll was excellent.  The chicken teriyaki was in a rich sauce and I appreciated the fresh steamed veggies.  The shumai wasn't my favorite "obligatory fried side" that I've had in a local box, but it was tasty.

Over-all a winning box.  More food than I could finish for lunch and so much variety.  Ahh..the   wonders of Bento Boxes.  They service a lot of the downtown lunch crowd so it gets busy at lunch time, but they are fast and efficient with a good amount of seating.

It's obvious that I'm addicted to Bento Boxes and I'll happily order one from Wasabi Tao again soon.  Try it out or come in just for the great sushi, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Shhhhh...It's a secret!

Dishcrawl Des Moines' first Secret Supper did not disappoint.  Tickets were $49 and guests were told of the meeting location and menu the week of the event.

The first Secret Supper was prepared by Chef Mike Holman in the private room at Dos Rios Cantina and Lounge on Court Ave.  I had the pleasure of interviewing him before October's Battledish competition and you can read about it here.

The venue was cozy and nicely decorated for the intimate group of 15 for the event.

This was seriously one of the best meals I've had in a while.  Chef Holman outdid himself on this one.  Drink pairings were also offered and got rave reviews from the diners.   I was smitten with the blood orange cocktail I had.

The Amuse course was a cold smoked seared foie gras with black mole, duck chicharron and black mint & apricot compote.  The flavors surprisingly blended so well together.  It was excellent.

The first course was an ancho infused tamale with slow braised goat shoulder, charred tomatillo salsa and jalapeno pickled onions that added just a little kick. It was superb and the goat was tender and delicious.  I loved it.

The second course was a sweet corn bisque with fried octopus, crispy chorizo, cilantro and garlic jalepeno crema.  These flavors
together worked so well.  This was a favorite among a lot of the diners.

The third course was a seared sea bass with Spanish cannelloni ragout, braised swiss chard and lemon ginger espuma.  They must have had this bass flown in today because it was incredibly fresh and and perfectly flakey.  It was my favorite dish of the evening.

The fourth course was picadillo stuffed rotisserie quail with crispy tacu tacu dressing and romesco cream sauce.  Chef Mike called it his version of Thanksgiving.  It was fantastic.  Almost too cute to eat, but the flavors meshed so well.

The fifth course (yes, another course!) was a chile crusted rack of lamb with fried smashed plantain, spiced black bean sauce and mint jalapeno jam.  The black bean sauce made the dish.  I didn't care for the texture of the plantain as I'm used to it a bit softer, but the flavors of this dish were great.

The sixth and final course was a dessert of leche fritz, goats milk caramel, vanilla apple chutney, powdered hazelnut espresso brittle and white chocolate cinnamon tuile.  Can you imagine fried cream?! It was stellar.  Heavy and sweet and heavenly.

This was an overall great event.  I feel like Dishcrawl's events get better with each one and I'm looking forward to Cocktail Wars next month.  Great job Chef Holman and the staff at Dos Rios and kudos to Dishcrawl on a great first Secret Supper event.

Eat Play Love Des Moines Night @ Confluence Brewery!

Don't miss it!  Proceeds from this evening's event will go to Buy Fresh Buy Local Des Moines!  This is a family-friendly event!  Please RSVP on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/407552842680118/?ref=3&ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular

Sakari

I'm officially on a Bento Box kick.  I love the boxes at Miyabi 9 and recently had a great one a Sakura Sushi in West Des Moines and Wasabi Chi on Douglas near Merle Hay Mall, so I decided to go for it at Sakari Sushi Lounge on Ingersol.



 The first photo is someone else's meal  I just had to snap a shot of since they were making it right in front of me at the sushi bar and it looked cool.

This place was busy!  Definitely a fun atmosphere and the chefs were were having a great time behind the bar.

The bento box was $12 which is a little more expensive than the other restaurants in town, but instead of the standard 1/2 roll you usually get, this included your choice of any of the special rolls they offer.

The menu said you could get a salad or miso soup, but I didn't specify and it came with a house salad which was fine.

While I prefer all white meat, the chicken teriyaki was very tasty and a good portion.  The highlight of the box though was the dynamite shrimp.  I have found a new addiction.   These are shrimp and cream cheese lightly tempura battered and fried.  OMG.  Amazing!


All-in-all I loved the fun atmosphere here.  I can see having a great time with friends eating sushi and drinking some cocktails.  The bento box portions were slightly larger than others, which was good because of the increased price and the dynamite shrimp was worth every calorie!  The sushi was beautifully presented and fresh.  Great meal!  And if I had any room left I would have went for the green tea cheesecake.  Next visit.

Up-Down Vintage Arcade-bar

The newest addition to the ever-growing East Village area in downtown Des Moines, Up-Down, is best described as a playground for adults.  It's located at 500 E. Locust St.

You must be 21+ to enter this "Barcade" that boasts just about every video game from your youth that you can think of like Mortal Combat, PacMan and The Simpsons.

Life-sized Jenga games and Connect-four can keep you busy for hours as you enjoy the wide craft beer selection as well as retro-inspired drinks like "Princess Punch" and "Super Mario-garitas".

Play some Skee-ball or see how your pin-ball machine skills are holding up.  I have faith that I was much better at Street Fighter when I was 15 than I am now.  But it's looks like I'll get to practice a lot more now that Up-down is open.

Games are all a quarter except for a corner where a Super-Nintendo has a spot in a complete living room set-up with coffee-table and all, where you can choose your game and play your heart out for free.  Jenga and Connect four are also free.

Drink prices are reasonable and that's a total plus since I can see a lot of young professionals spending many evenings getting reacquainted with the games of their childhood here.

The "Barcade" will be open 5pm to 2am every day starting Friday, October 11th.  On the 11th they'll hold a grand opening where the first 50 customers will get 10 free tokens each to play.

Check out Up-down for your next date-night, girls night out, or send the guys out for an evening of bonding.  You're sure to have some fun and most likely take a trip down memory lane.

The Continental

The Continental is on E. Locust street in the East Village.  I've heard some great things about it and when I got word that they had Taco Tuesday's where tacos are $1.75 and margaritas are $4.  My mom and I ran down for lunch to check it out.  They don't have a blender so the margaritas were on the rocks which was OK because they were very tasty.  

We had a choice between pork and tilapia for the tacos and I ordered two pork and a tilapia because fish isn't my favorite, but I wanted to try it.  The tilapia one was actually awesome!  They were topped with a mango salsa and were really good.  The pork were good too, but I was really impressed with the tilapia.

They also had sangria on the menu for $5 so I decided to try one of those too. Love.


This was my first meal of the day, so at this point I was getting a little drunk, and a little nervous since I had to pick up my son from school soon and they usually frown upon drunk parents at pick-up.  So I decided to cut myself off.  

Seriously though, this was a satisfying lunch for a Tuesday afternoon special.  We'll come back soon to try some of the other menu items.  They had an impressive list of tapas and small plate items which I'm excited to try because I hate to just order one meal, I like to sample it all.  

My biggest complaint was just how dark it was in the restaurant.  I mean beyond ambient, we were literally sitting in the dark since the only open seat when we got there was in the way back of the restaurant near the bathrooms.  Up front near the window would have been just fine, but literally my mom and I couldn't see each other, but maybe it's a good thing it you are perhaps on a first date....

Baru in The Art Center

As you might have heard, the Art Center restaurant has been taken over by Baru.  Chef David Baruthio, who also owns and operates Baru 66 in Windsor Heights is now in charge of feeding the hungry Art Center visitors.  How cool.

The beautiful courtyard dining is still available as well as indoor seating, all located at the Art Center (which has free admission every day) on Grand Ave in Des Moines.

The restaurant is closed on Mondays, but offers lunch Tuesday through Friday, Dinner on Thursdays and lunch on Saturday and Sundays.  

The menu boasts soups, salads, sandwiches and heartier entrees like duck leg, pasta marinara and salmon risotto.  All of the Vegan, Vegetarian and Gluten-free items are clearly labeled on the menu and there are plenty of options in those categories.  

My friend and I ordered the cheese plate and appreciated that there were two of each item which was conducive to splitting along with some spiced walnuts and raspberry jam.

My friend enjoyed her salmon platter and I was most happy with my "Chef's Casserole" which was sauteed filet with mushroom, onion, bacon and fried egg. It was a nice portion and very tasty. A great gluten-free option.

I'd certainly visit again.  Entrees start around $10.  Service was efficient so you could probably take kids along if you were visiting the Art Center, but it wasn't particularly kid-friendly as far as menu choices.  

All-in-all a lovely meal with a nice selection of wine, beer and cocktails as well.  A great place to take out of town guests for a special occasion, Mom for her birthday or date-night on a Thursday evening for the Prix Fixe special.  When the weather cooperates, make sure to snag a courtyard seat.  The scenery is beautiful.

China Cafe

Upon recommendation from a friend, I headed to Johnston to check out China Cafe.  China Cafe is definitely a favorite for lunch in the Merle Hay area since it filled up quickly.  The friendly staff was very efficient though and meals came out very fast.  

When I first perused the expansive menu I was nervous that this was going to be just another so-so Chinese place when I saw that meals were only about $5 and included soup, a spring roll, entree and rice.  But much to my delight it wasn't so-so at all.

The hot and sour soup was tasty and not overly-salty.  I requested an order of crab rangoon and was asked if I would like a half order since I was alone which was lovely since I didn't need 6, and I didn't know you could get half-orders.  I was super impressed that upon receiving two crab rangoon, my server informed me that another was being cooked for me since one of my three fell on the floor in the back.  How honest!  I wonder how many restaurants would have just wiped it off, plopped it back on the plate and called it good.  Especially where they were so busy and they were freshly cooked.  They were some of the best crab rangoon I've had in Des Moines to boot.  Sweet and creamy and fresh out of the fryer.  Perfect.


For my entree, I ordered the cashew chicken.  I was shocked to see that all of the veggies were fresh.  With the one exception that I would have liked to see all white meat chicken, this was a fantastic meal.  And my total bill with a diet coke...$8. I'm impressed.  Check out China Cafe if you get a chance.  I give it an "A" for value, quality and service.  

Two people just this week have suggested I try China Cafe (not knowing I was already there last week) =)  They say it's just as good for dinner or take-out.  Check it out!