The Ice Ridge

A few weeks ago a few of my friends posted some photos of their family's ice skating in Des Moines at The Ice Ridge.  It looked like they were having a blast and then I noticed they didn't have coats or mittens on!  Whatever they were skating on, wasn't ice, but they were wearing real ice skates and skating around this rink.  I had to find out what this was all about!

So, I took a trip over to the Southridge Mall today to check it out.  What a cool place!  I was greeted by Owner/Operator Burton who so nice and was excited to show me the "ice" which is really a synthetic material much like a cutting board that you skate on.  There are chairs all around the rink for spectators and lots of high chairs to hold on to for learners.  

The Ice Ridge offers classes and well as public open skating times and even birthday parties and special events!  Check out of the offerings and times at their website here.

Admission for public skating will run you $5 and skate rental is $3.50.  You can also purchase punch cards for discounted admission.

Very exciting to have something like this in Des Moines where you can skate year-round!  Take your kiddos out (or your adult friends) and support this cool place!

To the right is the weekly schedule and prices, but you can see this info better on the website as well.  They also have a Facebook page you can follow for special events and announcements.

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!

Salisbury House & Gardens

I had always heard the The Salisbury house was a beautiful place to visit, full of history.  It's on Tonawanda Drive in Des Moines (not far from the Art Center).  But, with a little one, I never really found a time to visit.  That is, until I realized all of the fun events that they do throughout the year!  We went to their Halloween event last year, and my son couldn't wait to come back for this year's event.  They had face painting, Story-time with Dan Wardell, fantastic decorations, crafts, spooky science experiments and more. It's a great event.

I had no idea until this year that they had Christmas-time events too!  We attended the Chocolate-making class hosted by Beaverdale Confections at the Salisbury House and it was a blast!  My six year old can't stop talking about it.  It was only $20 and he took home over 30 pieces of chocolate!

Luckily, my friend Lisa was able to attend the Gingerbread house workshop and she was nice enough to share about her experience with us!  Thanks Lisa!  You might remember Lisa from her last guest post about The Little Gym =)

Hi!  Lisa here guest posting today about the Gingerbread workshop at Salisbury House in Des Moines.  

My 6 year old has been asking to make a gingerbread house, and I’ve been wanting to see the Salisbury House-so this was a perfect fit!!  

We opted to purchase one house and one student ticket for $20, but if you have more than one child, you might want to purchase more than one house.  

We were greeted on a very cold day by a nice volunteer in a big golf cart offering rides up from the street (overflow parking) to the house.  Once inside the house, we were led downstairs to a room that smelled of candy!!  The gingerbread house kits came with candy, but the volunteers had provided a ton more!  There was a lot of decorating, and a lot of eating the candy!!  Christmas music was playing while everyone worked away.  After we were finished, we were encouraged to leave our gingerbread house to dry and take a walk around the house.  

My 6 year old enjoyed the tour as much as I did!  Our favorite room was Edith’s bathroom…check it out and you’ll see why.  The Salisbury House was beautifully decorated for Christmas!  This included a huge tree, some local celebrity decorated gingerbread houses, and Santa in the garage next to a gorgeous red Packard!  Overall, a great local experience.  They have a lot of events and are supported by donations so check it out!  http://salisburyhouse.org/

Make sure your follow us (Eat Play Love Des Moines) and The Salisbury house on Facebook so we can remind you about upcoming events! =)

Saraj

We really enjoyed our lunch at Saraj Restaurant the other day.  It's located at 1300 50th street, right off of 235.  

Saraj offers Bosnian food, but there is definitely something for everyone.  In addition to their traditional Bosnian dishes like Sirnica and Zeljanica (Phyllo dough stuffed with cheese or cheese and spinach) they have a variety of American items like onion rings and kids options to please everyone.

 We opted for the Bosnian Gyro which has the same fillings as a Greek Gyro you might be used to on Greek-style pita bread, but uses the thicker Bosnian bread and the chicken kebab.  Their tzatziki sauce was very good.  I was not a huge fan of the meat used in the beef gyro and will order it with the kebab chicken next time since the tender chicken was the highlight of the meal.  It had great spices and was really good with the fresh veggies and sauce. 

The fries came out hot and crispy and were a hit with all of us.

No worries bringing kids and/or picky eaters here, they offer hamburgers and chicken nuggets too.

They also carry a number of fresh bakery items like baklava and oblatne (thin wafer cookies with caramel or chocolate).  That was what we got as you can see in the photo.  Very good if you have a sweet tooth.  Make sure to save room for dessert.

They also offer freshly made cabbage rolls, but only on Friday nights, so I can't wait to go back to try them since I'm a big fan of cabbage rolls.

Definitely give Saraj a shot for something different.  It's in a convenient location and the service was good.  It wasn't lightening speed fast, but I'm willing to wait a little for cooked to order, hot food.  We'll be back soon!

Ps. They also have a location in Urbandale!

Viva La Bamba

I'm hard-pressed to pass up a fajita Friday.  So fortunately, Viva la Bamba (this time the location on Grand Ave, there is also one in Urbandale) stood up to the challenge.

Unfortunately, Viva La Bamba is one of the restaurants losing a lot of business because of the bridge closure at 63rd and Grand since it's location just over the bridge, on the Des Moines side.

Another interesting tid-bit is that, this summer a chain in Chicago called the owners and told him the name was infringing on their Mexican food chain's name copyright and he had to change it.  They agreed to change the name to just "Viva Mexican Restaurant", but the signs still boast Viva La Bamba for now.

So, today, I took detour around the construction and it was totally worth it.  I just love the Mexican restaurants who serve bean dip along with chips and salsa for an appetizer.  Honestly, I could probably just eat the whole basket of warm chips with their chunky (and very fresh) salsa and bean dip for lunch and be a happy camper.

But, alas, it was Friday (so fajitas were a must) and they'd probably not appreciate it if I only ate the free stuff and left.

Anyway, These were some darn good fajitas.  A huge portion of good quality chicken and fresh veggies accompanied by the familiar rice, beans, salad and tortilla that most restaurants serve.

A solid fajita Friday at Viva la Bamba.  Give them some love, especially since the bridge will now be closed until at least the middle of December.  Prices are great and they have margarita specials often!  They need our support!

Isla Cozumel

Usually when I'm in Urbandale for lunch, I end up at Sam & Louie's Pizza and a lot of times  Incredible Pizza (which has pretty good gluten-free pizza actually) because of the kiddo.  But I decided to try something new and headed over to Isla Cozumel.  It's in the same plaza as Taki in the former Mama Lacona's location.  I was struck by the sign that boasted $5.99 lunch fajitas and $6.99 dinner fajitas and I knew that's what I'd be trying.

It's easy to identify that you are in the former home of Mama Lacona's, but it does a good job making a Mexican joint too with some added decorations.

The menu was varied as most Mexican restaurants in town are and included most of the local favorites like enchiladas, tacos, burritos, etc. I always appreciate when ethnic restaurants include American choices for the kids because as much as I thought my child would be the kid that inhaled curry and exotic cuisine like it's his job, alas, he is a typical picky 6 year old who wants grilled cheese and french fries at every meal.  I digress...

My fajitas were good.  A great portion size for the price. well-seasoned chicken and your typical sides of re-fried beans, rice, salad &guac.

The service was great and fast.  Friendly waitstaff and a clean restaurant.  I'd dine again especially for their daily specials.  Kids 9 and Under eat free on Mondays.  $2.99 margarita's on Wednesdays.

If you like most of the other Mexican restaurants in town, you'll like this one too!  Always nice to have another option in Urbandale.

Witch Hazel @ Chocolaterie Stam

Every year, just before Halloween, Chocolaterie Stam on Ingersol hosts their Halloween event.

The event has been $10 per child for the last few years and is very well worth it.

The event usually takes place on a weekday evening and is announced on their facebook page a few weeks before the event.  Children arrive in costume and are greeted by staff who help the child pick a gelato flavor (included in the $10 fee) and they have all sorts of Halloween candy to top their gelato with.  Kids eat their sundaes until all the kids arrive and then Witch Hazel comes out and reads the kids a few Halloween stories with surprise Halloween treats in between stories.

I usually sit back and relax with one of my favorite drinks, a Stam Hot Cocoa and watch the kids have fun.

My son has enjoyed this event for the last few years and can't wait til next year!  Thanks for a great event Witch Hazel Chocolaterie Stam!

PS. Keep an eye on their facebook page for an announcement about their similar Christmas event!

Halloween Hoopla

The Halloween Hoopla is an annual event hosted by the West Des Moines Parks and Rec department.  It is held at the Nature Lodge at Raccoon River Park and it's a great place for this event.  Seeing the animals at the lodge is an added bonus for the kids.




We've gone for the past several years and my son loves it.  They offer Hack rack rides around the lake which is pretty cool at night, pumpkin decorating (pumpkin included in admission), crafts and roasting marshmallow for s'mores. Juice and coffee are included in admission as well.



The cost is $3 for ages 2-11, and $5 for ages 12 and up.



While this year's event has come and gone, keep your eye out for next year's event!  We'll be sure to let you know about it on our Facebook page!
https://www.facebook.com/EatPlayLoveDesMoines




Registration is done on the WDM website: https://reconline.wdm-ia.com



They start registration for this event in the late summer usually.  We'll keep you updated!

Raul's

I drive by Raul's Mexican Restaurant on 8th Street in WDM all the time and finally stopped in.  The sign out front for the lunch buffet sign caught my eye.  Tuesday thru Friday they offer an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet from 11-2 including salad, corn and flour tacos, enchiladas, pizza, rice and beans and more.  For $7.95 it didn't look like a bad deal.  But since it was my first visit I wanted to order something off the menu.

The decor was impressive and the restaurant was bigger than I'd expected from the outside.

I was greeted by a friendly server and presented with warm tortilla chips and salsa.  It wasn't my favorite salsa, but I was hungry and it was good with the warm chips.

The owner also stopped by to say hello and make sure my drink order was taken.  I definitely felt welcome.  The were a lot of "Regulars" that came in for the buffet since I heard a lot of statements like "good to see you again" and "back again!"  It was nice to see that the staff appreciated their customers.

I was excited to see that they offered a full gluten-free menu and they had kids meal specials on Tuesday and Wednesday nights where kids eat for $1.95.

I ordered the 1/2 order of chicken fajitas for $7.95.  The chicken was sauteed with plenty of fresh veggies and came with rice, salad, sour cream and gauc and tortillas.  Everything was very tasty.  I especially liked the fresh gauc.  Even though I like guac, I often skip it in restaurants because of the sketch factor.  but not here, I happily applied it to my tortillas and enjoyed.

I'd certainly return again to try some of their other menu items.  I was totally stuffed after my fajitas so I didn't get a chance to sample more, but I'll update you when I do!  I'll be back.