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....

Interview with Chef Mike from Dos Rios

We got a sneak peak at what Chef Mike Holman, Executive Chef at Dos Rios is going to be serving up for competition during BattleDish on October 5th!  We are already fans of their regular menu, lunch specials and happy hour appetizer and drink specials, but Chef Mike is cooking up something new for the Battle.  Read our review of the lunch menu here.

Chef Holman has been cooking professionally for over 17 years.  After figuring out early on that he wouldn't be using his degree in Finance, he went back to school at The Iowa Culinary Institute to pursue his real passion.  After working at a cafe in Ames for 7 years, he's had much success in his culinary endeavors such as being the Executive Chef at Americana at it's opening and also at Tartine.  He's now had the opportunity to be the Executive Chef for Dos Rios and Big City Burger and Greens.  Look out for some big news coming soon this fall too!

For the competition he's featuring an Argentinian beef tenderloin with fire roasted peppers, pickled onions, boiled eggs, mango vinaigrette and arugula served on homemade French rolls.  YUM!  It will be paired with a South American sangria cocktail with cachaca, absinthe, orange liquor, Mexican brandy, fresh fruit and topped with pino, wow!  This is going to be some fierce competition.

We are totally impressed with the lineup in this competition.  They are featuring the Executive Chefs from BOS, Liberty's, Alba, Tacopocalypse, Proof and Gusto!  Here is more info about Battledish and how to purchase tickets.

Chef Mike enjoys his job because it is never the same two days in a row.  He's excited about Battledish because he loves a good competition. He knows his food can stand up to the best, and on October 5th we'll see where he stands!

If you can't make it on October 5th or just can't get enough awesome food, check out Chef Mike's Tequila dinner on October 17th! A 5 course meal paired with hand-crafted tequila cocktails.  There will be giveaways, guest speakers from Silvercoin Tequila and more.  Don't miss it!

Open Sesame...There's no magic, just great food!

Open Sesame is one of those restaurants that I would keep driving by (on locust street in the East Village) and would keep saying to myself, "we need to try that place", but I would aways forget.  Well, we finally made it and of course I'm kicking myself for not getting over these until now.  It was awesome!

It's a pretty small place, but it wasn't too busy over the lunch hour even though I suspect it's the place to be in the evenings.  The restaurant is beautifully decorated with seating at the bar as well.

The menu boasts selections of traditional Mediterranean items like falafel, grape leaves and shwarma.  They offer hummus plates and salads as well as gyros too.

We started with the vegetarian grapes leaves which were so amazing.  They were warm and stiffed with rice and chickpeas in a lemony sauce.  So good!

I also ordered the Open Sesame salad which was just as good.  The spices on the chicken were perfect and the light- house dressing was addictive.

I'm pretty sure I would have liked anything on this menu and can't wait to go back and try more.

They have plenty of vegetarian options and the service was friendly and prompt.

The prices were average and well worth it.

Check out Open Sesame for something different from your normal burger or burrito (and healthier).  You'll love it!

Trostel's Dish

I have been a fan of Trostel's Dish since their opening, which I just realized was way longer ago than I thought.  I remember driving by the location on University Ave and being so exctied that a Tapas restaurant was opeing in Des Moines!  Man I must be getting old because that seemed like just yesterday, when in essence it must have been at least 6 years ago now.

Anyway, if you're like me, deciding on just one menu item can be tough, so that's why Trostel's Dish is awesome.  The average price per place is about $8 and 3 plates is usually enough to satisfy me and my husband for dinner, but it of course depends on your appetite.  You don't have to order all of your plates at once either, you can start with a few and order more if necessary.

On our last visit we had 3 dishes from three different regions.  The first was from their Mediterranean menu, the Arancini.  We had our American favorite, the Truffled Chicken Macaroni and Cheese and ended with a selection from the Latin menu, the Crispy Lamb Tacos.

The Arancini was described as creamy risotto balls with sun-dried tomatoes, basil and mozzarella with arrabbiatta dipping sauce.  These were heavy on the cheese and the soft risotto along with the tomato-based dipping sauce made them resemble a pizza-bite type creation.  Not a bad thing, they were very tasty but tasted more Italian rather than Mediterranean. Still very good, and we'd order them again.

The Truffled Chicken Mac & Cheese is our go-to menu item here.  It's described as braised chicken, elbow pasta, asiago and blue cheese finished with white truffle oil.  It is as amazing as it sounds.  The first time we ordered this dish we were smitten by the sharpness the cheese gave it and it has never had as much kick as that first time, but none-the-less, we still love it.  Look at those chunks of chicken. Yum.

Finally we had the Crispy Lamb tacos.  This dish would have been fantastic with a little more seasoning on the lamb and a sauce.  The description was slow roasted Onion Creek lamb in a crispy corn tortilla with onion-cilantro relish and jicama slaw.  I was hoping the relish would have more body to flavor the lamb but it fell a little short.  Adding the jicama to the taco really helped but a sweet/spicy salsa would have made this dish great.  I appreciated the quality of the lamb though.

They use local ingredients and change their menu seasonally so I didn't see it on the menu this visit, but if you ever see it on the menu again, order the Moroccan Spiced Chicken.  I still have dreams of this dish that we had once before. It was incredible.

They also have amazing house-made dessert and offer a gluten-free menu.  There is something for everyone here!

Ps. I got a kick out of the name of the wine flight that Josh ordered....Check it out on the receipt above: "You Bet Shiraz It's Good", I'm a sucker for cheesy names!