Zuzap

We've been to Zuzap Thai restaurant a few times now and have always had solid experiences.  It's located on University Ave. in Clive, but you can't quite see it from the street, it's set back behind some other shops in the plaza.

For lunch on the weekday, the restaurant was packed, but the service was still quick and efficient.  It was fun hearing the owner greet regulars already knowing their order and calling them by name.

We must have been in for dinner on our last visits because this was the first time I noticed their very neat "Lunch Sets".

$7.95 includes an egg roll, soup of the day and an entree.  For an extra charge, you can pick a soup off the menu and pick your appetizer instead of the egg roll and soup of the day and includes a drink.

I chose the corn cake and coconut soup along with Pad See Ew and my hubby got the Basil.  Everything was very good, except we realized that they used a lot of salt in everything we ordered.  My hubby said that while his sauce was every good, there could have been more sauce and I agreed with my dish as well.

I normally really enjoy the thai coconut soup.  It's creamy with chunks of white meat chicken and has a tangy flavor.  I still enjoyed it today even though it was obviously more salted than usual.

The portions were great for lunch and the lunch sets were a great value.

The restaurants is casual enough to bring the whole family, but cozy enough for a date-night.  Nice to have a good Thai restaurant on this side of town since the my other go-to Thai places on the West side are down the road a few miles in WDM (Cool Basil and King & I) .

I also left with a warm-fuzzy feeling after reading my fortune-------->

Lemon Grass

Since I've lived in Des Moines I've seen a few restaurants open and close in this location on 8th street in West Des Moines.  In 2011 Lemon Grass, a Lao and Thai restaurant opened and after my first taste today, I really hope they are here to stay.

I was able to meet my friend Maria for a lovely, casual lunch and it was great!  The menu was varied but not overwhelming.  The restaurant was casual and clean and  our server was friendly. Our meals came out very quickly.

There weren't any descriptions on the menu of the dishes, but luckily Thai is my favorite type of food, so knew what I liked.  Our server was helpful and I'm sure he would be happy to explain any of the dishes to you if you asked.

We ordered the Drunken Noodles, which is very much like a pad see ew that you'd find at other restaurants.  Thick rice noodles in a sweet sauce with carrots, broccoli and onions which we ordered with beef.  They did this dish very well.  It was a nice compliment to the savory red curry dish we ordered.  We both agreed that it actually smelled and looked more like a yellow curry, but it didn't really matter because the coconut-y sauce was awesome and tasted great no matter what we called it.

I would totally recommend these two dishes, but wouldn't hesitate to try other dishes.  This is a great lunch spot and it's nice to have another great choice for lunch or dinner on this side of town.

Blu Thai & Sushi

So last week I drove by A Taste of Thai at 215 E Walnut street in the East Village and it was there.  This week, it had a new name, Blu Thai & Sushi.  So of course we had to stop in to try it out.  I couldn't find a website for it yet, but I'll update this post when it has one.

Aside from the signs, the inside was pretty much the same, so I'm thinking they just changed management.

I really liked the daily specials that were on each table (under the glass actually so the are semi-permanent fixtures on each table) they offered a different dish with side and drink every day at a reduced price.

We started our meal with a Thai coffee which is my husband's favorite. They didn't use condensed milk that is often used, but rather a sweet cream that was also very good.

We ordered the chicken satay for an appetizer and while it took quite a while for it to come out, it was worth the wait because they were hot off the grill and seasoned to perfection.  SO good with the sweet peanut sauce.

Our entrees followed soon after and I was surprised by the richness of my yellow curry that was more savory than sweet like I'm used to.  It was also spicier than I expected since I ordered a zero on their scale of 1 to 5 for spiciness.  But I really liked it and had no problem eating every bite.

The hubby ordered the sweet basil noodles and also said it was very good.

We'd definitely come back, especially for lunch since the prices are reasonable (about $8 for entrees), the portions were good and the food was tasty.  I can't wait to try more offering from Blu Thai, especially their sushi and pad Thai.  Check it out!

King & I - Fantastic Thai

If you haven't tried out King & I Thai Cuisine and Sushi bar in West Des Moines, you're missing out on some really great food.  They are in the plaza near the 22nd St/University Ave intersection.

Chef Mao is extremely friendly and knowledgeable.  She travels to Thailand often and adorns her restaurant with items like dried flowers she brings back with her.  She has a wonderful story about coming to the US after saving for many years to live her dream of opening up a restaurant.  You can read about it here.

Mao serves many traditional favorites like Pad Thai, Cashew Chicken, Noodle soups and Curries and also has specials each day.

The lunch combinations are wonderful because they aren't your normal entree with fried or white rice and an egg roll.   She incorporates small portions of her popular dishes like curry with a choice of meat, veggie Pad Thai and Cashew Chicken.  A refreshing change from the standard lunch combos at other restaurants.

For me, the highlight of my meal at King & I is always the Summer Rolls.  They are what some restaurants call spring rolls (the non-fried version).  Mao makes these fresh to order every time so the veggies are nice and crisp and cool and she cooks up the meat and egg right before she rolls them together in the rice paper.  It tastes so much fresher this way and the warm chicken with the peanut dipping sauce is heavenly.

My hubby likes the Thai Country Basil with chicken which he orders with 3 or 4 stars (out of 5 for spiciness).  My favorite dishes are the yellow curry with chicken and the pineapple fried rice (not shown).  The curry sauce is one of my favorites in town.  She doesn't over-do it on the coconut milk making it too sweet like a few other places in town tend to do.  It is very rich,  savory and addictive!  The Pineapple Fried Rice is a meal itself with chicken, shrimp, eggs, pineapple  and perfectly spiced curry fried rice.

While the restaurant gets busy on the weekends, it's almost never overly crowded on week nights.  You won't have trouble getting in for lunch either.  Order a saki and give yourself some time though because every dish is made to order.  We just love King & I!  We hope you do too!

Ps. They can make just about every dish vegetarian or gluten-free! Just ask.

Cool Basil for Hot Thai food!

I have been totally impressed with the Thai restaurants in the area.  Cafe Fuzion and King & I are usually my go-to places.   I had gone to Cool Basil a few times in the past and Cafe Fuzion's Pad See Ew and King & I's Yellow Chicken Curry seemed to win out for a while.

BUT, my friend Staci suggested Cool Basil in West Des Moines for a girl's night out last week and I'm so glad that she did!  Best Pad Thai in town hands down.  Not overly greasy and not too heavy on the fish sauce like some other places in the area tend to make it.  I found myself craving it again the next day.  I resisted <sigh>...

We started out with the appetizer sampler and it was good.  Heavy on the fried items, but good if that's what you're going for.  I would have liked to see fresh Summer Rolls (rice paper w/rice noodles and veggies) like at King & I, but the sauces that came with were tasty as well.

I really liked the choices on the kids menu.  If your kid isn't ultra-picky, there are some great, affordable choices.


The restaurant has a cozy feel that makes for a great place for a date-night, friends-night or family dinner.  

I also appreciated some of the unique menu items like Pumpkin Curry and Basil Scallops.  Can't wait to try those!

As the sign points out, they have a sushi happy-hour on Monday and Tuesday evenings too.  The service is friendly and appropriately paced for a busy restaurant.  

I was super impressed with this visit and will certainly be back to try some more dishes.  This is one of the more popular Asian restaurants in town for a reason!  Good job Cool Basil!

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A Fusion of Awesome

Outside sign.

Take a ride to East 14th Street to try out this vegetarian-friendly Thai/Vietnamese/Asian Fusion restaurant, aptly called Cafe Fuzion.  They don't have a website that I could find, but the link will take you to their facebook page.  It's right off of 235 so it's closer than you think. 

Decor

We just love this spot for a quick lunch.  We take our kid with us because he's pretty well-behaved as long as we stick an ipad in front of him. They have kid-sized portions of pho, fried rice and pad-thai for only $5. The yellow curry is what keeps us coming back for more. The white meat chicken in the coconut-y curry sauce is so addictive.  

We opted for take-out tonight.
So here is only 1/4 of my yellow curry
portion.

They have a variety of curries, soups, salads, stir-frys and rice dishes so you are sure to find something you like.  Appetizers range from $3-$5 and main dishes are in the $6-$8 range.  They use all fresh veggies and are more than willing to substitute anything you don't like.  Instead of meat, all entrees are offered with a veggie/tofu mix option for vegetarians.  My second favorite dish is the pad see ew. I just love the wide rice noodles in the sweet sauce that is much like teriyaki sauce.  The small restaurant fills up at lunch time, but we've never had to wait and the service is always fast enough to get back to work without being late.

The dining room.  Their facebook site just announced that
they now have wi-fi!  Working lunch perhaps?

If you like coffee, try an Iced Thai coffee, it's brewed in it's own little container and mixed with sweetened condensed milk and Josh says it's really tasty.


We are always too full for dessert, but the options include a sweetened purple rice topped with coconut custard.  I would love someone to try that and take a photo.  In fact, if you do and post it to our facebook page, I will mail you some Eat, Play, Love swag!  They also offer a pineapple rice with ice cream and sweet rice with mango.  Someday I'll be able save room for one of these! All of the desserts are $4.  Step out of your comfort zone and try it out!