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!