This week is restaurant week and several great Des Moines restaurants are participating. Jason and I decided to take up the offer of $25 per person at Sbrocco on Court Ave., where we enjoyed an appetizer, two entrees, and two desserts. We also enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine. I was a little intimidated by Sbrocco before this meal, but now I think it would be a great place to visit for wine and appetizers–my only complaint is that they don’t carry Iowa wines.
Luckily they use local foods from nearby farms, which is something I can totally get behind.
To start we had the vegetarian trio, which was some dips and pita chips. The hummus on the far right and the whipped feta in the middle were my favorites. I especially liked them together.
My entrée was the braised Amish chicken quarter with vegetable ratatouille. This was really good, although I thought the vegetables were a little bit too soft. This is a problem I generally have with ratatouille though. The chicken was delicious, very tender and flavorful.
And to finish we had the cream drop biscuit with blueberries and lemon sabayon (yum, although I thought it had too much mint on it) and profiterole with strawberry ice cream and chocolate ganache (no complaints there).
It was fun to try a restaurant we probably wouldn’t otherwise go to, but I have to say that as much fun as it can be to be fancy, it’s just not really me. I drank the wine wrong, felt slightly uncomfortable, and my favorite part was dessert. I enjoyed the bar like atmosphere and my super spicy Jamaican Jerk sandwich at lunch time a lot more. That’s not to say one is better than the other, but I’m more comfortable with the latter. I mean, there is a reason we served pulled pork at our wedding and not duck confit. But it’s good to step out of your boundaries.
If you’re in the Des Moines area you should check out a restaurant participating in Restaurant Week. There is a full list with menus here. And if you’re not in Des Moines, see if your city is having Restaurant Week, I know others are participating as well.
What kind of atmosphere do you prefer when you’re dining out?
