First Stop - March 5, 2010 - Jasmine Bowl

2128 Indianola Avenue - Des Moines - http://www.jasminebowl.com/

It wasn't out first outing - but more like our first official outing!!

We got to the Jasmine Bowl about noonish on Friday - very small setting - kind of like hanging out in a basement! There were 4 round tables and 1 small table - plus seating at the "bar"

At first we felt like we had to whisper - but as more people came we became our normal loud selves!!

We ordered Crab Rangoon - best part of the meal in my (Dawn) opinion

Lisa ordered the Acapulco Pork (AP)
Erin ordered the Pak She (PS)
Dawn ordered the Legendary Chicken Pad Thai (CPT)

We split the entrees between the three of us -
Here were our thoughts on the food, service and atmosphere

Dawn - Holy tiny place to eat - don't come with a big party or if there are more than 6 cars in the odd parking lot. Don't come to the JB if you need to drop the kids off at the pool - you will ruin the tables food that is right next to the bathroom door - or don;t expect to go in there and let a huge fart out and not expect the whole place to hear you!!

AP had excellent flavor and tender pork - PS - ummm didn't care for at all there was too much spicy cilantro pesto in it - it was over-powering! CPT - added a little heat to it - and apparently - a little means a lot here!! My mouth actually burned for a little bit!! Good flavor - big chunks of chicken - would order it again, if I ever went there again.

All in all - I think it will be awhile before I head back to the JB!

Lisa -


Erin - I totally agree with Dawn on this one - probably not going to be returing to JB again. I truly felt like I was in an old basement and we should have been playing some sort of card game while waiting for our food. The wait staff (one person) didn't even go over the specials with us and we didn't even notice these specials until we were walking out to leave and noticed the small chalkboard near the front door. I thought that the portions were a little on the small side, but maybe ones stomach can only endure smaller amounts of spicy food. The Pak She sounded quite appetizing on the menu. I was very anxious to try this dish that included Jasmine Rice. The rice turned out to be nothing more than sticky rice that is typically served in a Chinese restaurant. I was expecting delicious looking rice with wonderful aromas of exotic spices. The beef dish itself was incredibly un-appetizing on the plate. It reminded me of an email I received earlier in the week about a colon cleanser. I truly believe that someone went to the JB and took a picture of the Pak She and then used it on the colon cleanser site. The beef in itself was not impressive. It was very chewy and appeared to be a very cheap cut of meat. The other two dishes were much better, but I do think my favorite was also the Crab Rangoon. If anything good came out of this lunch it would be the fact that I ate way less than I normally would have eaten at lunch, so I guess that helped out my diet that day!!