Bistro Montage's chicken roulade. Centro, 1007 Locust St. Phat Chefs, 1300 50th St., West Des Moines Alba, 524 E. 6th St. Bistro Montage, 2724 Ingersoll Ave. Fleming's, 150 S. Jordan Creek Pkwy.

The year of bargain dining

In February, Phat Chefs started a trend by offering heavily discounted “economic stimulus” specials — $10 weekday dinners that included their state of the art smoked pork confit. So many other top restaurants added new discounted specials that I spent a month looking for the best such deals in town. Nothing really topped Phat Chef’s bargain, but I will happily return for all of the following deals. Unlike some other places, these cafés offered deep discounts graciously and enthusiastically. Waiters who scoff about specials, as if trying to shame customers out of ordering them, can ruin an evening.

Alba’s Tuesday Night Appetizers — Jason Simon’s café in East Village is the town’s most stylish renovation. Its faux lava bar is particularly attractive in hot weather. Among several specials, all Alba appetizers are discounted $3 on Tuesdays. They are good bargains at full price, so this is a rare deal that’s actually better than it sounds. On different occasions, I sampled a hamachi (yellow fin tuna) duo served tartare with paprika aioli, mango paste, micro greens and blood orange segments; scallops on a saffron-colored cauliflower puree with nuts and parsley; a fabulous duck terrine served with house made crackers and mustard; braised pork belly served on a frisee/radish/onion salad; and seafood fritters in a super crisp tempura batter. My discounts averaged 40 percent off the full price.

Bistro Montage’s prix fixe — Enosh Kelley’s French bistro runs both $20 and $27 specials at all times. These were formerly early bird only options. Both offered several choices and my $27 special included chicken roulade, one of Kelley’s signatures. An organic chicken breast had been pounded thin, stuffed with homemade dark meat sausage, then rolled, poached and sliced. It was served with nutty Himalayan red rice, Napa cabbage, yellow potatoes, the best haricots verts of the season and a reduction of chicken stock and Dijon. That was preceded by a classic Caesar salad with white anchovies and shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Crème brulee was served still sizzling from the blowtorch. My $20 dinner featured a house cured tuna nicoise salad with bibb lettuce, fingerling potatoes, quail eggs and niçoise olives in caper, egg and truffle vinaigrette. I saved about 25 percent compared to ordering separately. On Thursdays, savings were greater for those who took advantage of that night’s no corkage fee.

Fleming’s “5 for 6 till 7” — Fleming’s offers five appetizers, five glasses of wine and five cocktails for $6 each until 7 p.m. daily. A beef tenderloin carpaccio brought beautifully marbled prime tenderloin that could have done without its Creole mustard sauce. Its cheesy toast points and mini salad of greens and egg worked better. Seared ahi tuna, on a bed of slaw with micro greens, was served with a pre-mixed sauce of wasabi and soy. The star attraction, by far, were crab cakes made with fresh lump and hardly any binder (egg white), served on a pool of red pepper sauce. Discounts at Fleming’s were the steepest I found — $38.50 worth of appetizers for $18. Their wine and cocktail savings were not as dramatic, mostly in the 15 to 25 percent range.

Centro’s $25 prix fixe — When I most recently tried this changing, no options special, it offered something not on the regular menu at Des Moines’ most urban café — a reduced size NY strip. Mine was served rare with a hard sear, as ordered (a full sized strip costs $30 a la carte). The first course was a frittata (an Italian style omelet) with fresh vegetables and fine Italian cheeses. A rich vanilla bean panna cotta with fresh berries completed a dinner that would have cost twice as much ordered separately, granted with a larger piece of meat.

Side Dishes
Splash and Jethro’s Dom Iannarelli, a key figure in Des Moines’ culinary renaissance, has taken an offer he couldn’t refuse and moved to Burlington… The state fairgrounds Ag Building announced a new “Going Green” theme. No word on whether that includes the butter cow's butter. CV

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