CEDAR RAPIDS — I’ve a confession to make: like many diners, I are typically a creature of behavior. As soon as I discover a dish or restaurant I like, I stick with it.
Should you’re seeking to get a bit of extra of the spice of life in your weight loss plan, Cedar Rapids Restaurant Week is your probability. With 21 restaurants on the roster, there’s a bevy of recent entrees to interrupt freed from your common orders.
Whereas I couldn’t discover the abdomen area to attempt all 21 eating places this yr, I managed to succeed in six eating places that weren’t on the roster for Restaurant Week final yr. This yr, I attempted 10 appetizers, entrees and desserts plus two drinks — all new gadgets on the menu at these eating places.
My favorites:
- Peppadew Poppers from Fong’s Pizza
- Previous Usual Corn on the Cob Cocktail from The Map Room
- Fried Banana Empanada from Mulligan’s Pub
- Inexperienced Chile Cornbread from 350 First
Should you go:
What: Cedar Rapids Restaurant Week
The place: 21 collaborating eating places
When: Friday, Feb. 18 by means of Sunday, Feb. 27.
Particulars: With no Fork and Knife Feast this yr, get pleasure from eating places at your individual tempo over 10 days. Discover punch playing cards at collaborating eating places and obtain a stamp from eating places with purchases of $20. Punch playing cards could be turned in to the Cedar Rapids Metro Financial Alliance for the prospect to win quite a lot of prizes and present playing cards to native eating places.
Fong’s Bowl Pizza is seen at Fong’s Pizza on Feb. 17, 2022. (Elijah Decious/The Gazette)
Peppadew Poppers are seen at Fong’s Pizza on Feb. 17, 2022. (Elijah Decious/The Gazette)
1. Fong’s Pizza (1006 Third St. SE)
Up first is Fong’s Pizza, an Iowa model whose Asian-fusion pizzas have grow to be a singular staple in each Des Moines and Cedar Rapids.
This yr, Fong’s is that includes Peppadew Poppers and Fong’s Bowl Pizza.
The Peppadew Poppers, small fried bites of Peppadew peppers wrapped in bacon with a creamy filling, are much like Fong’s Dragon Eggs, that are jalapeno and cheese-stuffed items of rooster wrapped in bacon and fried. The Dragon Eggs are one in every of my favourite appetizers at Fong’s.
The Peppadew Poppers didn’t disappoint. At first chew, they offer a brilliant, tangy taste on the high, adopted by a really gentle tingle of spice. Concerning the level the place you discover that gentle tingle, the crispy bacon, now a gathering of crumbles after you bit into the little ball, comes alongside to reassure you that every little thing might be OK.
The flavour of those peppers would possibly remind you of a very good French dressing. The balls aren’t overfilled with the cream cheese sauce and the popper sauce has a pleasant, thick consistency that ties it collectively.
Fong’s additionally includes a Bowl Pizza for Restaurant Week, which was a month-to-month function in March 2020 earlier than the pandemic hit. With mashed potatoes, a chicken-based white gravy drizzle, fried rooster, corn and scallion topping, the gathering of substances on this pizza would possibly remind you of the fried rooster bowls served at that one fried rooster chain.
The gravy on this pizza was not overwhelming, which was higher to help you style every little thing on the standard Fong’s crust. The feel wasn’t gloopy.
The mashed potatoes served as a creamy, easy base on the pizza in lieu of sauce. I might have added a bit of extra salt or seasoning to it — the flavour profile is unusually tame for Fong’s.
Items of corn added a candy little accent right here and there, about each different chew. The cheddar cheese is a pleasant addition to the standard mozzarella.
The Ode to the Iowa Potluck Burger is seen at The Map Room on Feb. 17, 2022. (Elijah Decious/The Gazette)
2. The Map Room (416 Third St. SE)
This tiny restaurant has had an outsized influence on the burger scene in Cedar Rapids, with quite a lot of daring and novel selections on its menu. Its new merchandise this week, the Ode to the Iowa Potluck, was no completely different.
The brilliant, visually interesting Waldorf-style slaw on high provides the sensation of a springtime picnic beneath a buttered, toasted bun. General, a really cogent presentation for a burger that has an giant variety of substances on it.
From the primary look, you’ll instantly discover the encrusted pork loin, whose seasoned crust sparkles a bit of bit like black sand.
The candy notes from the burger weren’t delivered in the way in which I used to be anticipating. The slaw didn’t have the sugary, mayo-like salad dressing you might have most likely had with Waldorf-style salads earlier than. Though it supplied a stunning texture to the burger, significantly with the crunchy apples, I might not have guessed that it contained marshmallows and pineapple by tasting it.
The true candy moments got here in a bit of later as I began to note the maple aioli taking part in a duet on the facet with the chunks of smokey bacon. The white cheddar acts as an adhesive between these components and the smash burger.
The burger is paired with an Previous Usual Corn on the Cob cocktail made with butter-washed Cedar Ridge rye and corn on the cob syrup. It pairs completely with the burger particular.
With the colour of an iced espresso, you’ll instantly discover the buttery style with hints of might remind you of brown sugar or maple — easy, velvety, decadent. It may be too candy for some, nevertheless it enhances the layers of the burger nicely. Nonetheless, there’s sufficient of a chew from the liquor to remind you that you’re, certainly, an grownup.
Mahi-mahi is seen at Chophouse Downtown on Feb. 17, 2022. (Elijah Decious/The Gazette)
3. Chophouse Downtown (411 First St. SE)
Chophouse Downtown, a newcomer that has grow to be recognized amongst foodies for good crimson meats, is taking this week to remind you that it serves fish, and serves it nicely.
This week’s particular is mahi-mahi introduced in recent from Ecuador. Garnished with edible orchids and bull’s blood microgreens, the dish was so lovely that I didn’t need to disturb it.
The graceful, gentle taste of the fish pairs splendidly with the tropical chutney. It made me really feel like I used to be sitting in Key West, away from a chilly February day in Iowa.
The bulls blood provides an earthy taste to every chew of paprika on the fish, balancing the sweetness of the chutney. It tastes like beets. The edible orchid had a taste and texture vaguely like a carrot.
General, this dish reminds you that you simply don’t have all the time must stay on the coast to search out good seafood. You simply have to search out somebody who is aware of the right way to put together it nicely.
Seafood Florentine Lasagna is seen as Pedalers Fork on Feb. 17, 2022. (Elijah Decious/The Gazette)
4. Pedalers Fork (2010 Sylvia Ave. NE)
Pedalers Fork has a number of choices for Restaurant Week, however I made a decision to attempt the Seafood Florentine Lasagna because it was one of many extra novel dishes I noticed.
From first look, the lasagna seems to be in a pool of buttery, creamy sauce. In every chew, you’ll be able to style an abundance of cheese, significantly the ricotta. This all pairs nicely with a couple of items of lobster.
The melted mozzarella was so thick that the lasagna got here out wanting a bit of bit like a large scoop of mashed potatoes. You virtually want a spoon for this as a substitute of a fork.
This dish was very wealthy. Whereas I definitely don’t take factors off for that, the richness of the dish overpowered different components.
The tomatoes had been a brilliant and tangy reprieve and the spinach was noticeable, however the portobello mushrooms weren’t noticeable to my palate.
Fried banana empanadas are seen at Mulligan’s Pub on Feb. 17, 2022. (Elijah Decious/The Gazette)
A Brazilian Churrasco steak sandwich and Coronary heart of Palm salad is seen at Mulligan’s Pub on Feb. 17, 2022. (Elijah Decious/The Gazette)
5. Mulligan’s Pub (1060 Previous Marion Highway NE)
Welcome to Brazil.
If there’s one factor it’s essential to attempt throughout Restaurant Week, it’s the fried banana empanada. It’s served as an appetizer, however tastes like a dessert.
Lined in a thick caramel drizzle with uncooked sugar mud, every chew is a pleasure from starting to finish. The dough is golden brown however not over-fried, giving it a pleasant chewy texture that’s the good segue to the caramelized banana inside.
The banana isn’t mushy, and the sugar is a superb punctuation.
The banana taste jogs my memory of the actually good banana puddings you may get at barbecue eating places within the South — the type which are served heat and take about 20 minutes to prepare.
A Brazilian Churrasco steak sandwich is served with a uncommon flank steak on a ciabatta roll with chimichurri and fried onion.
The meat, with a light marinade, is tender. The chimichurri, to my shock, was equally gentle with not as a lot of a punch as I anticipated. The fried onions topping the sandwich most likely weren’t needed, given what the meat needed to supply.
The blueberry caipirinha, a standard Brazilian drink made with a fermented sugar-cane juice, was robust however not terribly fruity. The blueberry syrup was there, however to not the extent I used to be anticipating, given the attractive coloration of the drink.
Rooster and Waffles are seen at 350 First on Feb. 17, 2022. (Elijah Decious/The Gazette)
Maple butterscotch pudding is seen at 350 First on Feb. 17, 2022. (Elijah Decious/The Gazette)
6. 350 First (350 First Ave. NE)
It took me virtually a yr of residing in Cedar Rapids to comprehend there was a restaurant overlooking downtown on the high of the DoubleTree by Hilton Lodge downtown.
Inexperienced Chile Cornbread, a standard cornbread with roasted poblano peppers, is a candy and mildly spicy appetizer that provides an excellent first impression. With fennel butter on the highest and the aroma of honey, it will get higher with every chew.
After a couple of bites, it will get the feel of a pancake soaked in syrup for a couple of minutes. Goat cheese balances out the peppers.
The restaurant’s rooster and waffles presents a flash-fried breast atop a waffle of garlic mashed potatoes. I like to recommend consuming the rooster, waffle, and apple butter all collectively for optimum taste. A barely spicy Thai sauce and apple butter labored collectively to steal the present.
Maple butterscotch pudding introduced a fancy taste when paired with a tart cherry and black pepper jam, cocoa nips and an apple chip. There was even a bit of drizzle of olive oil on the highest — an uncommon selection for a pudding, however one thing that made sense after the primary couple bites, as a easy buffer between three completely different sorts of candy.
Feedback: (319) 398-8340; elijah.decious@thegazette.com
