Sometimes, The Standbys Are Exactly What You Want

Sometimes you feel like a BLT. Sometimes you feel like a bún thịt nướng. Last week, I found an amiable spot for the former. I hope to report on a great bún thịt nướng (Vietnamese pork and rice noodle bowl) soon.

For now, here’s a pleasant spot for careful-casual bar-grill food.

If you appreciate having someone else spend the money—and occasionally take one for the team—to uncover the places genuinely worth your time, I’d be grateful for your paid subscription.

111 5th St, West Des Moines; (515) 606-1115.
Open for lunch and dinner daily; serving brunch on weekends.

Two friends of mine—I’ll call them Liz and Cindy—were at a restaurant talking about foods they liked. Liz mentioned that she was an incredibly non-adventurous eater.

“I don’t see a problem with that,” said Cindy. “Well, as long you’re not ordering the chicken fingers and fries.”

“Um. That’s exactly what I’m ordering,” said Liz.

When I lunched with Liz the other day, she told me the story and we both cracked up. At a certain age (well, any age, but especially a certain age), you shouldn’t have to apologize for liking or not liking any food. And especially at that certain age, really, nobody cares what you order.

So, what did Liz order? Chicken tenders and fries. And it made me realize that there are plenty of people who want things like chicken tenders and fries and burgers and Caesars and fried-chicken sandwiches and Alfredo, and many of the very things that I (and many of my readers) have said they’re growing tired of seeing on menu after menu.

I imagine that if you’re fond of such familiar, low-risk foods, you’ll nevertheless appreciate when they’re well-made and thoughtfully served. And if there’s a pleasant patio in the mix—well, that’s a win in many a diner’s mind.

We had exactly that kind of win recently at Bix, where we went for lunch on a day you could actually sit outside.

We started with some wonderful fried green-pepper rings ($14.99), and they were great in the way that fried starters often aren’t: hand-battered and fried, they were halos of strikingly hot, puffy-crisp, golden-brown glory. As for the choice of raspberry-jalapeño or marinara sauce, get both.

Liz’s hand-fried chicken fingers ($12.99 for 3; $16.99 for 5) were exactly what she wanted, in that same hand-breaded vein. The basic hot, thin fries equally pleased (“I don’t like them coated or anything!” she said). While you might find some surprises on the menu if you poke around some (and they are well-known for pizza, which I have enjoyed in the past), I went with the “keep it simple” flow and ordered a half BLT. The tomato might not have been the most unmistakably local that you crave this time of year, but I appreciated the well-purveyed bacon (from Des Moines Bacon Company) and the crisp-grilled South Union Bakery country-loaf bread. I also liked the homemade pasta salad, made with ranch dressing.

A pleasant patio with ceiling fans, plus an expert and affable server, made it all an easy place to linger with a long-time pal.

I came away thinking that maybe we all wouldn’t mind seeing so many of the same standbys so often—if the standbys were all made this well.

Recently, I’ve been surprised to see wild, USA-sourced cod at Price Chopper on Ingersoll (look for it in the meat department’s frozen case). Frozen? Yes. But very good, at around $15 for two portions. I’ve brought it home twice now. Over the weekend, I paired it with locally grown corn and potatoes, and a little arugula (alas, not local, as greens right now have been scarce … or just too spicy because of the heat!).

Here’s how to serve the cod as shown above*:
• Cook corn; scrape it off the cob, add butter; keep warm.
• Meanwhile, toss small red potatoes (in 3/4-inch dice) and sliced shallots with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast about 20 minutes at 425°F. or until potatoes are tender and a bit golden.
• Drizzle olive oil over cod fillets, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fresh thyme leaves. Roast in at 425° until opaque and cooked through (about 10 minutes for one inch filet).
• Brown some butter in a skillet (about 2 tablespoons per serving).
• Toss arugula (about 3 ounces for two servings) with a dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Divide among serving plates. Top with potato-shallot mixture; top with fish. Sprinkle fish with a little lemon juice. Pour browned butter over the fish. Serve with corn.

*Recipe is loosely adapted from a Plated recipe I often cooked during the pandemic.

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