If you're looking for authentic, flavorful ramen, Hokkaido is absolutely worth the visit. This was…read moreonly our second ramen spot, but it has officially become the standard we'll compare every other ramen restaurant against. We started with the dumplings, and they were outstanding--crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and packed with flavor. They were the perfect way to start the meal. I ordered the Spicy Beef Ramen, and all I can say is... wow. The broth was rich, bold, and full of depth without overpowering the dish. The beef was incredibly tender, practically falling apart with every bite, and every ingredient came together perfectly. My wife ordered the Miso Ramen and couldn't stop talking about how flavorful and comforting it was. Every spoonful tasted fresh and thoughtfully prepared. The atmosphere was another highlight. The restaurant has a beautiful, open layout with warm lighting, Japanese-inspired décor, and a welcoming vibe that makes you want to stay and enjoy your meal. It feels modern while still being cozy. To top it all off, the service was phenomenal. Our server was attentive, friendly, and made sure we had everything we needed without ever feeling intrusive. Hokkaido delivered on every level--food, atmosphere, and service. We'll definitely be back, and if you're in the Ankeny area and craving ramen, this is a place you need to experience. Highly recommended.

Unbelievable experience!!! Ramen exceeded expectations and the service was exemplary. Mary is…read morefabulous and her kindness and attention to detail and service made our time at Hokkaido fantastic!! Thank you Mary, we will be back!!!

We went in on a late Saturday afternoon and were glad we were still in time to order off the lunch…read moremenu. We tried the 3 roll sushi combo and chicken teriyaki bento box. We got spicy egg drop soups with our lunch and it had an interesting flavor. It wasnt really spicy. I can't really describe it but it was what you would expect if you ordered egg drop soup at a BBQ joint. Not terrible, but not sure I enjoyed it. The salmon avocado and shrimp tempura we ordered were good. The chicken was edible but tasted like they grabbed some precooked chicken from Costco fridge and put it on top of some grilled onions. Overall it was an ok experience. The service was great and we enjoyed the sushi.

My boyfriend and I stopped in here on a Friday night around 5:30. We were seated right away, but…read morethis place definitely gets busy as the night goes on. We arrived during happy hour and ordered of that menu. They have a great happy hour. We started with a green salad and pork dumplings. Both were delicious and we would order again. I love the ginger dressing it is so light and refreshing. The dumplings were cooked perfectly and were soft with that light crisp/crunch. It comes with 6, but I forgot to get a picture before we dug in. We ordered two rolls the Angry Dragon and Marilyn Monroll. Both were good, not my favorite, but I'm looking forward to trying more of their rolls. The service was good, but nothing crazy. We waited a little bit for our drink and food order to be taken, but otherwise smooth sailing. We both enjoyed this place and will be back, especially for happy hour!

very nice staff. Waited about 10 minutes for the food…read more Portions were great sizes! Spam masubi- would have liked more grill or a glaze on the spam but it was still good! Bbq chicken masubi- super flavorful chicken! House special- pineapple had great flavor and chicken was great quality. Macaroni salad was super unique but very good. Crab Rangoon was super flavorful and had a lot of filling.

I ordered a bunch of food for hosting a book club where the memoir we read was set in Hawaii! It…read morewas my first time trying Alohana, and it did not disappoint! We tried the barbeque chicken, barbeque beef, kahlua pork, and chicken katsu with curry, along with the egg rolls. Honestly, all of it was amazing! The portions were generous! We'll definitely be back and it was so great getting some Hawaiian food to accompany our book club discussion. Highly recommend!

This is a nice place on the north end of Ankeny Boulevard. It's on the end of a strip mall next to…read moreother businesses like Little Cesar's and Tropical Smoothie. I came here for a lunch with my daughter. Walking in the place is modern, nicely decorated and very clean. We were greeted and seated very politely and fast. The menu is large, no pics sorry. But the back page is the lunch specials. We ordered sushi rolls! So good and very high value and quality! The sushi rolls are on the smaller side which I prefer more filler and less rice. All of the fish was very fresh. The service was adequate but not overly friendly. They had a steady lunch crowd come and go while we were there. We will return to try more options!

Quick service. Sushi rolls are very tasty! I ordered the angry dragon roll - super yummy…read more Location was perfect for us as well. The interior is very nice

I saw that the brick and mortar location hours lessened but that doesn't stop the dedicated fans…read more I finally got a chance to try them. It was almost closing time on a Friday evening We were cutting it close to closing so we rushed over. Just a cute little place on the strip mall under the giant flag on 6th. There was not waiting in this cute little place. Its bright with a very kind and friendly young man at the counter. He was super sweet It smells great in here as we strolled up to the counter. I was craving a Spring Roll. I also ordered a small sampler which included 2 egg rolls and 2 Rangoon. My girlfriend and I ordered the last of the fried rice for the day. We got our order to go and took it back home. The spring roll was divine! The crab Rangoon and rolls were also good! The rice, was "end of day rice" . I would 100% go back and get more earlier in the evening. I highly recommend and will be back for more delicious spring rolls and try other thing. I hope to catch the truck out one of these days and dine that way as well.

My first trip to the Ankeny Farmer's Market involved stopping at The Eggroll Ladies' truck, and I'm…read moreglad I did! It was a delicious pork egg roll served hot after being cooked. They give you a pager to indicate when the food is done. I liked the pricing, and the staffer was a nice person who explained the process to this first-timer. You cannot beat the setting at the Farmer's Market, as there were many tables and areas to sit and enjoy the eggroll!

It's been about two years since i've updated my review and it says a lot about the restaurant that…read moreit's been there as long as it has. It's conveniently located in the strip mall with plenty of parking..it's the same mall off of University with Campbell's health foods, Hy-Vee pharmacy, Frederich's coffee. This restaurant still has that old time mom and pop Asian family feel it's a definite classic type vibe with Auntie snd the neices up front taking orders and the rest of the family in the back cooking and putting to go orders together. I always like to support a locally owned business. It's also about expectations, everyone is under staffed, so I always appreciate the service staff who are working. Having said that the service was fast and efficient . It's also about being realistic about the food. This is not a mall based chain restaurant or a high end bistro somewhere. The food was well prepared hot and delicious. This is a Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant. So there's lots of variety in the menu. I have had the build your own Pho, Korean style Kalbi ribs. They also have Hunan Chinese style dishes, i have tried Mongolian beef, combination fried rice and potstickers. I also have tried the pork fried egg rolls. I usually go for a late lunch early dinner. I talked to the owner and asked her how they made their soup and she said they boiled bones and added their own spices which is the traditional way to do things, I think they have a good soup base, all soup comes with sprouts and fresh Thai basil, I usually add bok choy, brisket and steak. They have plenty of other Vietnamese dishes too. I have enjoyed their pork vermicelli which is a cool salad type dish which is nice on a hot day. Some of my friends really enjoy their chicken wings. So there's still a good option with lots of choices, good staff and reasonable prices.

Really good pho! Just what I was craving! The service was good and our food came quickly. I'll be…read moreback to try more dishes!

This is a pop-up, not a restaurant. They operate out of the Mickle Center in Sherman Hills. In…read moreorder to know when they are operating, you have to follow them on social media. I heard about them through a Facebook Foodie page for Des Moines. I was lucky to get my order in because they sell out super fast! I ordered and paid via their website: https://oishiirameniowa.com. They don't have a lot of options and I would have liked them to share the English equivalent or a description of some of the ingredients but they have photos so that helped. I had read a stellar review of the Oishii Tonkotsu ($11.99) that consists of pork broth, 2 slices of pork, a hard boiled egg, mushrooms, some veggies I don't know the names of and nori. It also had scallions and onions but I requested mine without those and I added a side of black garlic oil, as recommended in the review. My bf likes spice so I got him the spicy miso and added an egg. A dew days before pick-up I got a text asking if I was allergic to onions because they use an onion oil in the broth and would make mine sans that oil if I was allergic since they noticed I had asked for no onions of any kind in my order. I really like that attention to detail and care for their patrons. On the day of pick-up I got a reminder text of my pick-up time a few hours before and then again about 30 minutes before. I pulled up to the front of the Mickle Center and it was dark and looked closed. I texted that I was there and asked if I was in the right spot since it looked so abandoned. They called and led me to their pick-up spot in the parking lot behind the center. Once there, I waited a few minutes and then they came out to my car with my order. It smelled amazing as I drove home, my excitement growing as I drove home. Got home and reheated the broth before pouring it over the veggies and noodles and then drizzled the garlic oil over it. It was so flavorful! The noodles weren't overcooked like a lot of places in Des Moines and some of the veggies still had a little crunch. The pork was melt-in-your-mouth tender. The nori melted beautifully and the egg was the perfect soft boiled consistency. Finally, a real ramen experience in Des Moines! I really wish they had a restaurant because I saw their next pop-up date 2 days after they announced it and they were already sold out so I don't know when I'll get to have more of this deliciousness but if it were up to me, I'd add it to my regular rotation and have it once a week!

Yum!! We got lucky on this pop up night and there was a time available for us. I'm new to the ramen…read morescene but this was really good. I would like a little more spice, but I'm still learning. We will keep a look out for another pop up!

It isn't often that our days off lineup for a regular date night together, so we always look for…read moresomething special. With time running out on a Sunday evening, we knew we wanted sushi and Akebono was still open so we decided might as well give it a shot. This was quite possibly the best dining experience I've ever had the opportunity to enjoy. Our server Nick picked up on the date night vibes immediately and knew exactly what to do. Curating the entire meal for us, every single bite he brought to our table was everything we wanted and more, from the tempura shiso leaf hamachi serrano to the torched tuna nigiri as the final bite. One of a kind conversation and etiquette through the entire service, exceptional food produces by the chefs, and the corner table on the patio made for a date night we won't soon forget. Get yourself into Akebono if you need yourself a roll or a bowl that will stick with you for a lifetime.

Sushi was amazing! They had super friendly and attentive service. 5/5 will come back!read more

Kaiju is BACK! My first experience with this limited-time "ghost kitchen" was back in 2020 and I…read moreloved everything about it! I was thrilled to see the concept come back with some fresh ideas as well as a whole themed overlay inside the Zombie Burger East Village location that really set the mood! Our server, Noah, was well informed about the menu items and made some suggestions he thought we might like (The Brussels sprouts were fantastic!!!) We unfortunately missed the serving window for ramen (Currently Tuesdays through Saturdays 12-8pm) but everything we did have was absolutely fantastic and we can't wait to return!!! A note that while the carry-out portion of the location is themed with the Kaiju Ramen decor, the full menu can be ordered either for carry-out or in the main dining aread of Zombie Burger which we thought was great! Definitely recommend checking this place out, as I'm not sure how long they will keep the concept going!

Tried out Kaiju Ramen tonight, as my husband and I have been desperate for great ramen in the metro…read more(we've tried almost all of them, and they've all been okay). Overall, we are pretty happy and will order from them again! It's the best ramen we have had so far in Des Moines (we are still needing to try Oishii), albeit it's got some uniqueness to it. Brussel sprouts are an interesting ingredient, and the pork belly is strands and not strips like we expected, but it was still very tasty. I'm also not a huge fan of hard-boiled eggs in my ramen (soft yolk fan club). We also tried the boba milkshakes and they were DELICIOUS. My only issue was the paper straws. There's too much friction to allow the boba to come up through the straw, which results in the straw weirdly collapsing in on itself and rendering itself useless. We settled for just drinking it without the straw. If you like ramen, definitely give them a try.

Very nice restaurant, decent selection of tables and booths, very clean and spacious…read more The service was excellent, our server was very friendly, not overly aggressive, fast with serving drinks, appetizers, and entrees, yet she allowed time to enjoy them and casually checked to see how things were and if we had any other needs. They have a small assortment of hot & cold sake. A number of wines, and a decent selection of domestic, imported, and local beers. The appetizers and foods were delicious, a nice selection of Korean, Japanese, and Chinese dishes, the pictures can speak for themselves.

Oh, my! I just stopped in because I was hungry and tired, and wanted phô. They don't have phô. So…read moreI asked if they have anything with rice noodles. They don't. So I ordered ramen. Listen carefully. This ramen is sooooo good. I've never liked ramen, and I couldn't say why. It might be the vegetables? Anyway, this ramen had beef so tender I could bite a piece off. The bok choy just changed my mind about that vegetable. It was tender and flavorful. I'm sitting at home, slurping this up, and wishing I had enough room to eat it all. The broth is making me smile. It's a quiet little place in a strip mall, next to Pancheros. Don't drive by. You'll be sorry. De Rice gets the love, but this place deserves it.