Tag: Asian Fusion

  • Fong’s Pizza (Des Moines, IA) Review

    Fong’s Pizza (Des Moines, IA) Review

    4.0* (out of 5)

    Food: 4*

    Atmosphere: 4*

    Value: 5*

    Service: 3*

    Would I go back / Recommend?: 4* (Probably)

    Total check/person: $22

    05/10/2025 Fong’s Pizza +1 (515) 323-3333

    It had been a few years since our last visit to Fong’s downtown and we were looking forward to trying out their new location in the old Peace Tree Brewery building in East Village. We had the opportunity to do so with our son, daughter-in-law and grandson and enjoyed the experience.

    Pizza is generally a good value for a family and on that note, Fong’s does well – as we each had a beer and still kept our total bill just under $22/person. Next on the above average list was the food itself, as other than a blackended spot on each pizza (a hot spot in the ovens?), the food was good. Where I found Fong’s to be no better than average though is with the atmosphere and service. Starting with crowded and awkward seating spaces inside and then having to wait for water glass refills and other requests.

    For our meal, we started with an order of Thai Sticks, which other than the one spot that was charred, this was the favorite part of my meal. The peanut sauce, bacon and honey made this sweet, savory and delicious! We then ordered 2 small pizzas to share – a General Tso’s Chicken (see picture) and a Loaded Potato with Garlic Butter (see picture). Each was burned black in one spot, but the rest of each pizza tasted good and although there was more bare crust around the circumference than I prefer, the center portion was good enough to make up for that.

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    Photos copyright: happyhourdesmoines.com & thefoodanddrinkguy.com

    Photos copyright: happyhourdesmoines.com & thefoodanddrinkguy.com


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  • Zen Dumpling (Brandon, FL) Review

    Zen Dumpling (Brandon, FL) Review

    4.6* (out of 5)

    Food: 5*

    Atmosphere: 5*

    Value: 4*

    Service: 4*

    Would I go back / Recommend?: 5* (Definitely)

    Total check/person: $40

    02/02/2026 Zen Dumpling +1 (813) 315-8434

    Our son who lives in the area was interested in trying this place with us and we were definitely intrigued – as not only do we like trying new things, but what we read about this place sounded great! The smaller plate concept is perfect for me, as I really enjoy trying a few bites of multiple different things and this format enabled all of us to sample a variety of dishes on the menu.

    I’m almost 4 months behind in getting these pictures posted and getting the review written…but the positive memories of everything that we tasted are still pretty strong. Since the list of the dishes we ordered and tried is quite lengthy and there wasn’t a single one of them that we didn’t like, I’ll just list everything that we ordered here and you can find pictures of each below as well as in the embedded video.

    For our dinner we had the following (see the order form we filled out at the restaurant below as well as a QR code to see pictures of all of their menu items in the pictures below):

    • Spicy Cucumber Salad
    • Soup Dumpling w/ Pork (6)
    • Pan Fired Bao Bites (8)
    • Dan Dan Noodle
    • Braised Beef Noodle Soup
    • Fried Rice (Chicken)
    • Beef Pancake Roll
    • Zen Chili Wontons (6)
    • Signature Xlb Sampler (6)

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    Photos copyright: happyhourdesmoines.com & thefoodanddrinkguy.com

    Photos copyright: happyhourdesmoines.com & thefoodanddrinkguy.com


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