Que Saraj, Saraj!

Welcome to another whirlwind dining adventure!

1300 50th Street  West Des Moines, IA 50266

Mrs. Red: "As you very well might have guessed from the title of today's blog, Mr. Red and I found our way out to the good ol' west side for some cultured cuisine. It was fun going back to our old neighborhood. I just wish we had discovered this gem of a food joint before we relocated to Urbandale."

Mr. Red: "It brought back some good memories, for me at least."

Mrs. Red: "Oh really? Like what?"

Mr. Red: "Some good old fashioned drinking in the bar next door."

Mrs. Red: "Somehow, I'm not surprised. As I was saying, I didn't actually get introduced to Saraj until a gal I used to work with stopped there on her lunch and brought it back to the office. She was nice enough to share with me, and I was hooked..."

                                              Mr. Red: "Technically our friend Skyllar had been trying to introduce it to us for awhile. Unfortunately, we were a little too busy to listen to his well given advice."

What We Ordered:

Mr. and Mrs. Red: Greek Gyros

                                                                                    Mr. Red: NOM NOM NOM!

Our Take:

Mr. Red: "The meat was perfectly seasoned and the pita was slightly toasted, still foldable - had a little bit of a crisp not quite a crunch. Everything was fresh: the lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cucumber sauce - "

Mrs. Red: "- tzatziki sauce."

                                                                                  Mr. Red: "I thought it was made of cucumbers? Where are you getting zucchini?"

Mrs. Red: "Not zucchini - tzatziki! When I first had a gyro I wasn't sure what it was either, but to quote wikipedia: 'Tzatziki is made of strained yoghurt (usually from sheep or goat milk) mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, usually olive oil, pepper, sometimes lemon juice, and dill or mint or parsley.' Fantastic!"

                                   Mr. Red: "I was, however, slightly disappointed that the meat was beef and not lamb. I do really enjoy lamb, but I gotta say that even with beef this was a really delicious gyro."

Mrs. Red: "Good enough that we both ordered it. Now, Saraj is known for their Bosnian dishes as well which we didn't fail to notice despite both settling on the greek renditions of their menu. They featured authentic dishes like Bosnian Pitas, Moussaka, and Cevapi."

                                         Mr. Red: "I couldn't pronounce a single one of those things but they did look pretty tasty. Something about the pita looked really delicious."

Our Waiter/Waitress:

Mrs. Red: "We've never had bad service at Saraj, and tonight was no exception. They don't have a host or hostess but given how small the inside of this little place is it's hard to miss when someone comes walking in. We seated ourselves and received a visit from our waiter in a matter of minutes. One thing I didn't notice before - probably because we have mostly visited in the winter time - is that Saraj has an outdoor patio too."

                                  Mr. Red: "I was really surprised at how quick we received service and our food, until I looked around and saw that there was only one other couple in the dining room. Which just proves that this is one of West Des Moines' best kept secrets."

Mrs. Red: "We weren't ignored and we didn't feel stalked either. Some of the other restaurants we've been to that were slow for business, our waiter didn't hover."

                                                                        Mr. Red: "I agree. He was quick, knowledgeable, and polite. I didn't even notice when he got me a refill."

Mrs. Red: "NINJA WAITER!"

Mr. Red: "..."

Observations:

Mrs. Red: "Other than the fact the place was totally empty, the restaurant was very clean and tidy."

                                                       Mr. Red: "I really liked the decor. It had a really rustic meets modern feel to it. The marble tables were beautiful and well thought out."

Mrs. Red: "The music was in Bosnian - I think. I don't speak the language so I couldn't confirm that. While I wasn't too thrilled about it at first, I found it really set the atmosphere and truthfully I couldn't imagine visiting Saraj and not having it in the background ambience. Something about hearing 'Call Me Maybe' while enjoying some authentic international food would have lessened the experience."

                                                   Mr. Red: "Please do NOT bring up that song. We've had a pleasant evening and I would rather not ruin it with 'stalker pop' music."

Overall: 

Mrs. Red: "Saraj was wonderful! Two great big thumbs up from this satisfied customer! I hope the fact that their service was so scarce on a Friday night was a fluke and that they're here to stay because I'll be back again and again!"

                                               Mr. Red: "I also give it two thumbs up. Solid 9 out of 10 stars. Taste was great, food was great, cleanliness was great, service was great. I highly recommend we get the secret out and pack this joint!"

Review:

On a scale of 1-10

Food: 9.5

Service: 10

Cleanliness: 10

Atmosphere: 7

Until next time! Happy Eating!

-Pocket Red Heads