Alba Restaurant — Restaurant in Des Moines

As always, the experience at Alba consistently impresses us. We went for a Valentine's dinner last night.

I almost always get their Old Fashioned and my wife usually has a Rioja or Sauvignon Blanc. I haven't tried many of their cocktails but the ones I have are consistent and delicious.

They had what appeared to be a reduced menu. It was a Valentine's day 3 course + appetizer options. We had an order of fritters for the table, (one of our favorites) the flavors are an awesome combination of sweet and spicy (served with pineapple and jalepeno). Those flavors just pair so well together it really does something good. After that, I had a beat salad and my wife had their romaine wedge salad. The beat salad also had a lot of awesome flavors to it. Alba seems to consistently show me new flavor combinations like beats and mandarin oranges in a salad with arugula and radishes. My wife's wedge salad was also really tasty. more simplified but consistently good.

For our main course, my wife had the Gnocchi (as always) and I have a ribeye.

Side note: Alba, if you're reading this, please please bring back the hanger steak. I haven't had it since before the pandemic and miss it every single time we visit. I know beef prices are nuts but as a loyal diner, I'd happily pay extra.

Anyway, my wife said the Gnocchi tasted a bit different this time. She still loved it but said the addition of jalapeños was a different profile that she wasn't sure about. We joked that they probably changed the recipe since last time we were there, the waiter gave us a hint at the base of the gnocchi recipe. We figured giving away top secret ingredients called for a recipe change. I had the ribeye, I honestly didn't see an option this time that really stood out to me. I generally lean towards fillets, New York Strip, and hanger steaks and stray away from the fattier cuts like Ribeye. I'm not a fan of fish and by principle don't order a chicken breast at a restaurant. Although, I'm sure it would be delicious, $40 for a chicken breast seems just a tad much. I had the Pork Ossu Bucco (not sure if that's the right spelling) a few visits prior and while I liked it, wasn't feeling it last night. So steak it was. (I should note, they also had a duck option, I haven't experimented with duck as much as I'd like and wasn't ready to commit to it as a main dish).

At medium rare, my steak was cooked deliciously but was closer to medium if we're being honest. Still it was delicious and paired excellently with the sautéed mushrooms. I wasn't a huge fan of the potato option that came with it. I'm not sure what it was called but was baked into what could best be described as a puck and had the consistency of rice. Something in the flavor wasn't mixing well for me. Last time we went I had the scallops that if memory serves came with a mashed potato flower. That texture and flavor would have been perfect with the steak but I respect what the chef was doing.

For dessert, my wife had the chocolate lava cake and I tried their churros. Both were excellent and a perfect end to the meal.

The service at Alba is always top notch. The servers are all fun to chat with and come by at the perfect interval. Not so much that they interrupt or annoy but enough that we were never waiting for them to do/bring us something.

We'll be back, it's our favorite place...

I used to love Alba, and in fact I still do love their food. But unfortunately my impression of the establishment as a whole was severely ruined during our last experience. It was my birthday, and I specifically chose Alba above all the other high-end restaurants that I could have gone to due to their online menu showing all kinds of things that sounded amazing. I had my whole dinner picked out.

When I got there and tried to order, I was told they don't have that. I explained that it was advertised online, and was told that "they don't maintain their website, and the person who has access to it left and no one can update things anymore". Wow, disappointing, but maybe I could still have something else from my list. Turns out every single thing I wanted to order was no longer available.

Disappointing, but I did not make a big deal out of it. I chose something else to order. While we were waiting, I decided to check the online menu on my phone against the actual menu. Out of the 24 total items (excluding sides) on the online menu, only THREE of them were actually something you could still order. Yes, a whopping 12% of their menu was accurate. In today's digital age, where everything is done online, this is absolutely unacceptable.

The food we did get all turned out fairly well, as usual. They have some talented chefs here, but I was still a bit disappointed about the experience. As a business manager myself, I would certainly want someone to tell me about this kind of experience if I was in charge of the establishment, so a day later I wrote a kind and respectful email through their website to inform them of their badly outdated website.

The response I received was despicable. In my opinion, the manager who responded should not be representing their company. She accepted no responsibility for their errors, and basically just tried to blame it on my refuting that, and I quote: "the website does clearly state, directly above the link to our dinner menu, that our menu changes often". Apparently in their manager's mind, a menu that changes often (which doesn't every high-end restaurant's menu with local/seasonal offerings change often) means that it's OK to advertise 88% of your menu with things you don't actually have. Really? You'd be better off with no menu at all, and at least you wouldn't be misleading your customers—which are, afterall, the only reason you exist as a business.

I'm regretful that I have to post such low marks for this restaurant, because their chefs can really put out some good food. But unfortunately their current apathy towards accurate advertising, blatant lack of accountability, and absolute void of customer service ability, completely demolishes their company.

If you plan to eat here, and have looked at their online menu, Make sure to take their manager's advice and don't consult their online menu to plan your night. You'll have to call and ask them to read you their entire current menu, or just go and make...

A huge part of me thinks that I did not order the right items here, because according to the popular dishes mentioned in others' reviews and the structure of Alba's menu, their meat dishes are the highlights. My partner got the gnocchi and the sunchoke & potato bisque. She said the gnocchi was overcooked and therefore too soft, resembling mashed potatoes more than gnocchi. Having Brussel sprouts in gnocchi was also a combination that we had never seen before. My seasonal vegetables and Brussel sprouts were both amazing, and I managed to finish both of them. The so-called "small plates" were not small at all LOL because the vegetables themselves pretty much made me full. For the farmhouse burger, the ground beef tasted like it did not have any seasoning, so the sauce compensated for the lack of taste. According to my partner, the sunchoke & potato bisque was excellent. Finally, we were debating between the rum crème brûlée and the clafoutis, and went with clafoutis after our server recommended us such. The clafoutis looked very different from what we were used to, and contained a very little portion of cherries. However, it still tasted very good! I think if I was to return next time, I should try some of the dishes that they were known for more, which would allow me to enjoy the restaurant more. The place has very good decor. We sat by the window, which had bright lights, but most seats in the room were covered by darkness, which some people may enjoy. The restaurant is also located in a very nice neighborhood, East Village, so it is easy to explore other businesses like Raygun and Storyhouse Bookpub, etc....