Reviews for Harbinger in Des Moines, IA
An all around wonderful mealtime experience. Lovely ambience in the dining area, with knowledgeable and attentive servers. Each... dish is clearly made with care and displays unique and fresh ingredients across a variety of flavor profiles and complexities.You are absolutely going to receive what you pay for - that is, an elevated and multisensory culinary experience. Read more
A few weeks ago we got Basic Bird. That's apparently their Sunday night schtick. And what a schtick! Legit. Don't sleep on it. ... 11/10 will get it again. The bao buns were really good. Do the double dipped. Get extra for leftovers because in topicalfashion with intensely flavored food it was even better the next day. If you like kimchi order extra because it hits. The baconfried rice was a delight. The spring rolls sprung. The jalapeño corn didn't taste like vomit, which should make sense to anyonewhose had a bad batch somewhere. Finally, the chicken is just excellent. Read more
You definitely feel that there is intention behind each dish and in creating a beautiful and welcoming space! Our server was... well-informed about the menu and went out of her way to help with questions related to food sensitivities. The dishes werebeautiful and so flavorful. We had an amazing dinner experience. Highly recommend supporting this local restaurant and itspeople! Read more
Oh my goodness! Easily my favorite meal in Des Moines. We went for happy hour and I couldn't be happier. The service was great,... every one was so nice! I thought portion sizes were great for the price. Food quality was amazing. If you go and don't get thesteamed buns you're doing it wrong! Overall I would highly recommend going here especially for happy hour! I can't wait to goback. Read more
Had the 7-course Valentine's Day menu tonight. Took nearly 2 hours to finish everything, but definitely an experience to... remember. A cavalcade of delicacies. From caviar, to lobster, truffles, & even Wagyu beef.. what more could you ask for? Stellar service is the cherry on top. Read more
Some of the best service we have ever received in the Des Moines area. I would definitely recommend coming with a group of 4... people like we did so that you can share multiple dishes! Hands down our biggest recommendations are the carrot dumplings, thesteamed buns and the Ox tail. All of the dishes we ordered were so creative and unique in flavor. Worth every penny and againour server was amazing! Will be back for sure! Read more
Harbinger has a great atmosphere, amazing food, and I will definitely return. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable about all... the dishes components. The menu has a great selection of seasonal ingredients. It was difficult to choose so the small platesare perfect for sharing and trying a variety of items. I would recommend the watermelon and tuna appetizer, heirloom beets andSpanish octopus grilled over charcoal if they’re available. The summer peach poached in sweet tea for dessert was my favorite. Read more
For Des Moines Restaurant Week, my wife and I decided to try Harbinger for the first time. We also brought a friend who’s... birthday was recent and we wished to celebrate her birthday as well. When we first arrived we had some issues with thereservation. These were handled swiftly by a very friendly manager and we were sat within 5 mins of arriving even though theissues were created by us, not them. Because of restaurant week, Harbinger was offering a four course tasting menu. My wifealso ordered the wine pairing while I had the sweet corn infused old fashioned and our friend had the highball. The wines wereperfectly paired for each meal. I even ordered a second old fashioned. I am not sure our friend liked the highball or not as sheonly finished half, but she said she did. Not on the menu, but received first, was the amuse-bouche of a sweet corn purée andcrab. Delicious! And my drink paired well. For the first course we were served a heirloom tomato dish which was described askind of “zombie” tomato because it was dehydrated then rehydrated. I thought it was good, but some parts, eaten separately,didn’t seem to…fit. But all together in one bite was pretty delicious. Our second course was a squash and mushroom dish. Itwas good, but I could not shake the feeling it smelled and tasted like biscuits and gravy. That’s not a bad thing! Just mywife and our friend didn’t get that impression and that’s all I tasted. So there’s that. Our third course we were allowedto choose our dish. I chose the pork and the ladies ordered the salmon. The pork was cooked in a tamarind paste and placed on acorn purée. As I loved the corn in the first dish and my drink, I was easily amazed and devoured it. The pork could be cut witha fork and the tamarind paste contrasted so well with the corn. I wanted to lick the plate clean. Both of the ladies liked thesalmon. My wife did mention the texture of the salmon was odd, but that didn’t stop her from enjoying the dish. We were Read more