Red China Bistro

Just so everyone is aware, this is no longer «Red China Bistro» and is now «Café Zon», and yes it is still Asian cuisine. Upon entering we were greeted with friendly staff and very classy interior décor. The table set up is definitely catered towards couples in an intimate setting, very modern design.
The menu is not very extensive (we were here for lunch), and the items on the menu were not very exciting. There were many American-​Chinese dishes, which seemed odd because the atmosphere did not match the menu. We expected a more sophisticated menu.
We ended up getting a dish of some sort I forget what exactly (See picture), a congee dish, and chicken wings for appetizers. All of the items we had were «okay» tasting at best. The presentation was great for all the dishes, but they did not taste 5-​star. There were hardly any customers during our meal. Their bar area looks very sleek. Parking is spacious in rear lot, also street parking in the front.

Now, let me start of with I am NOT a picky patron when it comes to restaurants but this place was AWFUL. We walk in and the waitress stares at us instead of seating us and we then have to seat our selves. It took us awhile to even get the menus and then another 10 min to get our order in. We ordered chicken satay, chef zons special, and a caterpillar roll. It then took an entire hour just for the satay to come out and then another 30 minutes for the rest of the food. The waitress never apologized about the wait, the chef zons special was missing the mushrooms (only ¼ of the ingredients, no big deal) it was completely burnt, and for a $ 14 entrée, we got a very small portion compared to what I would typically get at Café su. The waitress never checked on us again and we had to finally go up and ask for our bill. The restaurant was completely empty save for four other tables of two, there were dirty tables that never got cleared and to be perfectly honest the only people that got decent service by any means were the Asian people in the corner. Never have had any problems at Café su cannot believe it’s owned by the same people, will never be coming back here again. Literally told a couple that walked in to turn around and leave because it took so long.

I regret even purchasing a Groupon just to try out this restaurant. I placed a pick-​up order at 6:21 pm and I was informed that the food would be ready in 20 minutes. I showed up at 6:55, still no food. It was not ready until 7:16. The place had a whole 4 tables.
Aside from the food taking awhile, when I arrived home I noticed that my ‘big eel sushi roll’ was made incorrectly with the wrong ingredients. Per their website and menu: «BIG EEL SUSHI ROLL Eel, cucumber, avocado, unagi sauce $ 15». My sushi roll had cream cheese and absolutely no avocado or cucumbers. I had intentionally ordered this roll because I am not interested in cream cheese with eel or raw fish (that’s gross, imo). The ‘red bistro tuna’ tasted like a rice porridge (not tasty congee may I add) – and no spinach as the menu had listed:“Red Bistro Tuna Seared tuna with peppercorns, sesame seeds and seasoning. Served over sautéed spinach and carrots. Ginger jasmine rice. $ 20″
They boast that they have dim sum now, which I was pretty excited about! …Until I saw the «dim sum» menu – no, no, no! How could they disgrace dim sum with pot stickers, egg rolls, wings, edamame, calamari, crag rangoons, etc… THIS IS NOT DIM SUM! Appetizers, yes but DIM SUM, nooooo. :(Where’s the har gow, shaomai, taro, duck. I was highly disappointed :(
Also, the restaurant recently had a name change to Café Zon (?).

We bought a Groupon to try the place out. Got there and the door says the restaurant is open at 5 for dinner. We showed up at 5:10, doors were still locked. Stood and wait around for awhile and the staff literally stood there and stared at us. Really? We got a refund from Groupon and won’t be coming back, deal or not.

Slow service, overpriced and underwhelming food, sushi included. Not worth the groupon.

One of the worst restaurant ever doesn’t even deserve a star, the food was cold and tasteless and undercooked to the point that after my husband a just a few bites of his food he rush to the men’s restroom to throw it up because he was experiencing stomach pains. Our waiter as us how our food was, we relied it wasn’t good and my husband just threw it up, his response was okay so do you not want the food, of course not. Didn’t offer to get a Manger and still charge us for barely eaten food. If you like nice décor I suggest sitting there but dont eat.

Nice place for a romantic dinner with my wife. The décor and low lighting was nice. I also enjoyed the jazz music to help the mood.
The food was disappointing. I had Chef Zon’s beef that had a few very charred pieces of beef that must be grilled before it is put in a wok. It had enough garlic to ward of vampires for that night from my breath alone. My lovely wife had the orange chicken. She enjoyed it but the bite I took all I could taste was ginger and lots of it. The chef needs to realize that with strong ingredients a little goes a long way. We will give it another shot and to try soup and appetizers.

I have eaten here a number of times and have enjoyed each of my meals. Most often I get the chicken lettuce wraps. The setting is nice for a date. As of late the place has had fewer guests. Usually there’s only 2 – 3 couples in at a time.
In the past I have had issues with slow service. So if you are in a rush or planning on dinner before a movie, concert, or show, pick another place.
I have yet to use my groupon but I plan on continuing to visit this place. The late hours of business are an added convenience to the Ingersoll neighborhood.

We tried this place for the first time tonight. The service was good, not overly friendly, but pleasant and nice. Good ambiance, till you looked closer. The first thing we looked at was the drinks. I ended up with the margarita which was $ 12! It was mediocre, would not order again. My boy toy ordered the sparkling lychee. He loved it, even though it was not sparkling. I ended up with the spicy veggi tofu. For $ 14 they easily could have given more tofu and/​or rice. The boy ordered the Mongolian beef, he said it was good, but for $ 16 he would not ever get it again. All in all, good food, but defiantly not worth the price.

My partner and I went to Red China Bistro with friends a couple of weeks ago for the first time. We walked in at 5:30 on a Thursday and were the only ones in the restaurant, which was slightly eerie. Throughout our dinner, a few other tables came in for dinner, but there was definitely not a dinner «rush.»
Our friends had gotten the $ 21 for $ 40 of food Groupon, so we went for appetizers as well as entrees. The spring rolls (we subbed tofu for shrimp) had almost no taste, although the sauce that accompanied them helped give it more taste. I wouldn’t recommend them, though. My absolute favorite was Sha Sew Bao, which is a pork filled «bun.» I had never had them before and this appetizer was freakin’ fantastic. They were a great mix of sweet with salty, so it immediately appealed to me. The potstickers were also delicious, so I’d recommend those too. I had the Laos Curry Chicken for my entrée and it was in a delicious sauce that I loved. The only negative was some of the chicken was awfully rubbery, so I left a lot of chicken untouched. Additionally, one of our friends has a shellfish allergy and the wait staff was more than accommodating to make sure she wasn’t exposed to any shellfish.
Overall, much of the food was delicious but it was overpriced. I’d go back again but would stick to the items we enjoyed.

I have been wanting to try this place ever since I moved to Des Moines. i’ve walked and drove past it numerous times, and there was a Groupon on $ 40 for $ 21! This was my sign.
So we finally walk in there last night, and for it being Tuesday around 7PM, we were the only patrons. Odd. A few stragglers made their way in while we dined. The waitress seated us, and to me, the chairs felt cheap. My first chair wobbled (needed to be tightened), but I exchanged it for a different one, which was more stable, but still felt cheap. The décor was nice, but I think the table placement was a bit disorganized. Music-​wise, you’d think you’d be hearing Asian inspired music, but a constant playing of several Michael Bublé songs (I like Michael Bublé, don’t get me wrong) really didn’t fit the mood… but at least it wasn’t a repetitive notion of Top 40 hits playing (I would’ve walked out if I had to be tortured by that).
Food-​wise, we decided on the potstickers for our appetizer, which were quite tasty. The Coke I had with my meal tasted very watered down… even when she brought a «fresh» glass of it. I had the Shrimp Lo Mein, which I’m a sucker for at almost every Chinese restaurant, and it was pretty good. I’m used to the noodles not being that thick, but was good nonetheless. My partner had the Chef Zon Special, which consisted of chicken, onions, and such. He’s not a fan of vegetables all mixed together. He tried to like it, but Asian food just isn’t for him, really (unless it’s buffet style).
Our waitress was very nice, and service was prompt!
We left slightly dissatisfied, but I think I would return here again with a friend whom appreciates Asian cuisine. I would like to try their sushi sometime.

Great SERVICE! HORRIBLE food. They need a new chef. Place is obviously closing. Too bad

If you’re looking for a cheap meal, then keep looking. However, I’ve enjoyed every meal that I’ve ever had there. The service can be slow but the employees are nice. The décor is great — I’ve never been somewhere else that looked or felt quite like Red does.

My husband and I love this local Chinese restaurant for a romantic setting and sit down dinner. Friendly staff, great food, fabulous atmosphere. Plates are huge so it’s great for large gatherings. But also perfect for a couple to share an app and entrée! A hidden gem, Dsm lets way too many great local places close, support your community and this great little spot.

The food here is AWESOME! The service is SLOW! We went here for lunch and were there for 1−½ hours. Not because we wanted a nice leisurely lunch but because that’s just how long it took. Crazy slow.
But the food was amazing. Spring rolls were okay — maybe needed more veggies — just rice noodles, carrots & shrimp with cilantro and red cabbage on top. Sauce was excellent! I ordered Thai Chicken — excellent mix of chicken, onions, water chestnuts, mushrooms, pea pods, bamboo and carrots. Just the right amount of spicy heat. Yum! My friend ordered the Talapia with ginger sauce. He was very happy. Good mix of veggies including onions & red peppers with a nice nutty crunchy coating on the fish. We’ll go back but for dinner when we have all the time in the world.

I got a groupon to go here with a friend for lunch. The restaurant is Asian fusion and looks really trendy when walking in. However, the food is extremely overpriced for Chinese food and the menu is not diverse whatsoever. We got the shrimp dumplings as an appetizer, tilapia with ginger sauce, and mongolian beef. Both entrees and appetizers were subpar. I heard that the cucumber water was tasty, which is why I was so surprised when the waitress brought me regular water with ice. When I asked her for the cucumber water, she came back with 2 slices of cucumber and dumped it in my cup.

Today was my first and last time at Red China Bistro. I went to lunch with friends that had a Groupon. I ordered the crab meat soup (very good!) and the ground beef lettuce wraps as my entrée.
In my entrée i found several human hairs — in the ground beef, in the sauce, on the lettuce. Not only did they not apologize, they didn’t comp the meal. So i had to pay for a hairy meal.
NEVER AGAIN. I’m thinking of reporting them to the health department. Do not eat here. NASTY!

For those of you who have fond memories of Café Su (Valley Junction, West Des Moines) I have bad news: Su Nong’s new establishment will not be worth your time, or coin, to check it out.
The flavors are flat, uninspired, and even (I suspect) out of the freezer section in some instances. A quick run-​down: crabmeat Rangoon that tasted like nothing but cream cheese (and which was un-​merited in over half my order), two different entrees (ordered on two separate occasions) arrived unapologeticly scorched, and the hot and sour soup arrived with a such a think layer of oil on top that is sent it away after two unpleasant spoonfuls.
So what does work for me at Red? I liked the miso soup (with a little of the tofu pureed to cloud is up a smidge), the cucumber water (which like Adam P. points out is not the reason to visit a restaurant), and the aluminum and leather chairs (mostly because I recognized them from the now cancelled Lie To Me — sit on any of the other chairs there at your own risk).
I really, really miss Su’s egg rolls from the Café Su days. So much so that I’d go back to Red if they showed up on the menu. Then again, maybe some memories should be left untouched…

The food was slightly above average. However, the service was HORRIBLE. We were in a group of 12 people (6 couples). Not too difficult, right? Wrong. It took about a half hour to order, 45 minutes for appetizers and then another 45 minutes after appetizers for the entrees. That would be acceptable if it wasn’t just average Chinese food.
The real shocker was that it took an HOUR AND A HALF for our server to figure out the bills. When guests in our party tried to help her because it had been an HOUR, she rebuffed then. She basically treated them like children; telling them not to bug her because that would only make it take longer. We were hostages. And when one of the ladies in our group went to complain, the waitress came to our table and asked her husband to shut her up because «she’s drawing attention to herself».
I’ve never experienced such disorganization followed by arrogance from a service industry person.

This time it will be my shortest review ever, due to the lack of any redeeming qualities of this restaurant.
1) Overpriced. (must be paying for the cool new digs)
2) Server literally grabbed my food with his hands to box it up.
3) I needed a box because the food was not good. There was a lot left on the plate.
4) The cucumber water was DELICIOUS AND REFRESHING! (but who goes to a place for their water?)