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    Silk Elephant

    4.2 (95 reviews)
    Open 11:00 am - 2:00 pm, 4:30 PM - 8:30 PM

    Order Silk Elephant Takeout or Delivery

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    SILK ELEPHANT ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Outdoor seating
    Good for kids

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    Recommended Reviews - Silk Elephant

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    Christina W.

    It was delicious and surprisingly under noticed! Ordered the calamari, chicken pad Thai, and the shrimp yellow curry. Customer service was good. Very courteous and helpful. Service was quick. Not very busy for a Thursday night surprisingly. Silk Elephant needs to be packed out. Interior is beautifully designed with woods and dark colors. Very modern. Would recommend!

    Veggie Deluxe (GF)(V) with chicken and cashews
    Rachel Z.

    Wow! This restaurant just became my new favorite place for Thai food! I ordered the Veggie Deluxe Stir Fry with chicken/cashews, and it was perfect! This place also has a very clean, fancy atmosphere while being budget friendly. I will definitely be back!

    Daniel E.

    I highly recommend Silk Elephant, as it was terrific Thai food with a fun atmosphere and solid customer service. They portray themselves as a "noodles 'n rice" establishment, but they're much more than that. It is a fantastic menu with tasty options we explored with colossal success. Our table of four loved each of their food choices. One raved about her Avocado dish, which looked great from the other side of the table and is likely to be a future selection for me, while another loved her curry dish. My Pad See Ew dinner with chicken was spectacular. It was a yummy big dish with egg noodles, spices, and delicious chicken. I asked for "medium" spicing, and they got it right. I might get it even hotter next time.

    Sweet Chili Noodle with tofu
    Allyson P.

    The food has great flavor! The portions were huge though. I'll have leftovers for a couple days. I had the sweet chili tofu with med spice. It had a little kick if you don't like spicy food I would definitely recommend getting less spice to it. But it had great flavor and I would definitely eat here again. The service was great, several people checked on us multiple times and were quick grab anything we requested.

    Beef Yellow Curry (GF)
    Jessica R.

    I'm actually grateful that this place isn't closer to my home, because it was freaking fantastic and I could totally see myself eating here several times a week! Lunch prices are reasonable, with plentiful portions. But, even more so, the food itself was just delicious. There were about eight different entrées that I wanted to order, but I narrowed it down to two. Kua Kai + beef: chewy flat noodle (and I love chewy noodles)! A little wider than a pad Thai noodle, and I prefer wider noodle so I'm glad I opted for this one. Excellent flavor w/ bean sprouts, scrambled eggs, everything was delicious. I should have ordered slightly spicier, next time I'll know. Yellow Curry: this was a great curry, slightly more gingery than I prefer. But I do love a good yellow, soupy curry (not too thick). Orange chicken: I did not try this, but my friend says it was delicious. For three lunches, our total was $45, which I think is a pretty good deal anymore! I would definitely recommend this place, and I have every intention of going back and trying more things on the menu!

    Mini Crab Cake (5)
    Rosie N.

    Food was great! And the patio section where we sat was clean and well maintained. They don't have a lot of patio seating (5-6 tables) but it was well shaded with the umbrellas. What we got for food: -Silk Tea: a blend of Thai tea and their lemonade was an interesting but good drink. It reminds me of plum juice. It's tart, sweet, and a bit of spice. -Mini Crab Cakes: great little bites. Full of crab flavor and very little breading just how it is supposed to be. The spicy Mayo dip was actually spicy and creamy. -Kao Soi : creamy, spicy, nutty, and savory. It was a perfect blend of creamy curry that wasn't overpowered with coconut. -Coconut Curry Noodle: spicy, coconuty, sweet, slightly creamy, and added the lime which gave it that tart tang it needed. Noodles in both dishes were cooked perfect to aldente to slightly soft. Overall would come again, the service was great and the food was good. My only down was we called in to make sure if dogs can be on the patio. The person that answered the phone said yes. But when we got there they said it was not allowed. However since we already had our pup there they allowed her and us to stay as long as she was under the table or close to the fence line. Fortunately, she is well trained and stayed by my side laying down. But overall did not ruin our experience. Highly recommend to go and try them out.

    Inside
    Pauline R.

    This restaurant is such a vibe, very modern and kind of industrial with soft lighting. Service is great, and the food is ordered came out in less than 5 minutes it seemed. The Angry Elephant was great, the mushrooms were delicious, the bell peppers were slightly crunchy and absorbed the flavors well, and the chicken was tender. The rice was okay, some parts were mushy and soft, didn't seem freshly made. I would come back to try other things and to enjoy the vibes at night. Might skip out on the jasmine rice though.

    Panang Curry (GF)(V)
    Liesl S.

    Took myself on a lunch date to Silk Elephant and it was fabulous! The service is always so friendly, and the food was fast and incredibly fresh! I loved every bite and will be back soon with the whole family!

    Michael P.

    Ate here recently and was very impressed. Had mixed veggies with chicken and the potstickers. Both were very good! The service was good and prices reasonable. Give it a try if in the area!

    Massaman Curry (GF)
    Sarah P.

    Super menu with extensive noodle and curry options. Our Massaman curry and asparagus stir fry were both fresh, tasty, and beautifully served. The service was excellent, and we were comfy in the capacious outdoor seating. The ambiance inside was awesome with jazz and cool lighting. Overall just a stellar choice.

    Side of fried rice and egg rolls

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    5 months ago

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    14 days ago

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    6 months ago

    Stopped in for lunch. Really nice atmosphere. Very clean. Servers were anxious to close. Food was good. We would go back.

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    2 years ago

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    4 months ago

    Children's meals are double what they should be. Could be half the size and half the price.

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    1 year ago

    Love their food and very fast service for take out. Once of the best spots in town. Must try to Curry!

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    4 years ago

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    1 year ago

    Amazing spicy sweet and sour pork. Good rice. Good seating. Weird but still comfortable chairs

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    4 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    2 years ago

    The food was delicious. They were quick, friendly and gave great recommendations. The place was clean and inviting.

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    3 years ago

    I order from Silk Elephant almost weekly. Love their noodle and curry items. Food preparation is speedy and staff is always friendly.

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    Pho 85 - Ankeny

    Pho 85 - Ankeny

    4.2
    (110 reviews)
    2.5 mi
    $

    Definitely worth a visit! Their pho is incredible, affordable, and it comes out very quickly! For…read moreanyone who isn't absolutely starving, I'd say a small or medium size would be perfect. Their large bowl is absolutely giant! I highly recommend the #2, which is the raw steak and brisket. It comes with a heaping plate of bean sprouts, jalapeños, limes, and cilantro you can put into the pho, as well as some chili garlic oil and another teriyaki-ish type sauce. Every bit of the meal was absolutely fantastic!

    Time to update my review…read more I was craving Pho. I know that this is the best place in Ankeny for me to kill the craving. Walked in on a early evening and got the last table available. Greeted warmly by a young man who sat us. Another young lady came and got our drink orders. Tvs are on at both ends of the small restaurant but not turned up. Music plays from the overhead speakers. I ordered us the shrimp spring rolls. I just love soaking them in the peanut sauce that comes with them. I ordered the small well done brisket and tendon. Yum. Pho comes with a plate of basil leaves, jalapeños and, bean spouts to add to your broth as you want. It comes out hot and delicious. Hubby got the chicken pad tai. He liked it. I got to take some of my soup home with me to have later. I really enjoy this little place. Lots of people walking in for pick up too. All great signs of a good place to eat.

    Photos
    Pho 85 - Ankeny
    7K. Chicken Pad Thai Topped with Peanut
    7K. Chicken Pad Thai Topped with Peanut
    Spring rolls and mussels

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    Spring rolls and mussels
    Wasabi-Ankeny

    Wasabi-Ankeny

    4.1
    (122 reviews)
    0.7 mi

    I have been here multiple times and never had an issue - but what a disappointment to book for a…read morefirst date night with a sitter. We had a 5:30 reservation & major disappointment from the kitchen & arrival of food. We waited 41 minutes for our appetizers to arrive. My sushi wasn't cold - which made me feel like it was waiting out for a moment. I will say outside of that my husbands Mongolian beef was delightful. We never received the appetizer we ordered. I ordered the Marilyn Monroe & angry dragon - I would recommend both. To give an example of their timeline - the table next to us got their appetizer within being seated 11 minutes into their arrival & those to the right of us got their entire at the 20 minute mark (average server timeline). The reason given that our order was taking time, was they behind a lot of to go orders. Again, not devastated but for sure not recommending to any friends anytime soon. Also when compensated for this - they didn't charge us for the appetizer we didn't receive (thank goodness?). And then discounted a drink & sake bomb. Honestly as someone who's served for 11+ year an entree at any other location would've been the appropriate gesture. But hey, those combined were around the equivalent of one of my rolls, so sure.

    We went in on a late Saturday afternoon and were glad we were still in time to order off the lunch…read moremenu. We tried the 3 roll sushi combo and chicken teriyaki bento box. We got spicy egg drop soups with our lunch and it had an interesting flavor. It wasnt really spicy. I can't really describe it but it was what you would expect if you ordered egg drop soup at a BBQ joint. Not terrible, but not sure I enjoyed it. The salmon avocado and shrimp tempura we ordered were good. The chicken was edible but tasted like they grabbed some precooked chicken from Costco fridge and put it on top of some grilled onions. Overall it was an ok experience. The service was great and we enjoyed the sushi.

    Photos
    Wasabi-Ankeny
    Gyudon dish with thinly sliced beef, rice and veggies, topped with an over-easy egg.
    Gyudon dish with thinly sliced beef, rice and veggies, topped with an over-easy egg.
    Chicken teriyaki

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    Chicken teriyaki
    The Eggroll Ladies

    The Eggroll Ladies

    4.5
    (38 reviews)
    7.7 mi

    I saw that the brick and mortar location hours lessened but that doesn't stop the dedicated fans…read more I finally got a chance to try them. It was almost closing time on a Friday evening We were cutting it close to closing so we rushed over. Just a cute little place on the strip mall under the giant flag on 6th. There was not waiting in this cute little place. Its bright with a very kind and friendly young man at the counter. He was super sweet It smells great in here as we strolled up to the counter. I was craving a Spring Roll. I also ordered a small sampler which included 2 egg rolls and 2 Rangoon. My girlfriend and I ordered the last of the fried rice for the day. We got our order to go and took it back home. The spring roll was divine! The crab Rangoon and rolls were also good! The rice, was "end of day rice" . I would 100% go back and get more earlier in the evening. I highly recommend and will be back for more delicious spring rolls and try other thing. I hope to catch the truck out one of these days and dine that way as well.

    My first trip to the Ankeny Farmer's Market involved stopping at The Eggroll Ladies' truck, and I'm…read moreglad I did! It was a delicious pork egg roll served hot after being cooked. They give you a pager to indicate when the food is done. I liked the pricing, and the staffer was a nice person who explained the process to this first-timer. You cannot beat the setting at the Farmer's Market, as there were many tables and areas to sit and enjoy the eggroll!

    Photos
    Vegan crab rangoon, eggroll fresh from the air fryer
    Vegan crab rangoon, eggroll fresh from the air fryer
    Vegan crab rangoons
    Vegan crab rangoons
    The Eggroll Ladies

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    Hawker's Kitchen

    Hawker's Kitchen

    4.7
    (36 reviews)
    3.2 mi

    The staff is always so friendly and smiling when we come in! We have been here so many times and…read moretried something new every time because there are so many good options on the menu! And plenty of good drinks options to go with it!

    Hawker Kitchen brings authentic Malaysian street food flavors right into the heart of Des Moines,…read moreand it's a spot that feels both comforting and exciting if you're craving Southeast Asian dishes. Char Kueh Teow This dish stood out immediately which has a smoky wok hei flavor (the "breath of the wok") coated the flat rice noodles, giving them that deep caramelized edge that's hard to find outside of Malaysia. The prawns were plump and juicy, and the mix of soy, garlic, and chili gave just the right balance of savory and spicy. Fresh cucumbers and pickled vegetables on the side added a refreshing crunch, making each bite balanced and addictive. Laksa Rich, creamy, and fragrant, the laksa broth was a highlight. The curry coconut base carried layers of spice without being overwhelming, and every sip warmed you from the inside out. The noodles were cooked just right, with toppings that tied it together from seafood to herbs. It's the kind of bowl that makes you pause between spoonfuls just to savor the aroma. Satay The chicken satay had a lovely turmeric and lemongrass marinade, grilled to a slight char that locked in the smoky flavor. Tender on the inside with crispy edges, it paired perfectly with the bold, nutty, and slightly spicy peanut dipping sauce. The cucumber slices on the side helped cut through the richness, just like you'd get back at a hawker stall in Malaysia. Overall Hawker Kitchen is a gem for anyone looking for authentic Malaysian comfort food in Des Moines. Portions are generous, flavors are bold and true to their roots, and the variety on the menu makes it worth repeat visits. If you're new to Malaysian cuisine, start with the satay and char kueh teow; if you're a fan already, the laksa will feel like home.

    Photos
    Interior and seating.
    Interior and seating.
    Hawker's Kitchen
    Hawker's Kitchen

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    Silk Elephant - thai - Updated August 2026

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