Eating Dominican Food in LA ROMANA ? (-- NOT Casa De Campo --)

[RSS from SF]

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Hi, we may have a couple of hours in the afternoon after our Santo Domingo Tour to check out La Romana. We're interested in eating local Dominican food -- places with no tourists are okay with us. Hole-in-the-wall places and street food is fine, too.

 

(We're a couple of guys, one who speaks fluent Spanish, and both of us are fairly 3rd-world savvy.)

 

Anyone have suggestions of places we can get an authentic excellent local meal -- or get some great snacks?

 

Any good panaderias still open in mid-afternoon?

 

How about a mercado where we can check out local produce/meats/etc (not to take things back to the ship -- just to check things out!)?

 

 

Thanks very much! / ¡Muchisimas gracias!

-RSS-

[judcost]

We ate at Casa de campo, not authentic food but hmmmm very good. We ate on the beach at Bayahibe, we tried the fried fish, the pork chop and the patties (it thing it was conch patties), all very good served with white rice and plaintans. You can also go to the Jumbo store a HUGE Walmart type of store while you're in down town La Romana it's about 54 by shuttle bus and about 5-10 minutes from the pier. You will have to walk 10 minutes from the place the bus will drop you. It's very easy you'll see the Big Red JUMBO sign.

 

If you have questions

judcost@hotmail.com

[63galaxie]

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Hi, we may have a couple of hours in the afternoon after our Santo Domingo Tour to check out La Romana. We're interested in eating local Dominican food -- places with no tourists are okay with us. Hole-in-the-wall places and street food is fine, too.

 

(We're a couple of guys, one who speaks fluent Spanish, and both of us are fairly 3rd-world savvy.)

 

Anyone have suggestions of places we can get an authentic excellent local meal -- or get some great snacks?

 

Any good panaderias still open in mid-afternoon?

 

How about a mercado where we can check out local produce/meats/etc (not to take things back to the ship -- just to check things out!)?

 

 

Thanks very much! / ¡Muchisimas gracias!

-RSS-

Do a "La Romana" search on Trip Advisor. There's lots of reviews under the forum section of the local resorts and places to eat.

BTW, I'm originally from Sacramento and I've lived in the Bay Area (S.F., San Rafael, and Mountain View). What cruise are you going on? We'll be in D.R. on 4/3 on Celebrity Millineum.

Karen in Kentucky

[RSS from SF]

We ate at Casa de campo, not authentic food but hmmmm very good. We ate on the beach at Bayahibe, we tried the fried fish, the pork chop and the patties (it thing it was conch patties), all very good served with white rice and plaintans.

Thanks Judcost!

 

 

Please NOT Casa De Campo! :D ;)

 

Unfortunately, we won't have time to visit Casa de Campo!

From what I have read, it would be very difficult for us to find a truly authentic Dominican meal in any of the resort restaurants, anyway.

 

 

We should have about 2 hours or so in for La Romana, though, which is why we need to look there.

Also, we specifically want to have Dominican food rather than any other cuisines.

(Where we live, there are almost no options to have dishes from the DR in restaurants.

We're also researching this cuisine, and authenticity is a very strong point for us.)

 

 

Most Dominican dishes are considered under the style of "Comida Criolla".

You can find some of these dishes other countries, but we're interested in the Dominican versions.

 

 

Here's a helpful post from VirtualTourist entitled "TRUE DOMINICAN FOOD ".

(The poster's first language is not English and most of the punctuation is commas;

however, the heart and content of the message is excellent. I added highlights and white space for readability.):

First of all,

the food beeing offered at most, if not all hotel's restaurants, villas and such, it's not the actual "Criolla" food eaten by mainstream dominicans,

 

for a tourist to sample the actual taste and flavor of the island, you'll need to avoid such places and eat at local restaurants, wich can be easy to spot, since you won't see many others than locals there,

 

 

second

forget everything you had been told about what not to do(concerning eating in other places other than your all-inclusive or hotel issued) and get ready to surprise your mouth with rich and textured food that will make your tongue twist in pain(since there's so much you can eat and taste),

 

the "comida criolla dominicana"

it's by far so much of a mixture of international and culture's meltings that one can not begin to explain it's tastes,

 

 

for example:

the most common mistake tourists have is of having eaten the "Sancocho" at the resorts and classy restaurants,

 

these are very far from the actual thing,

 

the local Sancocho is made on a single pot, over a low and yet intense charcoal fire on an "Anafe" that's a very extensively used and rudimentary iron range-like thing which uses charcoal,

 

the pot is covered with large plantains leafs that seal the aromas of the boiling meat in the pot, all the meat used in these Sancochos has just been gotten fresh as in just cut-up in the local 'matadero"(meatmarket), this applies as well to the vegetables,

 

making a Sancocho it's more of a social happening than a culinary one, and you can't have a sancocho without "Aguacates"(Avocados), or "Casabe"(Cassava).

 

 

If you really want to taste the real Macoy,

then by all means go to the local spots,

 

and have some "Butifarras, Longanizas, Tipiles, Niños Envueltos, Pastelon de Platanos Maduros, Pipian de Chivo, Mondongo, Mofongo, Locrio de Pollo, Carne Mechada, Tripas Viejas, Pasteles de Platanos en Hojas, Arroz con Pollo, Pimientos Rellenos, Carne Frita Salada, Pastelitos de Yuca, Empanadas, Boffe, Chicharron de Puerco, etc.

 

Don't forget Una Presidente "Ceniza"

[RSS from SF]

You can also go to the Jumbo store a HUGE Walmart type of store while you're in down town La Romana it's about 54 by shuttle bus and about 5-10 minutes from the pier. You will have to walk 10 minutes from the place the bus will drop you. It's very easy you'll see the Big Red JUMBO sign.[/email]

 

Thanks judcost, for this recommendation!

 

Visiting Jumbo sounds like one of the best bets in the short time we'll be in La Romana.

 

In addition to other posts in other threads mentioning Jumbo, I googled and found that the deli there should have many Dominican dishes:

• Jumbo La Romana - "One-Stop EVERYTHING With a Few Surprises!" (Aug 30, 2004)
   
  http://community.iexplore.com/planning/journalEntryDining.asp?JournalID=26959&ReviewID=1035724&n=One-Stop%20EVERYTHING%20With%20a%20Few%20Surprises!&t=Local%20Cuisine
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• Store website (http://www.jumbo.com.do/jumbo_romana.aspx):
  
  
  

 

 

I also found another article from the same author who reviewed Jumbo:

• La Romana - "Walking & Shopping Highlights Tour" (May 20, 2005)
   
  http://community.iexplore.com/planning/journalEntryFreeForm.asp?journalID=43123&entryID=20780&n=Walking+%26+Shopping+Highlights+Tour

[RSS from SF]

Do a "La Romana" search on Trip Advisor. There's lots of reviews under the forum section of the local resorts and places to eat.

Hi Karen!

 

Thanks for your reply!

 

We've looked already!

:D

Both in the Casa De Campo and La Romana threads!

 

Unfortunately, we're specifically excluding visits to any resorts this time. :)

We probably will only have 2 hours from the time we conclude our Santo Domingo Tour and the time we need to head back to the ship.

 

Not including our time constraints, the real reason for us to look in La Romana -- rather than in any of the resorts -- is because

we are looking for an

authentic Dominican meal

, which would be almost impossible to find in a restaurant in the resorts. And, there really is almost nothing posted on finding a true Dominican meal

in Casa De Campo

-or-

La Romana

in this forum!

 

If someone posts that they've found a fantastic restaurant serving Comida Criolla Dominicana in one of the resorts, then maybe we'll have an opportunity the next time we visit the Dominican Republic!

 

 

FYI for anyone interested in what "True Dominican Food" is, I just posted the following a couple of replies back:

True Dominican Food / Comida Criolla Dominicana

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BTW, I'm originally from Sacramento and I've lived in the Bay Area (S.F., San Rafael, and Mountain View). What cruise are you going on? We'll be in D.R. on 4/3 on Celebrity Millineum.

It's nice to speak to a fellow native Northern Californian! :)

 

We're sailing April 19 aboard Serenade of the Seas, on the Panama Canal full transit from San Juan to San Francisco. We'll be in the Dominican Republic on April 20. Have a great cruise!