Best restaurant in the DR (Perhaps)

sayanora

Silver
Feb 22, 2012
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La Casita De Papi in cabarete, best seafood I've had in the entire DR. Huge fresh langostines, lobster, prawns , etc in a butter garlicky parmaseanny sauce and comes in a huge bowl in the middle of the table. Even the side dishes are great, carmelized carrot and zucchini strings and insanely good butter sauteed bacon potatoes. Um.. price is higher than most restaurants around there and the bill was 2500 RD$ or so for my wife and i with our 3 year old. When I first got to Cabarete I broke my culinary experience rule, never eat at an empty restaurant. I tried like 3 different places on the beach that had great looking menus and very mediocre food. La Casita de Papi is packed full literally every single night and the quality of the food reflects it. People say tourism is dead on the NC and there's no money to be made, but how are excellent restaurants full every single night if this is true. I've also never seen Gordito's empty and compared to most mex places in Cali I'd give it like a 3/5 . This goes to show, if you live on the NC and can do something properly, there is plenty of meat on the bone, and anyone saying otherwise is just making an excuse for their laziness/inability to do something properly.
 

Olly

Bronze
Mar 12, 2007
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Sayanora,
Yes - Papis is great. Glad you newbies have found it. If you like seafood it is probably the best I have known. In Florida the East Coast Fish restaurant was close with stone crabs but it was a bit off putting to have a gun totting guard outide and the restaurant in the Penisula Hotel in Hong Kong was great when we were there last - the lobster wrapped in lettuce leaves was fantastic. Its on the first floor of course? LOL

Olly and the team
 

bronzeallspice

Live everyday like it's your last
Mar 26, 2012
11,009
2
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Planning a trip to cabarete soon.will give the restaurant a try.Love me some lobster!
 

SKY

Gold
Apr 11, 2004
13,470
3,604
113
Papi sold it and retired a few years back. But he left his recipes with the new owner and it is still the best in the area.

Go early and ask if they have Longostinos, the small lobsters. They cook it in the pan the same as the shrimps, but it is even better than the shrimp dish.
 

Olly

Bronze
Mar 12, 2007
1,914
104
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Sky,
You are right is was sold but as you say the new owner kept the recipes the same and it is still perhaps the best in the DR for seafood.
Great environment and great food!

Olly
 

belgiank

Silver
Jun 13, 2009
3,251
103
0
I like Papi's.

I would not call it the best restaurant in the DR, but they do make some nice food, and the portions aren't stingy either.

And yes, they are pricy. But keep in mind they have to pay for the location as well.

And yes, you can be successfull with a restaurant in Cabarete, if you offer high(er) quality, and something different than all the other rubbish.

BelgianK
 
Oct 11, 2010
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sayanora,

You have found one of the north coast's treasures. La casita de Papi is excellent!! And even though "Papi", Don Alfredo, is no longer cooking, the people who have taken it over are doing an excellent job keeping up the tradition. His namesake dish - langosto, langostino or camerones a la Papi - is absolutely wonderful. I have literally eaten there with hundreds of different people over the years and everybody who has tried his famous dish raves about it.

There was even a New York Times article featuring Papi "Don Alfredo" himself and the restaurant several years ago.

Everbody I have taken there to eat over the years when they return to the north coast from the U.S. the first thing they ask is when are we going to eat at Papi's.

All of the dishes I have tried there are excellent and always fresh. When things were busier here on the north coast there was always a wait to be seated in the evenings. On the weekends reservations with the specific dish you were going to order were a must. Since everything is fresh caught there was the possibility of your favorite dish not being available if not reserved in advance. I remember countless times making reservations for ten people and specifying each main course in advance.

One of the waitresses who has been working there for years rents an apartment from me in Sos?a and tells me it is still the busiest restaurant on the beach, I certainly know why. I haven't been there in several months but now that you reminded me I'm going back this weekend. Thanks for reminding me.
 

Vinyasa

Bronze
Dec 22, 2010
1,419
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www.kieranbarry.com
There are perhaps only a few restaurants in Cab that know what they are doing and do it well:
Papi's, Gorditos, Casa Mami, Mojitos and now that the italian chef is back for a while, Natalie Simon.

And yes, they are all pretty busy.
 

sayanora

Silver
Feb 22, 2012
1,621
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Casa mami is decent dominican food at a decent price. If I wanted to eat on a budget I would go to the pica pollo in front of los locos en frente on callejon. Dominican food for 100 pesos and it's just as good as casa mami's (175 pesos).
 

waytogo

Moderator - North Coast Forum
Apr 3, 2009
6,407
580
113
Santiago DR
What are the hours of La Casita De Papi.......
Going to the North Coast this morning, like to give it a try...........
And, are they open for lunch.......and if so, is the luncheon menu the same as the dinner menu........

B in Santiago
 

sayanora

Silver
Feb 22, 2012
1,621
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What are the hours of La Casita De Papi.......
Going to the North Coast this morning, like to give it a try...........
And, are they open for lunch.......and if so, is the luncheon menu the same as the dinner menu........

B in Santiago

I'd say anytime after noon is fine.. now you're making me wanna go lol..
 
Oct 13, 2003
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instagram.com
Casa de Papi is a sure stop on each trip for me. We always eat the crusteans of the day with the pernod sauce (a la Papi). It is a nice restaurant.

When you sit on the first floor overlooking the beach there is even a chance you can enjoy your food without hassle of the vendors.
 

pelaut

Bronze
Aug 5, 2007
1,089
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www.ThornlessPath.com
Re: "packed and full" restaurants

Long ago and far away, while constantly traveling on business, out of boredom I did a survey of restaurants.

I found that full restaurants were popular because they were good ? in many cases "were" was the operative word.

They were at the top of their curve and thriving off of good will. But sometimes good will never dies regardless of the sclerotic kitchen staff (e.g., Maxime's in Paris). Sometimes good will never dies due to steady diligence of management (e.g., Tour d'Argent). But most often good will peaks and decays, and crowded restaurants signal the owners drove the business to the top of the good will curve and are either about to sell or have sold, and the new owner is cashing in on the good will ? for a while anyway (e.g., a steak house in SD I won't mention).

Next, empty or half empty restaurants are either on the way up (slowly) or the way down (quickly) on the popularity curve.

Application of a little game theory on the different cases will show the most probable win is to pick a restaurant that looks new or renovated and has some clientele. When you find the one that's a climber, you can use it every time you visit that town and ride the curve for years. If you limit your choices to full-to-crowded restaurants, you're probably going to crash and burn sooner than later ? if not right away.
 
Oct 11, 2010
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What are the hours of La Casita De Papi.......
Going to the North Coast this morning, like to give it a try...........
And, are they open for lunch.......and if so, is the luncheon menu the same as the dinner menu........

B in Santiago

They usually open at 12:00 and the luncheon menu is the same as dinner.