French restaurants

Juniper

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Apr 15, 2004
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Yesterday we had lunch at the new La Salsa restaurant (which is a French restaurant) in the Fishermen's Village. The prices are very affordable and the food, although very small portions, was good; HOWEVER, the menu was only in French. Why in the world, in a Spanish speaking country, you would not have the items on the menu translated in Spanish. Let alone in English as well.

Well, it bothered the hell out of me. The way I take it is that they only want French customers and they snob everyone else. I am Dominican and my husband is American. We will not go back. And I am sorry to say that I will not recommend it to anyone who asks for a good place to eat.

Juniper
 
Dec 26, 2011
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You just said the food was affordable and good. LT is very French...especially the FRENCH restaurants, one would expect. You're being de mente cerrada, y lo sabes. No seas como los gringos que llegan a tu paisito sin preocuparse por aprender el idioma tuyo. Si uno quiere disfrutar de una exquisita cena francesa, tal vez tenga que entender un poquitico de su idioma. Es muy razonable eso.

 

Juniper

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You just said the food was affordable and good. LT is very French...especially the FRENCH restaurants, one would expect. You're being de mente cerrada, y lo sabes. No seas como los gringos que llegan a tu paisito sin preocuparse por aprender el idioma tuyo. Si uno quiere disfrutar de una exquisita cena francesa, tal vez tenga que entender un poquitico de su idioma. Es muy razonable eso.



I totally disagree with you Pollo gringo. The one with the closed mind is you. I take offence as a Dominican and not as anAmerican, so please leave the Americans out of this. There are other French restaurants in Las Terrenas where the menus are translated in Spanish. I shall go there.
 
Dec 26, 2011
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I totally disagree with you Pollo gringo. The one with the closed mind is you. I take offence as a Dominican and not as anAmerican, so please leave the Americans out of this. There are other French restaurants in Las Terrenas where the menus are translated in Spanish. I shall go there.

Ok...Hope the food is good and affordable there too. The taking of offense is not generally considered the mark of an open-minded person. ;)
 
Dec 26, 2011
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No mention is made of the staff being rude or unhelpful in assisting them to understand the menu. They obviously were able to order and know what it was going to cost them. Seems silly to malign a French place for being too French.
 

pdmlynek

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Sep 27, 2012
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That would seem pretty hilarious to me. :classic: Sorry that it bothers you so much.

Yeah, I agree that it would make business sense for a French restaurant in a Spanish speaking country to have a menu in Spanish and in English, but just exactly how much French do you need in order to order some food? And I think that customers for some reason tend to thrive on being abused by the staff in French restaurants (“Wow, if they are so rude, it really must be an authentic French food”).

But when it comes to dining out when I travel in a foreign country, I generally try not get a menu in English, but in the local language. There have instances, when prices on the menu vary with the language that the menu is printed in.
 
Dec 26, 2011
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And I think that customers for some reason tend to thrive on being abused by the staff in French restaurants (“Wow, if they are so rude, it really must be an authentic French food”).

Exactly. It's part of the experience. ;)
 

Juniper

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I have many good French friends in Las Terrenas and it is nothing against the French. By the way, the girls tending to us were very nice and helpful. I just thought it is not a good business practice and a bit discriminating. Let's see, I think the Italian restaurants should all be in Italian, the German restaurant should be all in German, the Russian restaurant should be all in Russian and let's see....mmmm oh yes, Dan's Ice Palace should be all in English. But oh well, to each its own. I am taking my businesness to La Terrasse. :)
 
Dec 26, 2011
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I have many good French friends in Las Terrenas and it is nothing against the French. By the way, the girls tending to us were very nice and helpful. I just thought it is not a good business practice and a bit discriminating. Let's see, I think the Italian restaurants should all be in Italian, the German restaurant should be all in German, the Russian restaurant should be all in Russian and let's see....mmmm oh yes, Dan's Ice Palace should be all in English. But oh well, to each its own. I am taking my businesness to La Terrasse. :)

I'll check them both out(La Salsa and La Terrasse) next time in LT. We went to Mi Coraz?n(not French, I know) in November and loved it.
 

flyinroom

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Aug 26, 2012
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La Salsa is a bit of a strange name for such a "French" restaurant...............
................just saying:rolleyes:
 

Squat

Tropical geek in Las Terrenas
Jan 1, 2002
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Give those guys a break, as they just re-opened a few weeks ago. I am sure they'll print menus in Spanish soon...

By the way, I had the worst service ever in Casa Azul yesterday night and decided I was not coming back, ever to such an unfriendly place.
 

Africaida

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Jun 19, 2009
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Yesterday we had lunch at the new La Salsa restaurant (which is a French restaurant) in the Fishermen's Village. The prices are very affordable and the food, although very small portions, was good; HOWEVER, the menu was only in French. Why in the world, in a Spanish speaking country, you would not have the items on the menu translated in Spanish. Let alone in English as well.

Well, it bothered the hell out of me. The way I take it is that they only want French customers and they snob everyone else. I am Dominican and my husband is American. We will not go back. And I am sorry to say that I will not recommend it to anyone who asks for a good place to eat.

Juniper

Juniper, you should have addressed it with the owner.

Trust me, no restaurant owner is crazy enough to rely only on 1 nationality. I have friends who own a restaurant and business is very hard in LT, especially in the Fishermen's village (crazy rent!). I was just there and, while it was supposed to be the highest season, I saw many bars/restaurants pretty much empty most of the times.

One more thing: Actually, A lot of French in LT are now extremely interested in attracting Americans with the opening of Catey-JFK. I was approached many times because I speak both English and French.
 
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william webster

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Jan 16, 2009
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Try getting a menu in English in Quebec...... tall order.

and against the law to post the name of your business in English....

Vive le francais....
 

william webster

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Jan 16, 2009
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Very true windy..... like clothes peg on their nose....

In Paris = Un 'hot dog', and "STOP" signs

In Quebec = Un chien chaud, and "ARRET"

They try to be soooo French ................. and miss the mark
 

Juniper

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Apr 15, 2004
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Try getting a menu in English in Quebec...... tall order.

and against the law to post the name of your business in English....

Vive le francais....

The native language in Quebec is French so I don't see anything wrong with their menus being in French. You are missing the point of my thread.
 

cobraboy

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Jul 24, 2004
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FWIW, there is an outstanding Dominican/French restaurant in Rio San Juan run by a French chef named Marco. It's called Cafe Paris and is right across the street from the springs feeding Laguna Gri Gri.

Excellent!
 

LTSteve

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Jul 9, 2010
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Hi:

In LT I have observed that the common practice is usually to have the menu in at least 2 or 3 languages. I have been to a couple of restaurants in town that have their menu in 4 or 5 languages. I don't really think this is in any way a slight on customers that don't speak French, but common sense would dictate that at least Spanish and French should be on the menu. Probably their thinking is that if you can't please everyone than perhaps they are just trying to please their mostly French clientele.

LTSteve