A restaurant guide (a la Zagat) idea ?

Maybe I'm simply not aware of it, but I don't think there is a comprehensive restaurant guide (as opposed to mere listsings )on Santo Domingo restaurants.

There is a Resort Review section on DR1. But how about a similar section for restaurants, which I suppose would be far more useful for expats living in DR ? After all, we may not go to the beach resorts all the time, but we probably dine out far more frequently. We can definitely make some use of fellow eaters' opinions.

For starters, how about following the format of the famed Zagat Guides ?

Namely:

On the scale of 0-30, rate on the following criteria:

Food
Decor
Service

0-9 Poor to fair
10-15 fair to good
16-19 good to very good
20-25 very good to excellent
26-30 extraordinary to perfection

and then give a rough estimate for cost for dinner (per head) with one drink.

Of course, each rating entry should be qualified with some (hopefully detailed) non-stats opinions so we can judge for ourselves whether we agree/disagree witih the rater's opinions/taste.

I'm sure we all have our favorite/not-so-favorite restaurants and instead of forking RD$500 a head only to regret the decision later, isn't it simply better to be well-informed in advance ?

Rob, if you are reading, do you think this could be a potential add-on to the features on your board ?

Thanks !

William Hsieh

- Nice Idea, but

I am afraid the qualities of the local restaurants are changing to fast and often, so any guide would be outdated even before printing! This does not go for all reataurants, but for a lot of them!

Quite often, I have seen a new restaurant open and everybody was going there and the food was fine! Then after a year or two it got out of fashion and less people went there! So to compensate the lesser income, they change staff and not always to the better!

Under these circumstances it would be a difficult task to write a book!

Henry

We are looking into...

this for the more popular restaurants in the DR.

It's on the way.

Rob.

Re: - Nice Idea, but

You are right about the book version risking being outdated as soon as it comes out, that's why I suggested an "eletronic" version on this board where new entries/revisions can be constantly added.

I'm of the opinion that (at least in Santo Domingo), retaurants are just places to serve food with minimum service. Even expensive places are devoid of decent service.

(Why can't glasses be automatically re-filled with water without asking ?? )

And forget about haut-cuisine where cuisine is elevated to an art form, as can be found in US/Europe. Such things simply don't exist here.

Perhaps all cooks add the same brand of "sazon" in DR ???

William Hsieh