heallth & vegetarian

I can't really answer any of your questions but if you are strictly vegetarian you should always ask when ordering a dish if it is made with 'sopita' de pollo or 'sopita' de vegetales. Dominicans tend to continue to use chicken boullion to flavor vegetable dishes.

You can buy vegetable boullion in the stores. Most vegetarians I know ended up eating chicken and even meat after a few years because it was just too dificult to find 'non' meat flavor foods. The only people I know who were able to stick it out were those that cooked everything themselves.

Good luck.

zyko, search the archives. There was a thread around 8 months ago where someone posted names and locations of health food stores.

There are several vegetarian restaurants in Santo Domingo. e.g. Ojas in Zona Universitaria and Ananda in Gazcue. However, I find the food they serve gives vegetarian food a bad name. Vida Silvestre, which was slightly better has closed down apparently. There is also one off Av Maximo Gomez by Supermercado Nacional which I have not yet tried. I would recommend that you go to normal restaurants which will almost always have a non-meat option. If it is a basic comedor just ask for plato del dia without the meat. It may well be cooked with chicken stock cubes as pointed out in previous posts, and this is difficult to avoid. The solution is to self cater as much as possible or relax your standards a bit. No need to go the whole hog (no pun intended?) and go back to eating meat!

There are health food shops dotted around the place. If you give us a clearer indication of where you are going to be we may be able to provide specific information.

Chiri

I agree with kj...

Not really giving you any information...
But i'm a vegetarian and while I was there I did not eat meat, but I did eat the chicken bouillon that was put in the soups, or rice or pasta sauce. It is hard not to, especially when someone else is cooking for you. They are used in everything! Best of luck with everything!

Been a strict vegetarian here is an almost impossible task. You'll have to either relax your standards, only eat home or just eat green salad when you eat out.

I once wrote about my ordeal.

Here is something you might enjoy.

I am not a vegetarian,I am a Sagitarius,but I am dieting and have stopped eating beef and pork for the most part.Try the canned beans with coconut(Habichelas con Coco) made by any of the local compaies,Goya,JaJa,Famosa,Victorina.Also try Guandules con Coco! They are great over rice.Try sauteing some onions,peppers,garlic in olive oil,before heating the beans.Add one cube off vegetable or garic broth,to the mixture.With a salad it is very satisfying.Cris Colon