Food is expensive in the DR - nah

C

Chip00

Guest
For all those naysayers about how expensive it is in the DR well I bought dinner tonight for 5 adults and three children and it came out to be RD195. That is US$6 and there was food leftover. BTW dinner it can be had for much cheaper - we had yucca as opposed to platano...for all of those wondering how Domincans do it on RD8000 a month.
 

jrf

Bronze
Jan 9, 2005
1,020
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I could see that if you only ate yuca!
Wow - hard to believe. Even the comida dominicana here, at least in Los Charimicos, is about 90 pesos.
 

incredible

Member
Jul 9, 2006
106
0
16
For all those naysayers about how expensive it is in the DR well I bought dinner tonight for 5 adults and three children and it came out to be RD195. That is US$6 and there was food leftover. BTW dinner it can be had for much cheaper - we had yucca as opposed to platano...for all of those wondering how Domincans do it on RD8000 a month.

Just out of curiosity..
What exactly did the meal consist of and where did you buy dinner?
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
5,808
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I would be willing to bet that the adults did not drink a beer and the others did not have a soft drink.

So, besides the yucca, how was the bread and water?
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
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.... I bought dinner tonight for 5 adults and three children and it came out to be RD195.

That?s an average of just about 24 pesos per person Chip, about 75 cents each.

I think the wife and I will bring our own food and drinks to the Santiago Barbecue on July 1st.
 

Capt. Rob57

New member
Mar 22, 2006
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At Club de Haina I feed my brother, nephew, a friend and myself beer, soda everything including tax and tip for 1,200 pesos. We had grilled grouper, steaks, and cordon blue. I thought this was a great deal.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
18,948
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I'll wait for Chip's answer!!

Gotta go to the Capi....visit Rob....hummmmmmmmmmmmmm

HB
 
C

Chip00

Guest
Her's the tabulatation below. Also, we ate at the house.

- 4 lbs of yuca - 72 pesos
- 1 lb of jamon de "bola" - 76 pesos
- 1/2 lb of onions - 15 pesos
- 8 eggs - 32 pesos

Also, to really buy vegetables "on the cheap", get them from the guy who drives around in the truck with the bullhorn. He will sell at wholesale cost. For example, platano at the colmado costs 4 to 5 pesos and he sells them for 2 to 3 pesos. Tomatoes cost RD25 a pund and he will sell them at RD20 or less.

Also, we drank water - except for me - I had two Presidentes at RD65 a piece.
 

gini

New member
Dec 12, 2005
107
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11 RD$ - OMG.
There's room to economize.
Use firewood instead.

But wait:
Cooking oil, salt, washing up liquid, drinking water, .... ;)

m'frog

Froggy ! You're looking for the little beast ;)*



*not sure that expression means something in english :ermm:
 

AZB

Platinum
Jan 2, 2002
12,290
519
113
I agree with chip. If you consume dominican products, eating here could become extremely cheap. I often eat in campos with friends, believe me, simple food items could fill up a whole army of hungry guys. The food taste good as well.
AZB
 

GringoCArlos

Retired Ussername
Jan 9, 2002
1,416
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Silly me ! Stuck in the city running errands, I decided to zip through the McDonald`s drive-thru to save some time grabbing lunch, asked for 2 cheeseburgers with nothing else. When they asked me for RD$151, I told them to keep their damn cheeseburgers, as I was going to Chips house for eggs and yucca.
 

Pib

Goddess
Jan 1, 2002
3,668
20
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www.dominicancooking.com
I agree with chip. If you consume dominican products, eating here could become extremely cheap. I often eat in campos with friends, believe me, simple food items could fill up a whole army of hungry guys. The food taste good as well.
AZB
Oh great! Now I am forced to agree with AZB. Gotta go see that the flying pigs don't poop on our terrace.

:)

Local food is cheap, fresh and healthy (if picked and prepared correctly). Where the buck-o-meter goes crazy at the supermarket is when you add all the other things, most of which are not available in a local version. Most people really don't believe me when I tell them how much we spend at the supermarket. Specially since we are 1.5 humans half of the year in this home.

I think I'll blame the kid.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
18,948
514
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Anytime you go to the supermarket, you need some of those red little papers with lots of 000s on them.....
However, if you do as Chip00 has said, with variations...you can eat well.

We feed a lot of people here at the Hovel and we spend somewhere between $700-$800 for the main meal. How many? Anywhere between 14 and 20 on an average day. We eat "fresh".. ? la Subway!!

Today, "carne mechada" , guandules guisados, white rice, lettuce, tomato and cabbage salad, fried green bananas (just like tostones) and ripe bananas for dessert. What more could you ask for????

BUT: when we go to PriceSmart once every two months, its 15,000+....
Huge box of Splenda
2 lt Extra Virgin Olive Oil
half a case of large cans of tomato paste
biggest catchup in the place
half a ton of spaghetti
10-12 pounds of beans
Same for sugar
Huge jug of salt
gallons of vinegar
Huge bundle of TP
Another of disposable plates for sending food to people
2 or 3 lbs of bacon
3 or 4 cartons of eggs
2 lbs of ham
3 of cheese
something for the grandkids (always!!)
Some bread.
Bags of onions, garlic, lemons
We used to buy Caf? Santo Domingo but that was Before Melo!!! Ah good coffee!!
Oh yes, we do not buy rice. It comes from the factory to our house each month, not quite enough to last a month but close--125 lbs....
How's that? All it takes is 45 years of know how!!

HB
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
982
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Family of three, eat out about once a week, buy most of our fruit and vegetables from the organic market, don't buy meat, fowl or most types of fish, and restrained when it comes to imported foods - up till recently we were getting away with spending RD$2,000-2,500 per week. Now it's just over 3,000.