Bravo San Cristobal

AlterEgo

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Today we took our first trip to Bravo in San Cristobal, after hearing so much about it from JD Jones. I’m definitely a convert from Sirena. I found the store well stocked, clean, and the only thing I didn’t find was Aqua Orbis sin minerales, but I may have overlooked it.

I loved that their whole chickens are vacuum packed, won’t leak in the freezer. We managed to spend 17,000 pesos so you know we found a lot of good things.

Mr AE was grumbling about no hardware department, and I wanted new (sleeping) pillows for the bedrooms, so I guess we’ll have to do Sirena for some things.
 
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Bravo is a goto. If you go to the west side there is Saomy supermarket, best fresh bread and Aurora mall for all your household and a big hardware section for mrAE (and me).
 
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AlterEgo

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I'm with you and JD. Bravo is my goto. I like their house brands very much. Just be careful of the beef.

What about the beef? What’s wrong with it?

Today we bought a lot of whole chickens, chicken scallopini, fresh pork chops and smoked pork chops, shrimp, lambi, salmon, and one package of ground beef to make meatballs.

I saw the Angus, but daughter is coming for a visit and she won’t eat red meat so I stuck to chicken and fish.
 

NanSanPedro

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What about the beef? What’s wrong with it?

Today we bought a lot of whole chickens, chicken scallopini, fresh pork chops and smoked pork chops, shrimp, lambi, salmon, and one package of ground beef to make meatballs.

I saw the Angus, but daughter is coming for a visit and she won’t eat red meat so I stuck to chicken and fish.
I had a bad experience with their ground beef once. Very rubbery and tasteless. I'm very wary of it now. But other than that, I really like Bravo.
 
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JD Jones

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I'm with you and JD. Bravo is my goto. I like their house brands very much. Just be careful of the beef.

I stock up every time they bring in the Angus beef. I buy a bunch of Ribeyes and New York strips—big guns! They have also been importing Angus Prime pre-tenderized cuts about 1/2" thick that are just perfect for breakfasts.

I've given up on finding chicken thighs. They have tons of drumsticks, but no thighs.

They also have deboned drumsticks. Lightly seasoned and throw in the fryer and they come out perfect.
 
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windeguy

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I had a bad experience with their ground beef once. Very rubbery and tasteless. I'm very wary of it now. But other than that, I really like Bravo.
Interesting. Same experience with the ground whateveritwas in the Bravo in Puerto Plata. Otherwise I like Bravo for the rest of what they have.
 

AlterEgo

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I stock up every time they bring in the Angus beef. I buy a bunch of Ribeyes and New York strips—big guns! They have also been importing Angus Prime pre-tenderized cuts about 1/2" thick that are just perfect for breakfasts.

I've given up on finding chicken thighs. They have tons of drumsticks, but no thighs.

They also have deboned drumsticks. Lightly seasoned and throw in the fryer and they come out perfect.

They have a lot of Angus right now.

Was surprised to find a huge bag of frozen chicken nuggets, two teenage grandsons next week and one of them is a super picky eater. Good to have in the freezer
 

JD Jones

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They have a lot of Angus right now.

Was surprised to find a huge bag of frozen chicken nuggets, two teenage grandsons next week and one of them is a super picky eater. Good to have in the freezer
Let's see, I was there on Tuesday, and there was hardly any meat so I wonder if that means they get their deliveries on Wednesdays?
 

JD Jones

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Interesting. Same experience with the ground whateveritwas in the Bravo in Puerto Plata. Otherwise I like Bravo for the rest of what they have.

Yeah, stay away from the ground chicken. Meat balls, chicken hamburgers... none of their ground chicken stuff impressed me, and I've tried them all.
 

NanSanPedro

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I stock up every time they bring in the Angus beef. I buy a bunch of Ribeyes and New York strips—big guns! They have also been importing Angus Prime pre-tenderized cuts about 1/2" thick that are just perfect for breakfasts.

I've given up on finding chicken thighs. They have tons of drumsticks, but no thighs.

They also have deboned drumsticks. Lightly seasoned and throw in the fryer and they come out perfect.
I bulk up on chicken thighs at PriceSmart. Usually you can freeze them and get about 6 or 8 meals out of the package. Around 3 pounds I think.

I'm going to check out the ribeyes next time I'm there.
 
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JD Jones

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I bulk up on chicken thighs at PriceSmart. Usually you can freeze them and get about 6 or 8 meals out of the package. Around 3 pounds I think.

I'm going to check out the ribeyes next time I'm there.
Take your time, people really mix them up looking for the ones they want.
 
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AlterEgo

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Let's see, I was there on Tuesday, and there was hardly any meat so I wonder if that means they get their deliveries on Wednesdays?

I suspect so, because the frozen section was packed. They were also filling the chicken and fresh meats from crates on a big cart.

My only complaint is that I didn’t get sale prices on some things. For example , I bought three packages of shrimp because it was on sale, looking at my receipt I see regular price. I’ll have to watch checkout closer next time.

We love lambi, I bought two packages of frozen minced lambi. I make it with spices and tomato sauce and serve it over rice. Hope it’s good.
 

JD Jones

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I occasionally buy their frozen mixed seafood and a box of Goya Paella and throw them into my Rice cooker with some olive oil and cook it on the Brown Rice setting.

In 45 minutes you have some killer Paella for just a few dollars.
 

AlterEgo

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I occasionally buy their frozen mixed seafood and a box of Goya Paella and throw them into my Rice cooker with some olive oil and cook it on the Brown Rice setting.

In 45 minutes you have some killer Paella for just a few dollars.

I didn’t see the mixed seafood, I’ll look next time.
 

JD Jones

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I didn’t see the mixed seafood, I’ll look next time.
If you do, buy two or three. They go pretty quickly. They are usually in the chest freezers next to the ground chicken products.
 
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AlterEgo

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Went back to Bravo today, I’m learning that I can’t expect the same items each trip. I only buy Rica mantequilla, last time they had both the bars and the tub. This time, neither. It was Sosua brand (nowhere as good) or nothing. Or margarine, which I never use. Last time I bought about 10 whole chickens, vacuum packed. Only choice today was Pollo Cibao, not a big deal but I liked the other packaging better.

JD, the freezers are loaded with Angus everything.
 

JD Jones

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Yeah, they seem to buy in batches, maybe spot market or something similar.
I buy the Lurik garlic butter at Sirena, and get it delivered by pedidosya.

I grabbed a bunch of the Angus steaks last week after you let me know they were stocked. No Ribeyes this time, so I grabbed the New York Strips instead.
I can get a very good looking one for less than 500 pesos. Not bad, considering I get 3 smaller steaks out of each one.
 
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bob saunders

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We buy this butter at La Sirena, very good
 

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