I will be in Santo Domingo and I am looking for a nice restaurant for a romantic dinner. I will be in Villa Mella but anywhere throughout the city would be fine. Names and where there are would be great.
- Thread starter amandalynn
- Start date
Restuarants in Santo Domingo
Since we both like Italian food, she and I have been meaning to go to La Briciola for some time. Today we finally went there for lunch.
We were very seriously underwhelmed!!
Agreed that the interior is rather special, and it probably could have a very nice atmosphere under the right circumstances, however the circs were painfully not right today. We sat inside in the center of the main room. At one end there sat a gentleman and a lady, obviously not with their respective spouses, but they were quiet and seemed to blend well into the background. At the other end was a group of some 8 or 10 people apparently celebrating a birthday. They constantly made so much noise that we couldn't hear to hold a decent conversation without raising our voices beyond what we felt was comfortable.
Service was slow and clumsy - the waiter twice poured me a full glass of foam of Presidente. We found the menu uninspiring and when the food actually arrived it was less than mediocre. My spaghettini cozze e pecorino had a very strong fishy smell and I knew at the time I should not have eaten it, now some hours later it's still reminding me. She chose the penne Bombay which arrived drowning in a thick cream sauce that completely suffocated any taste the rest of the ingredients should have had. The bill came to nearly RD$3,000 which would not have been excessive had the meal had been good, or even fair.
We could have just fallen on a bad day, or maybe our choice of food could have been better, however it will be a long time before we would think about going there again or recommending it to anyone.
Those are not bad day mistakes-thats just unexceptable! When a resto with such stature serves questionable fish, a second chance is not in the cards.
Thanks for the warning!
If you want something very memorable, drive to the town of Boca Chica and ask around for directions to Boca Marina. It's a restaurant right ON the ocean.
The restaurant is beautiful and very romantic. The food is good and not overpriced.
Boca Chica is about 40 minutes east of Santo Domingo.
The restaurant is beautiful and very romantic. The food is good and not overpriced.
Boca Chica is about 40 minutes east of Santo Domingo.
Just a brief update - we both passed an uncormfortable night but thankfully the digestive system seems to be recovering slowly today.
AND TO AVOID ANY POSSIBLE DOUBTS OR MISUNDERSTANDINGS, WE WILL CERTAINLY NOT BE GIVING LA BRICIOLA A SECOND CHANCE, NOR WOULD WE EVER RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE.
There is no shortage of excellent restaurants in the Capital and environs, so why bother with a place that so obviously can't maintain simple food hygiene and can't hire waiters with sufficient dexterity to pour a beer without destroying it !!
Bryan
Sorry for your bad experience, Bryanell. I have never been there for lunch, and have always had a steak.
Don't worry, Forastero, we'll chalk it up to experience and move on...like I said there are some excellent restaurants around where the food and service are considered more important than the decor, and where people don't go to "be seen".
We have a number of very good and very different places where we like to eat, where quality is always consistent, Italian, Middle Eastern, Spanish Creole, Central European, South American, etc., even a rather exotic location for that "special" occasion. And at home the housekeeper, who is from up-country, does the authentic tipico for when we don't want to go out. We are no longer so keen on trying the adventure of somewhere new or different, preferring not to be ripped off, disappointed or worse even, sick afterwards.
Mind you, having said that.....a good Thai or Indian eatery (Oh, how we miss you, Oscar!!) in SD would pry us out of our shells, so to speak. Fortunately the Asiatico supermarket is close by and that's where we buy the necessary ingredients to make those curries at home.