The reputation of food in the DR

[KITTU]

I have two stories
Many years ago my DR girlfriend ,and I went to one of those corner food sellers. You know the one's that hang bacon and other meats on string or wire, fry it up and give it to you on a plate?.
Well some months later my left eye starts going brown. My vision was brown. I went to the eye doctor in my country where i work occasionally and she said i had an infection in my eye that was
caused by cat faeces. I had become infected most likely around x date, some months before according to my eye specialist. At that time i was in the DR.
It was a certainty that i had eaten ill prepared food which had come in contact with cat crap.
I almost lost my sight. I strongly believe i that i acquired this infection from either the meat fry dude, or eating at my GF place. Probably the former.

Second and this was recently,
I was staying in Luperon and ordered food from a small food place. That night i awoke hallucinating, sweating, vomiting uncontrollably and hanging onto the toilet for dear life. I was leaking from both ends and not a Dr. in sight to my knowledge.
This gradually subsided over 2-3 days. The effects of this food poisoning were tremendous.
I was taken to their little hospital given medication and something else, im not sure.

I should have known better, I did know better, but i did it anyways.
I should have known that a poorly educated people would have zero idea about cross contamination, contamination,
food poisoning and the need to clean your kitchen properly.
I will never ever, EVER eat again from and place in the DR ( unless i trust them 100% due to having eaten there over the years with no problems, but even then?????)...I am now cooking my own food totally. NEVER EVER EVER will i eat food prepared by DR people....EVER!!!!!!!

Doesn't need to be a small street restaurant. Me and my wife were invited to one of these big all inclusive hotels for new years Eve by a friend who works in the hotel. I wouldn't wanna say the name now but i just ate salads and my wife seafood. It showed immediete effect, severe diarrhea, vomitting, high fever. Both of us were sick for three days and me, ten days to recover. Apparently 500 people were sick after consuming food in that hotel on new years eve. Never gonna eat in an AI here in this country. Kitchen staff are so ****ty they don't give a damn about hygiene and cross contamination.
f

 

[jeb321]

When it comes to Punta Cana and the all inclusives I think most cases it is the persons fault. People that barely drink at home go nuts for days and wonder why the feel sick? Add the hot sun all day what do you expect? They are usually the people drinking those nasty sugar drinks all day. Not saying it does not happen, of course it does.

I stick to beer and rum eat within reason have never had an issue ever 25 plus times in DR.

I believe you are wrong on the main point here. I agree that many unsophisticated people who find themselves at these all inclusives drink themselves to oblivion. But... so many of these hotels are also careless, reckless and GReedy almost to the point of criminality that I wonder how often food poisoning is not more and more
mentioned. I, personally have overheard, while awaiting departure in PC airport, conversations of tourists
mentioning becoming ill because of food at their hotel and other gursts too. These hotels show reckless
indifference to their guests. This is pretty well known and discussed so those who look to save alot of money by
frequenting these places should be aware of poir food quality, preparation and hygiene.

 

[Gringo Starr]

Kitchen staff are so ****ty they don't give a damn about hygiene and cross contamination.
f

Dominicans don't know what hygiene is.

Dominican cook in the kitchen will just put his hand in his dirty panties to scratch his itching a-hole, then wipe with his fingers some discharge from his penis that he has after banging some barrio's chicas, and then continue to prepare your salad. So after eating this you have the same bacterias in your mouth like you gave him a blowjob and a rimjob. Buen provecho!

 

[Expat-in-Cabarete]

Dominican cooks!! I used to run a restaurant and gave up just because it was exhausting dealing with Dom cooks, and I couldn't afford an expat.

I'd buy bottled water for everything (except washing dishes). I remember once catching my cook washing pasta that he had cooked in bottled water, with tap water. I asked if he was crazy or what? He answered "but I boiled it with bottled water. "

 

[jd426]

Dominican cooks!! I used to run a restaurant and gave up just because it was exhausting dealing with Dom cooks, and I couldn't afford an expat.

I'd buy bottled water for everything (except washing dishes). I remember once catching my cook washing pasta that he had cooked in bottled water, with tap water. I asked if he was crazy or what? He answered "but I boiled it with bottled water. "

This right here, illustrates perfectly how the Dominican Brain works..
He followed your instructions, and after that , all logic and common sense went right out the window.
And the worst part is, he has NO clue what he did wrong, since in his mind he did as you instructed on the first part.

cuz if he at least did the, "oh, ok, i messed up" slaps self on the forehead, once could say, ok he just made a mistake..

No, in his mind he did it perfectly.

 

[Expat13]

Dominicans don't know what hygiene is.

Dominican cook in the kitchen will just put his hand in his dirty panties to scratch his itching a-hole, then wipe with his fingers some discharge from his penis that he has after banging some barrio's chicas, and then continue to prepare your salad. So after eating this you have the same bacterias in your mouth like you gave him a blowjob and a rimjob. Buen provecho!

Before eating at restaurants here I usually go in the kitchen and do an inspection of the cooks.The "sniff test" Its simple, just sniff their fingernails and inspect for dirt or other foul material.

Another product i use here that works and should be mandatory for all cooks. http://freshballs.com/

 

[frank recktenwald]

Before eating at restaurants here I usually go in the kitchen and do an inspection of the cooks.The "sniff test" Its simple, just sniff their fingernails and inspect for dirt or other foul material.

Another product i use here that works and should be mandatory for all cooks. http://freshballs.com/

You walking into a kitchen and sniffing the cooks hands, really?
Where at Mcdonalds?

 

[Expat13]

You walking into a kitchen and sniffing the cooks hands, really?
Where at Mcdonalds?

No, pointless doing it there. The foul debris under their nails is nothing compared to the fake contaminated food they use at Macs. Everybody knows what there in for when going there.http://articles.mercola.com/mcdonalds-hamburger.aspx

 

[Xavier_Onassis]

I had a couple of bites of chicharron in Juan Dolio that gave me a parasite that took two weeks to get rid of. I advise against eating those, ever.

 

[KITTU]

Dominicans don't know what hygiene is.

Dominican cook in the kitchen will just put his hand in his dirty panties to scratch his itching a-hole, then wipe with his fingers some discharge from his penis that he has after banging some barrio's chicas, and then continue to prepare your salad. So after eating this you have the same bacterias in your mouth like you gave him a blowjob and a rimjob. Buen provecho!

Gees, you just made my day:ermm::ermm::ermm::ermm:

 

[davetuna]

well, there is definitely an opportunity here for some hygiene courses or videos or posters on the wall......I think we would all agree that a little knowledge and bleach goes a long way......maybe somebody could set up an 'in house' hygiene course and evaluation class........or maybe even work with one of the government departments.

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

At these buffet restaurants on the resorts where 1000 people gather for a meal, how many of them do you think have recently washed their hands? Even with sanitizer dispensers all over the place, it's too much trouble to squirt and rub. I have watched some people do the craziest things while dishing out their mountain of grazing fodder.

Child, 9 or 10, can't decide if he likes something, licks the serving spoon, decides he doesn't and puts the spoon back into the entree. Adult clearly suffering from allergies, blows his nose in a napkin he removed from a table, folds it up again and puts it back on the table. Child drops serving spoon on the floor, picks it up and sticks it back into the food. Finally, a lady sneezed all over the salad bar, wiped her nose with the back of her hand and proceeded to cut a hunk of bread at the bread station.

We may like to blame the hotels because it's easy and none of us would ever do anything to make someone else ill...like go to work when sick, send your child to school then they are sick and of course we are all fastidious with our hygiene in the buffet line.

 

[PeterInBrat]

I'd say it's getting better every year. The main problem is lack of education and no active health dept to check on even basic hygene. Chains in particular are raising the bar.

I always check for soap, paper towels and TP in the bathrooms. Sometimes, there's even a toilet seat!

 

[ju10prd]

I'd say it's getting better every year. The main problem is lack of education and no active health dept to check on even basic hygene. Chains in particular are raising the bar.

I always check for soap, paper towels and TP in the bathrooms. Sometimes, there's even a toilet seat!

Yes it is.

Punta Cana/Bavaro gets 3 million tourist annually and the level of complaint is low. Why? the chains are internationally managed with reputations and they place expats as their senior staff whilst training local staff and incorporating the many graduates that the country is now producing for the hospitality industry.

Those that grumble go check the statistics for countries such as Spain and Greece for food poisoning.

I add my name as someone who has had zero issues with food prepared and cooked in DR over many years whether in the campo, off the street, at food chains, at food supermarkets, at restaurants, at hotels, at roadside cafes, and as a guest of poor or medium class Dominicans.

Some people live in a bubble and have become the best friend of germs and bacteria.

 

[CristoRey]

Note to self. Don't eat at hotels.

 

[Derfish]

Before eating at restaurants here I usually go in the kitchen and do an inspection of the cooks.The "sniff test" Its simple, just sniff their fingernails and inspect for dirt or other foul material.

Another product i use here that works and should be mandatory for all cooks. http://freshballs.com/

What does the cook say when you ask to siff his hand anyway?
Der Fish

 

[Gringo Starr]

What does the cook say when you ask to siff his hand anyway?
Der Fish

He also needs to check the cook's a-hole if there are some eggs of helminths around it.

 

[bigwhiskey]

I have seen guest at AI's sample food with fingers ,eat over food and sneeze or blow their nose over or near food even saw a kid sample something then spit it out and they weren't locals. The only time I got the runs was by my own stupidity by gargling and swallowing some water , thank God I had pepto and immoudium ad with me. Now when I'm in DR I bring a bottle of kaopectate and the caplets..

 

[rfp]

And to think that you could spend your vacation money in Florida, Palm Springs or all sorts of nice warm places where you dont have to deal with these issues.

 

[suarezj519]

Here in SD I have had more food poisoning experiences than Cotui where I frequently visit and usually eat at some the late night food carts or restaurants after some time drinking. I always check how my food is prepared most of time. Here in SD though I've eaten at established restaurants and stores, point in example Nacional (specifically Tiradentes locstion) . 2 times got food poisoning and once while eating with coworkers one of them found maggots in his meat. :/ I have complained. But.... Sigh.... imagine. :/. I usually give places another chance to clean up their act. One time I got food poisoning that caused numerological problems from subway in Michigan. Was about to take it to court with others. But that's another story....