Mercato Restaurant (Santiago)

sayanora

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Feb 22, 2012
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My partner and i go to Ocio all the time, the atmosphere is great with a very hip and healthy mix, and literally one of the VERY FEW places in town where you can actually see social classes mixed together (dominican yorks, popis (dominican for rich kids lol), regular folks, denbow fanatics, gays, straights, etc etc), and that's really HARD to achieve, so kudos to the owner/manager. The food is good (speed of service should could be better indeed cause sometimes food ends up being super cold), but the drinks are really good and overall it looks like they've found a winning formula cause the place is always packed when i go.

Thanks a lot for your patronage! (Never used that word before..)
 

sayanora

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Feb 22, 2012
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We've opened a second restaurant about 300M from the first, Fraternidad Grill House.. a bit different from the first considered it's indoors with air conditioning etc, would love to see members at either of our locations!
 

sayanora

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Feb 22, 2012
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does anyone know if you can get fresh NY style bagels in Santiago area?
heh no, but damn that would be cool.. the closest you can get is a brand called toufayan but quality is SUPER hit or miss because bagels go bad pretty quickly, supermarkets end up freezing/thawing them multiple times and quality is crap.
 

sayanora

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Feb 22, 2012
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Toufayan-Everything-Bagel-20oz.png
 

sayanora

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Feb 22, 2012
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just in general all bread in the DR sucks to me also unfortunately, maybe it's the water or lower quality flour or something but I've never had decent bread in the DR.
 
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JD Jones

Moderator:North Coast,Santo Domingo,SW Coast,Covid
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heh no, but damn that would be cool.. the closest you can get is a brand called toufayan but quality is SUPER hit or miss because bagels go bad pretty quickly, supermarkets end up freezing/thawing them multiple times and quality is crap.
I've been buying their pita bread for as long as they've been on the market here.

They ship it frozen here from Florida to Grupo Ramos and CCN. Their bread has a long shelf life if it's kept frozen, and shelf life of 7-10 days if not. (I spoke to one of the family members in Fla.)

I used to find their bread in JUMBO and La Sirena without date codes and I would draw it to their attention.

They started using date codes, but then you would find unfrozen products with a date code a year into the future (Obviously the frozen date code)

The last couple of months I've been finding their bread with proper date codes, so I may try the whole wheat bagels again.
 

Fulano2

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Jun 5, 2011
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just in general all bread in the DR sucks to me also unfortunately, maybe it's the water or lower quality flour or something but I've never had decent bread in the DR.
It’s the flour and the climate. That’s why it’s so hard to get a real french baguette. And then, on top of it, like at Jeanette’s, they put the bread in plastic bags.
 

drstock

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Oct 29, 2010
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Cabarete
It’s the flour and the climate. That’s why it’s so hard to get a real french baguette. And then, on top of it, like at Jeanette’s, they put the bread in plastic bags.
Not all the bread is in plastic bags at Janet's, until you put it in one. They sell bread that I like that is in the open on racks. Most of it comes from Disk's bakery in Cabarete main street, where you can buy it direct from the baker. Their white bread is not so good, except the burger buns.
 

sayanora

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Feb 22, 2012
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I would buy bread at playero where it's not in bags or anything and it tastes like cardboard like all the other bread in the DR :(
 

sayanora

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Feb 22, 2012
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Bravo has some pan de mantequilla that's decent, kinda buttery, still not very good.. now that I think about it, the ONLY place I've had good bread is at high end hotels, the croissants at hotel intercontinental in santo domingo are amazing. I think they hire international bakers that really know what they're doing.
 

AlterEgo

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Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
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South Coast
just in general all bread in the DR sucks to me also unfortunately, maybe it's the water or lower quality flour or something but I've never had decent bread in the DR.
The ONLY bread I’ve actually enjoyed in DR was Italian bread at Tipico Bonao. I always buy a few extra loaves when we eat there.
 

PICHARDO

One Dominican at a time, please!
May 15, 2003
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Santiago de Los 30 Caballeros
I would buy bread at playero where it's not in bags or anything and it tastes like cardboard like all the other bread in the DR :(


True, but that is the true flavor of simple bread.
You’re too used to the sugar added breads now in use industry wide in most international markets.

A natural wheat bread should have a neutral taste, but a given texture and bitter aftertaste.

Your taste buds have been inoculated with ultra processed foods far too long.

Toufayan is imported btw.
 

Fulano2

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Jun 5, 2011
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Not all the bread is in plastic bags at Janet's, until you put it in one. They sell bread that I like that is in the open on racks. Most of it comes from Disk's bakery in Cabarete main street, where you can buy it direct from the baker. Their white bread is not so good, except the burger buns.
In Rio San Juan you can get some real bread at Marco’s place, Café de París. He gets it from a french guy in Puerto Plata. He doesnt have a lot of stock because he sells it mainly to foreigners.
 

XTraveller

Well-known member
Aug 21, 2010
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I've been buying their pita bread for as long as they've been on the market here.

They ship it frozen here from Florida to Grupo Ramos and CCN. Their bread has a long shelf life if it's kept frozen, and shelf life of 7-10 days if not. (I spoke to one of the family members in Fla.)

I used to find their bread in JUMBO and La Sirena without date codes and I would draw it to their attention.

They started using date codes, but then you would find unfrozen products with a date code a year into the future (Obviously the frozen date code)

The last couple of months I've been finding their bread with proper date codes, so I may try the whole wheat bagels again.
Could never find date code on the Bagels can you tell were about on Bag?
 

JD Jones

Moderator:North Coast,Santo Domingo,SW Coast,Covid
Jan 7, 2016
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Could never find date code on the Bagels can you tell were about on Bag?

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I mainly buy at La Sirena in San Cristobal. For the last month or so they are using a 1" square printed label that you can't miss.

Jumbo has them stored in the deli section (unrefrigerated) and in the frozen goods section. (Chest freezers) I have not seen labels on Jumbo's product.
 

XTraveller

Well-known member
Aug 21, 2010
601
287
63
Sorry, I wasn't clear. I mainly buy at La Sirena in San Cristobal. For the last month or so they are using a 1" square printed label that you can't miss.

Jumbo has them stored in the deli section (unrefrigerated) and in the frozen goods section. (Chest freezers) I have not seen labels on Jumbo's product.
Thanks, I buy at Jumbo that why I can never find label.