The Dominican Republic has a real cuisine, and a resort buffet is not where you will meet it.
What follows is what people actually eat, roughly in the order you are likely to encounter it.
Breakfast
Mangú. Mashed green plantain, boiled then mashed with the water it cooked in, topped with pickled red onion. Smooth, savoury, slightly sour from the onion.
Order it as los tres golpes — the three hits — and it arrives with fried cheese, fried salami and a fried egg. This is the Dominican breakfast. If you eat one thing from this list, eat this.
Yaniqueques. Fried dough discs, sold on beaches, particularly on the north coast. The name is a Dominican rendering of "Johnny cakes".
Lunch, which is the main meal
La bandera. White rice, stewed red beans, a meat — usually chicken or beef — with a little salad and fried plantain. Named after the flag.
This is what the country eats, most days, at midday. It is also the single best test of a comedor: everyone makes it, so how good theirs is tells you everything.
Sancocho. A thick stew of several meats and root vegetables, cooked slowly. It is a dish made when people gather — a Sunday, a family thing, a celebration. Sancocho de siete carnes, with seven meats, is the full expression.
If you are invited to eat sancocho at someone's house, rearrange your plans.
Chivo guisado. Stewed goat, strongly associated with the northwest of the country, especially Monte Cristi where the goats graze on oregano. Richer and more interesting than it sounds if you have not eaten goat before.
Pescado frito. Whole fried fish, with tostones, at a comedor on a beach. Playa Rincón, Las Terrenas, Boca Chica on a Sunday. The whole meal is the point: the fish, the fried plantain, the cold beer, the sand.
The plantain, in all its forms
It matters enough to get its own section.
- Tostones — green plantain, sliced, fried, smashed flat, fried again. Salty, crisp, served with everything.
- Maduros — ripe plantain, fried until sweet and soft. The opposite thing entirely.
- Mofongo — plantain mashed with garlic and pork crackling, pressed into a mound, often filled with shrimp or stewed meat. Heavy, garlicky, excellent.
- Mangú — breakfast, as above.
Four completely different dishes from one ingredient at different stages of ripeness.
From the roadside
Chicharrón. Fried pork, sold by weight from roadside stands, especially on the road out of any city on a weekend. Eaten standing up with lime and hot sauce.
Pica pollo. Dominican fried chicken, seasoned and fried hard, usually with tostones. Every neighbourhood has the one everybody agrees is best.
Empanadas / pastelitos. Fried pastry with beef, chicken or cheese. Breakfast, snack, whatever.
Longaniza. Dominican sausage, heavily seasoned with oregano and sour orange.
Sweet
Habichuelas con dulce. Sweet cream of beans, with coconut milk, sweet potato, raisins and little biscuits floating in it. It sounds implausible and it is excellent. Strongly associated with Lent and Easter, when the whole country makes it.
Dulce de leche cortada, majarete, flan — all common, all worth trying once.
Drink
Morir soñando — "to die dreaming" — orange juice and milk, cold. The combination sounds like a mistake and is the most refreshing thing on the island.
Presidente, served so cold there is ice in the neck of the bottle. There is a whole vocabulary around getting it at the right temperature.
Mamajuana — rum, red wine and honey steeped in a bottle of bark and herbs. Every family has a theory about it. Treat the health claims as folklore and the drink as strong.
Coffee — small, strong, sweet, served constantly. Declining a coffee in someone's house is harder than you think.
Where to eat it
Comedores. Small family places, open at lunch, serving a plate of the day. No menu, sometimes no sign. Ask what is ready. This is where the food is.
Colmados. The corner shop that is also a bar, a social club and a place to get a sandwich. Not restaurants, but central to how people eat and drink.
Roadside stands, especially on weekends and on the road out of town.
Not the resort buffet. The Dominican corner of an international buffet is a reasonable approximation that has never once made anyone want to move here.
The thing that actually gets you the good version
Every Dominican has strong opinions about where the best pica pollo, the best sancocho and the best mangú in their area are, and they are not the places that rank on review sites.
Roavi is free to message. Ask someone who lives there where they actually eat — it is the question they most want to be asked.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the national dish of the Dominican Republic?
La bandera — 'the flag' — a plate of white rice, stewed red beans and a meat, usually with salad and fried plantain. It is named for the flag's colours and it is what most of the country eats at lunch, which is the main meal of the day.What is mangú?
Mashed green plantain, served at breakfast. With fried cheese, fried salami and fried egg it becomes 'los tres golpes' — the three hits — which is the Dominican breakfast and the one dish visitors most often come home talking about.Is Dominican food spicy?
No. It is seasoned rather than hot — oregano, garlic, sofrito, lime. Hot sauce is on the table if you want it, not in the cooking. People expecting Mexican heat are always surprised.Where do I find the real thing?
A comedor — a small, family-run place serving a plate of the day at lunch. They are unglamorous, cheap, often have no menu, and are where the food actually is. Ask what is ready today rather than what they have.What should I drink?
Morir soñando — orange juice and milk, which sounds wrong and is excellent. Presidente beer, served extremely cold. Mamajuana if someone offers it. And the coffee, which is strong, sweet and served small.
