Altos de Chavón’s newest restaurant, La Cantina officially opened for business on Saturday the 10th of December 2011, during the 2nd annual Bazaar Navideño, which was tragically rained off. So although the business got off to a rather wet start, it has now been open for more than a month and everything seems to be going rather well.
Although we (Casa de Campo Living) have not yet had chance to do a full “review” on La Cantina, here we bring you a “mini-review” based on our experiences of this new restaurant so far!
First of all, La Cantina is a “no frills” kind of restaurant; the food is simple, good and reasonably priced, whilst the atmosphere is relaxed and casual. And as you would expect of a “Latin Bistro” the menu is typically latin, featuring mainly Dominican and Cuban specialities (that we all love), like tostones, pastellitos, yuca and best of all mofongo!
The dishes we’ve tasted (and therefore can recommend) so far are:
Mofongo with pork: RD$395
Yummy, yummy, yummy! Whilst I am not Dominican and therefore am no authority on Mofongo, I loved it, the flavor was good, the garlic-y sauce was delicious and I loved that it came with a giant piece of crispy pork in the center (a feature I’ve not seen in other Mofongo’s).
What is Mofongo?
So for those of you wondering what exactly Mofongo is, it’s made from fried plantain (normally called tostones), which are mashed up and mixed with crispy pieces of pork fat. To eat, you pour the garlic sauce on top to soften it up.
Yuca Salad: RD$70
I love Yuca, so when I spotted “Ensalada de Yuca” on the menu and for only RD$70 – I thought “yes please” and I wasn’t disappointed. To be honest I had no idea what to expect, but as it turns out, the Yuca salad is yuca and potato mixed with a creamy white sauce (it might have been mayo) as well as bacon and onion. A real winner!
Pastellitos: RD$90 – serves 4 people
Another typically Dominican dish, pastellitos are small pieces of pastry stuffed with cheese or meat and then deep fried. Pastellitos are essentially the same wherever you eat them, but as far as pastellitos go, the pastellitos at La Cantina were good and they’re always a good way to start any meal.
Churrasco: RD$650
Churrasco, in the Dominican Republic refers to skirt steak cooked on the grill and is typically served cut up into strips as is shown here. This was good Churrasco, juicy, cooked exactly as we asked and tasty.
Croquettas RD$150 – serves 4 people
I’m not normally a huge fan of croquettas (they just seem so boring), but these ones were pretty good, we shared a plate between 4 of us and in the end we were all fighting over the last one!
Fried milk: RD$150
No this is not a joke – La Cantina actually offers a desert called “Leche Frita” (fried milk) and it’s surprisingly good and certainly different, it tasted a little like solid milk or rather tart yoghurt. Worth a taste!
So would I eat there again? Yes I would! I’ll definitely be going back for some more Mofongo, Yuca salad and Churrasco – although not all at the same time!
La Cantina, Latin Bistro Location: Altos de Chavón, next door to Papa Jacks Open hours: Daily from 12noon – 11pm Contact: 809.523.1800
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