Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Romantic Dinner
Some of the credits were allocated to a romantic dinner for the parents, but I joined them for photos... which we had to use up the rest of the spare credits on. While the photography team works hard, the resulting pictures don't look like ones shot by a professional from an SLR (I retouched them before posting to my Mom's Picasa account). And I noticed that they were using a free Kodak image editor to retouch the photos.
Ciao
Location: Hard Rock Hotel, Punta Cana, Dom. Rep.
Cuisine: Buffet, Italian
Prices: n/a (all inclusive)
Credit Cards: n/a (all inclusive)
Food: 8
Service: 9
Value: n/a
Environment: 8
Frequency: Common
Ciao was our regular meeting place because most of the time, we didn't have a fixed schedule and just needed to round everyone up to eat. Since it's a buffet, there's no wait time and enough variety that everyone can enjoy their meal. Services all around were great despite the high volume of guests they get each day.
Breakfast
Though it was always good, I think the breakfast services were the best. The guy at the grill was friendly and efficient. He handled all custom orders with precision. The end product not only tasted great, but looked good enough for a photo ad. I think he should move to NY if he wants to make the big bucks! Oh... he's a Yankees fan too. Outside of the grill, the readymade items consisted of generic breakfast foods (scrambled eggs, French toast, pancakes) as well as Dominican specialties (plantains, fajitas, various sausages).
Lunch
Lunch was the same no matter which buffet place you went to. We tried out Isla and Toro by the beach. The burgers are tiny and dry. The pork chops were great. Pasta was good too. The thing that made Ciao more appealing than the other buffets for lunch was the environment. Even though it was a buffet, the space and cleanliness had a restaurant feel to it.
Dinner
For dinner, Ciao became an Italian restaurant with a menu rather than buffet. The neat thing about the dinner style was the appetizers were still buffet style. So if you wanted to try 2 soups, you can get a little of each and not waste anything. For my entree, I had a mushroom fettuccine. I wanted to test this dish out because Pizzeto reused the buffet mushrooms for their pizza topping. I thought Ciao would too, but to my surprise it was a better mushroom and even the pasta was different than the buffet version.
Cuisine: Buffet, Italian
Prices: n/a (all inclusive)
Credit Cards: n/a (all inclusive)
Food: 8
Service: 9
Value: n/a
Environment: 8
Frequency: Common
Ciao was our regular meeting place because most of the time, we didn't have a fixed schedule and just needed to round everyone up to eat. Since it's a buffet, there's no wait time and enough variety that everyone can enjoy their meal. Services all around were great despite the high volume of guests they get each day.
Breakfast
Though it was always good, I think the breakfast services were the best. The guy at the grill was friendly and efficient. He handled all custom orders with precision. The end product not only tasted great, but looked good enough for a photo ad. I think he should move to NY if he wants to make the big bucks! Oh... he's a Yankees fan too. Outside of the grill, the readymade items consisted of generic breakfast foods (scrambled eggs, French toast, pancakes) as well as Dominican specialties (plantains, fajitas, various sausages).
Lunch
Lunch was the same no matter which buffet place you went to. We tried out Isla and Toro by the beach. The burgers are tiny and dry. The pork chops were great. Pasta was good too. The thing that made Ciao more appealing than the other buffets for lunch was the environment. Even though it was a buffet, the space and cleanliness had a restaurant feel to it.
Dinner
For dinner, Ciao became an Italian restaurant with a menu rather than buffet. The neat thing about the dinner style was the appetizers were still buffet style. So if you wanted to try 2 soups, you can get a little of each and not waste anything. For my entree, I had a mushroom fettuccine. I wanted to test this dish out because Pizzeto reused the buffet mushrooms for their pizza topping. I thought Ciao would too, but to my surprise it was a better mushroom and even the pasta was different than the buffet version.
Moon Rocker Adventures
Our second trip outside of Hard Rock's walls wasn't very far, but it was fun. We signed up for an ATV tour to another Dominican home. I originally thought we'd be driving around on an empty piece of beach, but it was a lot more than I expected. The tours started around the hotel and beach at first. But we eventually left the premise, crossed the highway and went onto real dirt roads. The course included a variety of surfaces that really showed what the vehicle could do.
This is one tour I'd like to do again on a future return trip. Next time, I would be more prepared though. The ride is extremely dusty. Every piece of clothing will be covered in sand by the end of this. Protective goggles and a nose/mouth guard would be good too.
This is one tour I'd like to do again on a future return trip. Next time, I would be more prepared though. The ride is extremely dusty. Every piece of clothing will be covered in sand by the end of this. Protective goggles and a nose/mouth guard would be good too.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Pizzeto
Location: Hard Rock Hotel, Punta Cana, Dom. Rep.Cuisine: Pizza, Mediterranean
Prices: n/a (all inclusive)
Credit Cards: n/a (all inclusive)
Food: 8
Service: 8
Value: n/a
Environment: 9
Frequency: Uncommon
I have a general travel rule that New Yorkers should not eat Chinese or Italian food if they're visiting a destination that's not named China or Italy because NY is the best in the world outside of the 2 originating countries. I'll make an exception in this case though. We ended up trying out Pizzeto because there were a lot of pizza fans in the group. And naturally vacation brings about a pizza craving.
Pizzeto wasn't the generic pizzeria I expected in a foreign country. It actually felt like a real Italian place with it's brick oven pizza and other Mediterranean offerings. The pizza itself was comparable to some NY restaurants and blew away anything in my 2 previous cruise vacations. My guess is that the staff was either sent to Italy for training or had an Italian chef flown in. The food also had a good taste partly due to the high quality ingredients of the Dominican Republic, as their milk is all organic and vegetables have minimal to no pesticides.
All restaurants in Hard Rock had good service, but I gave this one slightly lower because their system wasn't as efficient. When seating guests, there would be a line at the entrance and the hostess would slowly walk back and forth, escorting and seating each party one by one. There should be someone always at the front desk and the waiters should escort the parties. Also, a couple of times there was a piece of silverware missing and no one around to help. I had to chase down the guy setting the empty tables. Maybe this place was just short staffed.
The Dominican Experience
Our first tour and first time leaving the resort was called The Dominican Experience. I thought this was the most important tour to use credits on because it's the one that has the most to do with the culture of the country. The others are more recreational and identical to offers in Mexico.
Related: Bavaro Runners
Related: Bavaro Runners
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Ipanema
Location: Hard Rock Hotel, Punta Cana, Dom. Rep.Cuisine: Brazilian
Prices: n/a (all inclusive)
Credit Cards: n/a (all inclusive)
Food: 8
Service: 10
Value: n/a
Environment: 10
Frequency: Uncommon
Note: This review is based on 2 dinners from 5/7 and 5/8. Photos in the Picasa album are also from 2 separate days.
Saturday, 5/7
For our first visit to this place, yesterday, we weren't that familiar with the routine. I thought it was going to be the same as all of the Brazilian places in NYC where waiters walk around with meat on swords and just keep offering different cuts until you flip the disc on your table to signal them to pause. In Ipanema, it's more like a multi-course meal. You get appetizers at the buffet tables first. Then there's an optional paella dish. After that, the same waiter walks back and forth with different cuts of meat in a fixed order. This time around, everyone ordered a paella dish, which made us full too early. I ended up skipping the last 3 or 4 cuts of meat. I felt the beef and pork cuts were dry. The chicken came out pretty good and the paella was above average, but I've had better.
Sunday, 5/8
We actually came here 2 days in a row because many others in my group liked it and felt it was a better value for dinner occasions. If I was vacationing alone, this place would have been a one-time visit and have a rating of 7. It turns out that Ipanema is hit or miss, which is why I have the "frequency" stat. That way readers can factor in my experience with each restaurant. For our second visit, every cut of meat the waiter brought by tasted great. If I had come on this day only, the food would've gotten a 9. So I gave it the average of the 2 visits... 8. Today was also Mother's Day, but since we were on vacation, no one really remembered it except me. But I kept it quiet until dinner time. At the right moment, I talked to the waiter privately to see if he could do something for the 3 mothers at the table. Of course I had to explain the holiday to him first! I guess all the other American families forgot about it too. We worked out that the staff would bring out cakes that they normally give to birthday people, but no need to sing.
Rock Spa II
Our first day at Rock Spa was actually an included treatment, so we hadn't use up any credits yet. So we scheduled more spa sessions today. I had a 50 min massage (it was a 30 min one last time) that was a lot better. I walked out feeling it did something. This time around, we also checked out the post-treatment services... steam room, jacuzzi and sauna. I probably spent a total of 2 hours in the underground world. The whole spa experience felt like an alien abduction. Once you change in the locker room, you're placed in a waiting area with an oversized tea bag around your neck. The whole time, you're surrounded by flowing water, dimmed lights and metal orbs (like a generic alien mothership). The spa staff are dressed in identical, plain outfits and are super nice (like in V). Before the massage, they make you take 3 deep breaths of some oil that smells like every other liquid in Hard Rock Hotel. Maybe that was a point where we were unknowingly knocked out and placed under alien control!
Even if it was an alien abduction, I felt very refreshed this time even if we did things out of order. Normally, one should eat light, then workout early in the morning. Then get the spa treatment for relaxation and breakfast last for replenishment. But because of scheduling, we did breakfast first, then the spa and then the gym.
Even if it was an alien abduction, I felt very refreshed this time even if we did things out of order. Normally, one should eat light, then workout early in the morning. Then get the spa treatment for relaxation and breakfast last for replenishment. But because of scheduling, we did breakfast first, then the spa and then the gym.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
"Normal" Dominican Routine
Breakfast @ Caffeto
My parents, aunts and uncles went to a presentation at 9am that included breakfast at Ciao, so I went off on my own to explore Caffeto next door. It was different that our previous breakfast because it was not buffet style. They had more specialty items and of course, controlled portions! I'll cover this place in an upcoming post.
Lunch & Swimming
After breakfast, I walked around for a bit, taking general pictures of the resort. I'll post those in their own album at the end of the trip because I'll be collecting a little each day. To get more of a workout, I headed back to the room to drop stuff off, then ran to the gym. For lunch, all 9 of us met up again at Ciao. That became our regular eating place during the day. After lunch, I went to the beach with Ifore & Jiselle to one of the swimming pools for the first time this trip. Swimming was actually one of the things I had trouble finding time in the schedule for even though I wanted to do it every day. There are many pools in Hard Rock Hotel... more than one by every building and enough to create a comfortable crowd even for the number of guests checked into the hotel. The pools with a built-in bar tended to be a little more crowded and with dirtier water. So we went for a less trafficked one. Besides the 3 of us, there was only one other group inside. After swimming around for a bit, we hopped pools and I tried out one of the poolside food stands where I ordered a jalapeno & cheese hot dog w/ fries. I was surprised at how good it was after the disappointing burger at La Isla. The fries were also especially good and consistent across all restaurants. They're fried to the perfect level of crispiness and there must be something about the potatoes in DR.
Dinner @ Ipanema
For dinner, we all met up at Ipanema, a Brazilian style dinner place. I'll go in depth with this one later as well.
Sports Bar
We all rested a little bit and then headed out to the sports bar at about 10pm because they were showing the Pacquiao vs. Mosley fight. We stayed there pretty late because the fight went this distance even though it was terribly one-sided... typical of most of Pacquiao's recent bouts.
A Typical Day
This day represents my daily routine if nothing special was scheduled... breakfast, gym, lunch, beach/pool/run, dinner and sports bar for TV (basketball, baseball and/or boxing). If I lived on the resort, that would be my schedule each day.
My parents, aunts and uncles went to a presentation at 9am that included breakfast at Ciao, so I went off on my own to explore Caffeto next door. It was different that our previous breakfast because it was not buffet style. They had more specialty items and of course, controlled portions! I'll cover this place in an upcoming post.
Lunch & Swimming
After breakfast, I walked around for a bit, taking general pictures of the resort. I'll post those in their own album at the end of the trip because I'll be collecting a little each day. To get more of a workout, I headed back to the room to drop stuff off, then ran to the gym. For lunch, all 9 of us met up again at Ciao. That became our regular eating place during the day. After lunch, I went to the beach with Ifore & Jiselle to one of the swimming pools for the first time this trip. Swimming was actually one of the things I had trouble finding time in the schedule for even though I wanted to do it every day. There are many pools in Hard Rock Hotel... more than one by every building and enough to create a comfortable crowd even for the number of guests checked into the hotel. The pools with a built-in bar tended to be a little more crowded and with dirtier water. So we went for a less trafficked one. Besides the 3 of us, there was only one other group inside. After swimming around for a bit, we hopped pools and I tried out one of the poolside food stands where I ordered a jalapeno & cheese hot dog w/ fries. I was surprised at how good it was after the disappointing burger at La Isla. The fries were also especially good and consistent across all restaurants. They're fried to the perfect level of crispiness and there must be something about the potatoes in DR.
Dinner @ Ipanema
For dinner, we all met up at Ipanema, a Brazilian style dinner place. I'll go in depth with this one later as well.
Sports Bar
We all rested a little bit and then headed out to the sports bar at about 10pm because they were showing the Pacquiao vs. Mosley fight. We stayed there pretty late because the fight went this distance even though it was terribly one-sided... typical of most of Pacquiao's recent bouts.
A Typical Day
This day represents my daily routine if nothing special was scheduled... breakfast, gym, lunch, beach/pool/run, dinner and sports bar for TV (basketball, baseball and/or boxing). If I lived on the resort, that would be my schedule each day.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Zen
Location: Hard Rock Hotel, Punta Cana, Dom. Rep.Cuisine: Japanese
Prices: n/a (all inclusive)
Credit Cards: n/a (all inclusive)
Food: 6
Service: 10
Value: n/a
Environment: 10
Frequency: Unique
Dinner at Zen had to be reserved because the restaurant probably had to have an idea of how many staff members were needed. The Zen experience is as much a performance as it was a meal, being a teppanyaki style place. The chef performed fancy moves with cooking utensils and fire for show. Unfortunately, the performance outweighed the quality of the food. The meal was OK, but I'd have to say that fast food Japanese at any NY mall beats Zen. So even though the value is n/a, it can't be good for an all-inclusive resort of this quality.
The nice looking menu is either just for show or for lunch because everyone gets served the same thing... fried rice with teriyaki chicken, beef, shrimp and squid. The chicken was dry. The beef and shrimp were average. The squid, cooked with tequila was very good. Please visit the Picasa album for the rest of the review.
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