I love ethnic food. Not just Mexican or Chinese. I love the idea of Peruvian restaurants, Puerto Rican cuisine, Brazilian food, Filipino food, etc. So when I saw "Dominican" I was excited. Never had that before! I was looking forward to trying it. I really wanted to like this place.
But I can't.
The food was not bad. The fried chicken was cooked perfectly...lightly crispy, not greasy. The empanadas were light and flaky. It was all done perfectly. But it was extraordinarily lacking in flavor. I would be shocked if Dominican cuisine really is this lacking in robust flavors given that the Dominican Republic is in the Caribbean, settled by Spaniards who brought African slaves. That's a lot of diverse influences and they produce a fried chicken that is just chicken...no noticeable seasoning? I don't think so.
Even the mofongo was disappointing. What is probably a signature dish in Dominican cuisine, and it was so bland. It is made from mashed plantains, which didn't sound good to me, but i wanted to try it. And it wasn't bad. But even with the "garlic sauce" (which wasn't very garlic-y) it just had almost no flavor.
The service was very good. Friendly and responsive.
I really cannot recommend this place. It's just bland, bland, bland.