For thirty-two years Malecon located in Washington Heights has beeen the go to place for mouth-watering gigantic portioned Dominican cuisine. Besides the terrific food, the atmosphere with customers from all over the world is festive and colorful. The restaurant Malecon, is named after the the famed beach area in Santa Domingo.

The Dominican classic . . . "La Bandera," (The flag) which consists of a plate of yellow rice, red beans, and a meat. Today I opted on the roast pork, very tender and juicy. At the top left of photo is the Empanada, which quite frankly I was disappointed with, too dry and thin. Directly to the left of the main plate is a dish called Quipe a deep fried bulgar roll. This is a version of the Lebanese kibeh which was brought over by a wave of Mid-East immigrants arriving in the 19th Century. I found this taste and texture interesting and worth trying. And of course, the Dominican beer of choice, Presedente, one of my favorite brews. 

Sancocho, this is the traditional stew of oxtail, pork shoulder, and red pepper, served with rice. YES!

My waiter Louise, highly animated and fun-loving. On each dish he would bring to my table he would gesture to kiss the food as with deep reverence and say to me, "Oh, so special, so very good taste."

Malecon is a large bustling place. It has a terrific upbeat vibe and as mentioned a wide range from diners seemingly from all over the world. On this visit I saw tourists (they had their maps/books with them) from China and Japan. I heard French and Russian being spoken as well. The restaurant is narrow but runs very deep seating about 150. The decor is softened by attractive glowing light of red and blue tones.

A closeup of the roasted pork with yellow rice and red beans. The pork is highly recommended.

Malecon is famous for its delicious succulent rotisserie chicken. This can be eaten at the restaurant or taken "to go." The day I want there were a good twenty people in line to get their chicken.

Spanish language (Dominican Republic) lesson - "Hello"  (Hola)   "Thank you"  (Gracias)  "Delicious"   (Delisioso)

Interesting fact about the Dominican Republic - Dominicans are not the largest foreign born group in NYC with 747,473 recently surpassing Puerto Rico with 717,444.

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