Devour then Detox

I spent the last week in the Dominican Republic at a wonderful all-inclusive resort in Cofresi Beach. Eating is obviously a favorite past time of time, so all-inclusive is a welcome invitation for excess. At there were a vast array of restaurants, with cuisines varying from Italian to Tex-Mex, however one stood above the rest. The aptly titled, VIP Gourmet Restaurant.

Our crew had two separate evenings at the VIP Gourmet Restaurant, both were delicious, but the second was much more memorable. The menu for the second night was identical to the first, it was the sheer volume of food that made it a night to remember. Everyone at the table ordered an appetizer, aided by the recounting of the hits and misses from the previous trip. I devoured my shrimp cocktail the first visit, but the Caesar salad caught my eye this time. My Caesar was a grilled heart of romaine topped with Parmesan, Caesar dressing, cherry tomatoes, and a balsamic reduction, all accompanied by a perfectly toasted crostini. It was delicious. I love grilled romaine, and the amalgamation of the ingredients created a magnificent hand-held version of a Caesar salad. After all of our plates had been delivered to the table we wondered if there was a miss-communication with the waiters, nope, the kitchen just decided to send out a few extra shrimp cocktails. It was a prelude of greater things to come.

For my entrée I ordered the spiny lobster with filet mignon. It is rare to get quality beef in the Dominican, but this case was an exception. The filet was cooked perfectly, as was the lobster. I had thought seriously about ordering lamb chops after enjoying them immensely the first time we came, but I was craving lobster. All of that deliberation proved to be fruitless when along with our dinner we were served three 5lb rock lobsters along and a few plates of medium rare New Zealand lamb chops. The lamb was delicately grilled and the lobster was succulent, if I had to choose between them right now my head might explode.

At this point in time only 2 of the 9 were brave enough to order dessert as most of our belts had been loosened to their last possible notch. I only had an espresso, but fortunately or unfortunately depending on your point of view, it was someone’s birthday so we were all served birthday cake.

A perfect cherry on top of this gluttonous meal was being able to catch the final minutes of my Tarheels come from behind victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies as we returned to our villa.

A week of excess in the Dominican has left me feeling as if my cholesterol is approaching quadruple digits. So this week I am going through detox. I will only be eating raw fruits and vegetables, so blogging about restaurants will have to wait until next week, but until then enjoy Andi ‘s awesome posts and maybe I will come up with some other food related things to write about.

-J