Santo Domingo

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Pat´e Palo European Brasserie

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ext212
First Reviewer
4 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
1
Review
4
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Editor Pick

Pat'e Palo

  • December 6, 2005
  • Rated 4 of 5 by ext212 from New York, New York
Pat'e Palo

Other reviews for this restaurant have an acute accent over the e in "pate" but their table napkins simply use an apostrophe. Perhaps the Dutch owners just wanted to be playful when they opened the restaurant in the 1990s.

The bistro has a nice location, right in Plaza Colon, where a stage was set with a band playing live music the night we visited because of the approaching holidays. We made a reservation for eight women right outside, where other diners stood up in the middle of their dinner to dance to the music whenever they were compelled. A staff of at least three men made sure we had everything we needed throughout our meals. Our martini glasses were filled in a jiffy. My only complaint is about how they handled their wine list. A pet peeve of mine is when a wine list is presented to me without any notice about which wines are unavailable. I will assume all wines are, especially if they are not crossed out on the list. I selected two different red wines and I was told in both cases that they weren't available that night. Let me know of my limited choices immediately when you hand me the wine list, before I waste my time selecting something unavailable. I don't want to have to ask, "Well then, what do you have?" Waiters do it for their menu all the time and announce the specials and let you know in advance that they have run out of something. Pat'e Palo should do the same for their wine list.

In terms of food, Pat'e Palo did not disappoint. I started with a bowl of tomato soup with mozzarella cheese, which they called a tomato cappuccino because they served it in a big cup. I liked that my otherwise normal bowl of soup had personality because of the new name. The consistency was perfect, and it warmed me up and allowed me to sit comfortably outdoors for the next two hours. A friend ordered a shrimp plate served with sugared apples, which was delicious, even for someone like me, who won’t order shrimp off a menu even if it's the only thing available. For my main course, I loved the lamb chops served with homemade mint sauce. I wanted to make sure that they did not overcook my meat--which is a very easy thing to do in the Caribean--so I specified for my lamb to be cooked "tres-cuatros" or three-fourths, because I could not think of the Spanish word for medium rare. A few also ordered the Argentinean steak served with coriander and lime, which lifted the meat's flavor and gave it that oomph. A salmon dish was mediocre, but that's just because I think salmon is the most boring fish in the world unless it's served raw or smoked, so don't take my word for it.

Book a table at Pat'e Palo when you're in Santo Domingo and see for yourself.

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