El Castillo de Jagua — Restaurant in New York

Home-style Dominican food: uncomplicated, unsubtle, unmoderated, undisciplined, but also very good. You won't find any graduates from the Culinary Institute here. Instead you'll get some delicious albeit fattening home-style cooking, just like how mami used to make it.

They (surprisingly) take credit cards, but will charge you tax if you use one, and won't charge you tax if you don't use one. In other words, they probably pass ... "tax savings" on to the customer.

I once ordered flan and it came back to the table with wet mold. Gross. I understand these things happen, so I don't hold it against them. But really, a dining establishment would've given us free dessert or even the meal free for serving food with wet goopy mold. Instead, I was told we wouldn't be charged for the dessert (well gee, thanks).

On the other hand, one of the waitresses noticed that we've been ordering a heck of a lot of food and once gave us a complementary slice of cake for dessert. The cake was a little stale, but the sentiment was extremely appreciated.

The restaurant has a cafateria ambiance to it. The walls are bare paint. It would be SO much nicer if they just hung SOMETHING on the walls. I know Dominicans aren't famous for blankets and trinkets the way Mexico is, but surely that culture produces something that could be used to adorn the place to make it a little less drab?

House Special: Mofongo At $5, this is a great value. Totally delicious, cheap, and you get your choice of meat to mix into the mofongo. It's like a big mash of plantain with bits of meat tossed in. I'm in love with it, especially at the price. I'm sure it's fattening.

Bistec Sirloin / Sirloin Steak At $14, it's pricey. The steak is pan fried, and is one fatty steak. Fat, fat, fat. Fatty McFatFat. But if you like this kind of thing (which I ashamedly do) it is SO delicious. No self-respecting chef will serve you a steak like this. It is big, huge, fatty, juicy, and delicious.

T-Bone Steak Fatty, but not as fatty as the sirloin. It's pan fried, and smothered with DELICIOUS onions that melt in your mouth, taste like the steak, and provide a phenomenal juice. The only negative thing here is that the steak was so tough that it was difficult to eat.

Bistec en Salsa / Beef Steak in Sause (sic) A better name would be "Salsa Soup": A whole lot of salsa with little thin strips of steak in it. Salsa gets an A-: a tad salty, but delicious. LOTS of cilantro and rife with flavor. The steak is a bit sad. A bit dry and flavorless; the salsa saves the day. Goes well with tostones.

Bistec Sobre Lomo a la Parrilla / (no English translation) It translates into skirt steak on the grill. I know skirt steak, and this ain't it. I can't identify the cut, but it's very lean and very flat. This steak is dry. Thankfully it came smothered with thickly sliced onions and a lot of juice, however, some onions were cut too thick and partially raw.

Beef Steak Hind Quarter on the Grill The same as the Bistec Sobre Lomo, but there's no onion and less garlic salt. No grill marks or grill flavor. Underwhelming.

Bistec de Jamon / Ham Steak Delicious. A good, solid, thick non-fatty ham steak. Good portion. Lovely grilling.

Bistec Salteado / Pepper Steak Spanish Style This is the Bistec Sobre Lomo a la Parrilla with more peppers. Very good, but I wish they'd use a better cut of steak.

Bistec Encebollado / Onion Steak This is the Bistec Salteado with more onions. Some onions were too thick and undercooked. Too much raw onion bite. Not enjoyable.

Bistec Empanizado / Breaded Steak Tasteless. Overcooked. Too deeply fried.

Came Guisada / Stewed Beef Very good, but tastes like Dinty Moore canned beef stew (with bigger beef chunks).

Pulpo Enchilado / Octopus Stew Intense tomato-based stew. Wonderful and delicious. The octopus ruins it - it's rubbery and tasteless.

Arroz con pollo / Rice w. Chicken THE WORST I'VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE. Bland and boring: literally just rice and chicken. Nothing else. I want my $7 back. Guys, toss some...

Horrible horrible customer service. DO NOT GO HERE. I got MISTREATED BECAUSE I AM NOT ONE OF THEIR DOMINICAN FRIENDS. I got in line like everyone else and than a Dominican lady enters and goes in front of me because she knows the ppl that work there. Keep in mind this Dominican restaurant is next to my house and I also go there to get food but I don’t remain there chit chat, so no I don’t have any other relationship with them. So when it was my turn the counter lady ask who is next. The lady in front of me looked and me bad up and down trying to intimidate me because I said me. I than told her excuse me because she was in my way and keep staring me down. I looked at her the same and told her we are making a line. She got mad and told me I have a nasty attitude. I didn’t say anything and proceeded to order. The counter lady because she knows her puts me in blast and tells me we don’t make lines here. I said absolutely everyone was making lines before she came now all of a sudden you don’t make lines. To be professional and keep things in order it would be common sense to make a line. We can avoid arguments like this. The lady behind me then proceeded to call me names and told me she didn’t do anything and called me stupid. I told her you got mad because I gave you the same look after you stood there looking at me the same way. The counter lady told me listen don’t fight here she didn’t do anything to you. I told her it’s between me and the lady not to get in it because she should be more professional not because she knows the Dominican lady she should treat me any less. ESPECIALLY when I didn’t even start anything not insulted her. So now I have 2 old lady’s insulting me and all I went in for was to get some food. Smh definitely won’t be going back. One less customer is ntn to...

This is my go to spot for Dominican Food. The food is always well seasoned and the prices are decent. They refill the steam tables daily and I believe multiple times a day as I’ve witnessed them refill midday on occasions. There’s always a great selection of dishes and lots of dishes that rotate throughout the week, offering the customer some variety. I’ve been eating at this restaurant at least every two weeks since it opened and have never had any issues with anything I’ve eaten. I have also catered many events with their food and always receive compliments on the food from my guests. The staff is very friendly and the food is...