Native Dominican cooking combines Spanish influences with local produce. There is plenty of fresh fish and seafood, island-grown tomatoes, lettuce, papaya, mangoes and passion fruit and all citrus fruits are delicious.
Native coffee is excellent and very strong.
Locally-produced beer and rums are cheaper than imported alcohol which tends to be expensive. Choice varies from a Las Vegas-style revue, discotheques and casinos to a quiet caf by the sea in Santo Domingo. Hotels offer more traditional shows including folk music and dancing. Popular dances are the merengue , accompanied by a 3-man group called perico ripiao , and the salsa . The Mal con , along a seaside boulevard in Santo Domingo, is known as the world's longest discotheque.