(This venue is closed.) Gateway to the beach resorts on the eastern tip of the Dominican Republic, the municipality of Punta Cana is evoked here, in Washington Heights, by little more than a palm tree on the awning. But use your imagination, and in a countertop scuffed by the passage of many plates, you might see bright sky and fluffy clouds.
My gallina — the meat of an old hen, made somewhat more tender by long cooking — was accompanied by black beans and white rice cooked together ($6 total). In Cuba especially, this black-and-white combo is known as moros y cristianos, or simply moros; in the Dominican Republic, it also goes by the name congrí. Several ladles of gravy were splashed across the beans and rice, at the counterwoman's invitation. Does anyone ever decline this offer?
Punta Cana
3880 Broadway (at West 162nd St.), Manhattan
212-740-0643
