So you are planning to stay at an all-inclusive resort. Maybe you’re looking into Dreams Macao in Punta Cana. If yoe are like me you hear all-inclusive and think, “Time to feast!” Well, then how was the food? Did you live out your gluttonous fantasy and eat everything? I’m not even going to hide this. No, I didn’t. It was more like a glutton’s sad daydream. The short summary is that the food as not all I hoped it would be, but I give you more details below based on each of the restaurants I went to.
Preferred Club Bar- This was the first place I tried as we waited to be checked in. There was an assortment of light bites. I got some mini sandwiches and tortilla chips and dip. No bad but not great either. 5/10
Oceana- This restaurant, exclusive to the those who booked preferred club, is where I had breakfast. Before the meal came, they brought a basket of bread and pastries. The donuts that looked inviting were dry, and they weren’t eve flavorful.
My entrée, an omlette and a hash brown, was pretty good. It was the right temperature and on par with IHOP level of breakfast. 6/10
El Patio- We stopped in here and got some tacos after they were recommended to us. Correction, highly recommended by someone in our party who insisted on returning there every day. The meat in the tacos was cooked just right, well-seasoned, and memorable. I should have followed suit and returned there. 10/10
Portofino- We went here for dinner. I ordered lamb and polenta. The meat was tender and flavorful. I was scraping the bone to get as much flavor off as I could. Unfortunately no one else was impressed with their meal. We ordered dessert. The tiramisu was good.
However, my panna cotta tasted good but was the texture of an overcooked hard-boiled egg. I am certain that is not what it should be like. 6/10, but I would go back for the lamb and tiramisu.
Beachside grill- This gave me hope that burgers could be made well by the resort. The fries were still disappointing. Wings were highly praised. 5/10
Coco Café- This place had ice cream, pastry, and coffees. I saw the donuts looked the same as those at Oceana and refused to be disappointed by them again. Instead, I ordered ice cream and was disappointed by that instead. I later came back for an iced caramel coffee. It wasn’t bad. But then again, it was just milk, coffee, Hershey’s caramel syrup. Can’t mess that up. 5/10
World Café- I had the breakfast buffet. I got pancakes from what I think was actually the children’s section. They were hard around the edges, but I liked the caramelized banana topping. I also got a hardboiled egg and some parfait that I regretted. It had fruit loops on top that had become soggy and I have no idea what the base was. I did not like it at all. 4/10 (Maybe that’s too generous)
Catering: I was at the resort to attend a wedding. That means I also tasted catering options. I have to tell you straight up, I was not impressed. It wasn’t flavorful. It wasn’t the best temperature. And some of it was dry when it when it shouldn’t have been. The one time I was thoroughly impressed by the juiciness and flavor of chicken and the overall meal, it happened to be an outside cater who made it. 4/10
In room dining: We ordered the falafel burger, cheeseburger, and pizza. The falafel burger was a hit. My burger was not. And the fries were probably meant more as decoration than eating. The pizza was similar to the pizza you might get in an American elementary school, but worse. There was not the added excitement of pizza Friday to help it out. It was under sauced, the dough was bland, and the texture wasn’t good. And everything was delivered cold. 3/10
As you can tell, I was not a fan of the food. And if the food is not good at an all-inclusive resort, what’s the point? Well, that is a bit extreme, but you get the point. A lot of the draw of an all-inclusive package is having all of the dining options without worrying about the extra costs. To be honest, I would have preferred paying more to get better quality food. On the bright side, everyone working there was friendly, helpful, treated us well. What the restaurants lacked in food, they made up for in service.
Hopefully, if you choose to stay at Dreams Macao, you’ll have a better dining experience. There were still more restaurants and menu items that I didn’t get to try, so who knows? Maybe there’s some culinary masterpieces hidden there.
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