Iberostar Bavaro Family Dining

You won't go hungry in this joint. Start with the breakfast buffet every morning and their choice of made to order omelets, eggs, pancakes, donuts, homemade breads, and fresh fruit, including tasty bananas, pineapple, and papaya. Dinner at the buffet can also be good with a vast selection of salads, cheeses, salmon and other fish, grilled meats like turkey, chicken, steak, and many cakes and pastries for dessert. Friday night is Dominican Republic night when traditional Dominican food is highlighted on the buffet. Guests are greeted by staff dressed in traditional costumes and given a local punch upon entering the buffet. Additional tables of desserts are highlighted by fruit carved as flamingoes and other animals.

For lunch, we grabbed an assortment of hamburgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, and soft-serve ice cream at the pool restaurant. At nighttime, this turns into one of the a la carte restaurants, which you should book upon arrival or you might be shut out. We went to three of the a la carte restaurants, including the one at the pool that turned into the steakhouse. Iberostar also throws a beach party twice a week with seafood and live music and you're free to dine at any restaurant in the adjacent properties, the Punta Cana and Dominicana.

The steakhouse had a good cut of steak, according to my wife, the Midwestern steak lover. The Cajun restaurant featured spicier fare, from gumbo to seafood jambalaya. Mediterranean was my personal favorite, for its Greek salads and grilled seafood. There's also a Gourmet Restaurant featuring French cooking and a Japanese Restaurant that serves tempura, teriyaki, and sushi.

If you're thinking about dining at one of the other restaurants in the evening, you'll need to make reservations by about 2 p.m. And ask about the dress code for your children. Shorts and T-shirts for kids at dinner may not be appropriate. Even at the buffet, we noticed most children dressed a little nicer. Some little girls were wearing fancy dresses and little boys wore long pants. Just in case, pack something a little nicer for the kids at night.