Costambar's First Community Night ...

Our first Costambar Community Night raised RD325, to be spilt evenly between the Security Committee & CRIC.

Thank you to Judith for bringing her friends in, the three of you really helped.

Luckily we had some tourists in to bolster the fund through their drinking lol.

Unfortunately no representatives from either committee were in, so the money will be waiting for them on Wednesday night.

As I said, we will be running this event year-round to help the community & we are opening the kitchen at 5pm on Mondays only so people can eat early before their other Monday night commitments.

Location, Location, Location ...

Well it’s been about a year since we started to look for a new location for our business, having realised that the Gym Bar was … errrr … unsuitable for our purposes (no water, roof about to collapse, electricity supply insecure etc). At the time there weren’t that many venues available & Las Rocas fitted the bill perfectly.

Now, however, there are many more potential properties on the market : Harley Rock is available to rent or buy, Ton’s Bar has always been for sale, Lukas hasn’t renewed his lease at Café Selecta, & it turns out Domingo’s & Pasqual’s  are both open to offers. So basically everything beachside between El Carey (which I am sure would be available for the right price) & the old Bayside Beach Club is available for rent.

You know what? We NEVER wanted a beach bar. So hopefully that will quash the rumours. MarLou’s is staying where it is!

Changing subject, from the frivolous to the serious.

Some of you are aware that we will be re-launching our Costambar Community Nights next week. For those of you who haven’t heard about this, this is how it works.

EVERY Monday night we will be donating, out of our nightly takings, monies to two worthy, independent fund-raising groups within our community.

They are:

The Security Committee who raise funds to pay for the Policia Nacional to patrol Costambar in support of our own APC security & have in the last year installed CCTV at the main gate, provided short-wave radios for several properties, linked to the gate, uniforms for the guards & numerous other items which help protect both you & me from harm.

The Costambar Roads Improvement Committee who have immeasurably improved the quality of the roads within the town & have big plans for 2012, so I’ve read here

http://apccostambar.forumotion.com/t183-cric-financial-report-4-14-11

Here’s how our Costambar Community Nights will work:

We will be opening the kitchen at 5pm, but only on Mondays;

For each meal we sell we will donate RD20;

For each drink we sell we will donate RD5;

At the end of the night we will reckon-up how much we have raised, divide it equally between the two causes & publish the total on this blog.

We know it is not a lot of money per meal/drink, but we work on very tight margins lol.

We hope you will all join us in supporting our community, hey the food’s great so what more excuse do you need!

Announcing MarLou's Costambar Community Nights

As you are probably all aware, the community of Costambar is completely self-funded by the residents & property owners. We receive no monies from the city of Puerto Plata, regional or national government. Although the power for the streetlights is provided free-of-charge. The whole infrastructure of Costambar is paid through APC fees & the efforts of various independent fund-raising bodies & committees.

As business owners within Costambar we realise that our business cannot flourish if the community doesn't flourish & attract new owners & visitors. Therefore we feel it is our obligation to support the community that supports us, not only through paying our APC fees, but also in any other way we can.

The way we have chosen to support our community is through MarLou's Costambar Community Nights. Every Monday night, starting next Monday 30th January, we will be donating a proportion of our takings on food & drinks to two worthy causes within Costambar whose works benefit all of us.

Further details to follow later in the week.

Time to show some gratitude

As you all know Louise has been laid-up with her leg & I have been working in the kitchen. Of course on busy nights this has left us short-handed, well it would have were it not for the help offered & given by our friends.


We'd like to take this opportunity to thank DeeDee, Brian (aka Kurtaverter) & Peter for their invaluable help during this tricky time. What amazes us is that the help was volunteered freely & not asked for! Once again Thank You.

We would also like to thank Ann & the Quizzers for choosing MarLou's as the venue for this seasons' quiz nights. We believe last week was a great success & look forward to welcoming you all back during the forthcoming weeks.

And finally, we'd like to thank all of you who have supported us & have been helping to spread the word about MarLou's.

News Flash ... Diners Survive Change of Cook!

Yes folks, it appears the boy can cook!

As you all know, Louise has been laid-up with her bad knee since Christmas so I have had to take on the kitchen duties & so far it appears that I'm muddling through successfully.

I wish I could take the credit for this, but it's down to the menu which was designed by Louise to be simple to prepare consistantly & serve under pressure. We have had to remove the Stuffed Aubergenes however, since they are beyond the capabilities of a mere mortal such as me.

On the flip side, we have,when available, baby new potatoes with butter & mint as a third option for those who want it.

As already mentioned in an earlier blog, Thursday sees the return of Quiz Night. I wish I could join in, but I fear I will be busy in the kitchen.

Enjoy your week.
Mark & Louise

They're back!

Two of our most popular events are returning in the next week.

Saturday nights from 9pm it's karaoke. After 3 long weeks without the joy of live "music" we're ready to strut our stuff with all your favourite singers & dancing - NOT Louise! - & my occasional critique. You know you love it!

Thursday nights the Quizzers return. We've set aside the Moon Terrace for the winter quizes. Exercise your grey matter at MarLou's every week. Contact the organisers for further details.

Business as usual(ish)

Well Louise being Louise, she insisted that we go to the opening of the Lazy Leopard on the beach yesterday & discharged herself from hospital at 3pm!

So tonight, Thursday, MarLou's will be open for business with the kitchen opening at 6pm. We have friends helping us in the bar while I cook, supervised by Louise. The system worked well last week - no poisonings were reported lol.

Thank you to everyone who expressed their good wishes for the surgery & have supported, & continue to support, us in these "interesting" times.

Normal service has been interrupted

As I mentioned at Christmas, Louise has damaged her knee. Well it appears that she has broken her meniscus & will be operated on on Wednesday, 4th January.

Because of this the kitchen will be closed on Wednesday & we recommend that you phone us first after that day to see whether we are cooking or not. 829-712-8189.

Saturday's karaoke may or may not be happening, we'll let you know nearer the day.

On a different, more positive, note, we have been asked if we do deliveries. At present we're not geared up for this service, but we can take telephone orders for collection.

New Year - New Offer

We hope you all had a pleasant segway into 2012, & that this year proves fruitful & peaceful for us all.

Now, when we launched MarLou's Gold Club it was always our intention to vary the offers we had for Members, so here are the details of our offer for the forseeable future.

From now until further notice MarLou Gold Club Members will receive a Main Course & non-imported drink for just RD250 per person. To eat-in or take-out.

This fantastic offer enables you & a friend/partner to enjoy a delicious meal & drinks in a safe, tranquil atmosphere for only RD500.

Happy New Year Costambar.