A Historic View Reinvented
Hotel Laguna’s OceanView Bar & Grill combines the best of both worlds for indoor and outdoor dining to please all palates. –By Micaela Myers
Once upon a time, in the not so distant past, Hotel Laguna offered fine dining indoors at CLAES Ovation and more causal dining outdoors. Now, the historic hotel has combined the concepts into OceanView Bar & Grill, which features breakfast, lunch and dinner, indoors or out, with a variety of menu items.
The views are still some of the best in town, with the indoor dining room featuring panoramic windows. Outside, enjoy fresh air and the sounds and sights of waves hitting the shore under colorful umbrellas. Sunset cocktails, such as the signature Berrilicious—made with Ketel One Citroen vodka, Cointreau, Chambord, fresh raspberries and blackberries—can be sipped in front of the fireplace. Wines are also offered from the Cruvinet machine, which allows for temperature-controlled wine dispensing, or enjoy a Hotel Laguna beer or a scotch flight.
The restaurant’s manager, Stefan Andersen, explains that the concept is to offer everything you might be looking for, including options for those seeking fine dining, which are featured on the Sunset dinner menu. On our recent visit, we sampled some of the eclectic menu, starting with fresh salads, including the Asian chicken salad, with mixed greens, Mandarin oranges, shiitake mushrooms, red peppers and black sesame dressing; and the CLAES salad, which features mixed greens, blue cheese crumbles, lardon, dried blueberries and honey truffle vinaigrette. On the casual side, there are tasty pizzas, including the Tuscan, with prosciutto, goat cheese, tomato, olive oil, arugula and balsamic reduction; and the blackened mushroom tacos for vegetarians, which are simple and delicious with roasted tomato salsa, lettuce, guacamole, black beans and, of course, blackened mushrooms.
For those seeking a more upscale entree, try the pan-seared diver scallops with English peas, pattypan squash, parsnips, potato gratin and beurre blanc. Other options include pan-roasted halibut and filet of beef, the latter of which is prepared with chipotle butter and served with garlic green beans and an excellent side of truffle mac and cheese. Because no meal (for me) is complete without dessert, we capped the meal off with the mud pie, which is definitely large enough to share. Whatever your tastes, the new and improved OceanView indeed offers something for everyone. LBM
