Splashes - Laguna Beach

The restaurant and hotel clearly forgot to deactivate their OpenTable account during their summer renovation closure! As a result, many people, including myself, booked a Father's Day brunch only to arrive on the day and find the place completely shut down. The site even sent confirmation days in advance, including parking instructions. We had to scramble to find an alternative last-minute holiday brunch nearby—what a disaster! One would expect a hotel charging thousands for rooms to have better management. Instead, it seems like it's just a group of investors running things poorly. Good luck to them!

This is a smaller, cozy space currently undergoing significant renovations at Surf Sand. It's exciting to anticipate what the final result will look like. Despite the construction impact, the cuisine is outstanding. I'm glad it's still open, even in a more limited capacity. The food is always consistently delicious, and the service is exceptional.

Overall, we were quite disappointed with our experience. While we didn’t mind the stairs leading to the bar, the service was slow, the menu options were limited, and some of the windows were broken. Additionally, the window near our table couldn’t be opened because the guests in the booth asked not to. There was also an error in the billing, among other issues. This is not the lively restaurant we were anticipating; it felt more like a bar area. Unfortunately, we won’t be returning.

We tried the tuna poke, lamb shank, and branzino.Tuna was interesting, but it had some unpleasant bitter notes and the oatmeal just doesn't work with it. Also ended up sick later that night, and I suspect this was the culprit.Lamb shank was nice, but a little boring. It's served with pickles, and those were bitter, which kind of ruined it.Branzino was the best of the three, but it comes with a spätzle that was just awful. It had no flavor and it was really greasy because the cream sauce had broken. Really bad.The service was fine, and the ambience was as expected. The food sounds good on paper but doesn't work. Considering the prices, I really recommend you go somewhere else.

Everything was so delicious, from the cocktails to the desert, it was all wonderful. Carson, our waiter, was amazing and so kind. He was always checking in and gave great recommendations. Definitely would recommend, and also the views are breathtaking