Ponto Lago

I recently dined at Ponto Lago, located inside the beautiful Park Hyatt Hotel in Carlsbad, CA. Breakfast: The breakfast menu offers a solid selection, but it's a bit on the pricey side for what you get. Nothing particularly stood out, but the quality was decent.Dinner: Now, dinner is where Ponto Lago truly shines. They focus on authentic and organic Baja-inspired cuisine, and it's clear they prioritize quality ingredients. I had the Iberico pork, which was absolutely delicious. The seasoning was minimal, allowing the natural flavors of the pork to come through beautifully. The arepa, served as a complimentary starter, was a nice touch--simple, natural, and my 2-year-old son loved it.The dessert selection is excellent, with something to satisfy every sweet tooth.The outdoor seating offers an outstanding view, especially during sunset. It can be a bit too sunny at that time, but it's a small trade-off for the gorgeous scenery.Overall, Ponto Lago is a great place for a special occasion. The food, especially the dinner offerings, makes it worth the visit.

We enjoyed both brunch and dinner at Ponto Lago during our stay at the Park Hyatt Aviara, but this review is for the dinner experience. The restaurant itself has a nice intimate ambiance. We started with oysters and the ceviche tour--both good, but not mind-blowing. The seafood paella was fresh and flavorful, the churros on the rack was a nice touch.The service was attentive and friendly, enhancing the overall experience. While Carlsbad has many dining options, Ponto Lago is a decent choice if you're already at the hotel and prefer not to drive into town.

Breakfast Amazing breakfast selections! They pretty much have all your usual breakfast items here in the morning. Omelette station, hot links, pancakes, potatoes, cereal, oatmeal, smoked salmon cream cheese bagels, toast, assorted fruits, and list goes on! My kids dived straight for the pancakes & eggs. Breakfast hour starts at 6am. Dropped in around 9am on a weekend in July & there was plenty of seating available. Dinner Branzino was my favorite! Nice pickled chile sauce with a chipotle-vinaigrette to complement the fish. The seafood paella was mediocre at best. Clams were a little dry/overcooked. The churros are good and served hot! Didn't care too much for the strawberry and chocolate dipping sauce. Service is great both during the morning & evening. Attentive waiters that made us feel very welcomed!

Came here for breakfast while at the Park Hyatt Aviara and decided to do an a la carte breakfast instead of their breakfast buffet. Everything tasted pretty standard - eggs, bacon, omelettes, etc. and nothing really stood out or blew our minds. The portions seemed small for the giant plates they served the food on. The breakfast buffet looked delicious with a decent selection, but still don't think it's worth their buffet prices.

Very satisfied. Stayed at Park Hyatt for three days and got to try a la carte breakfast, buffet and a dinner.Typical breakfast at a high end hotel but a pricy buffet. If you are looking for quality, I would definitely recommend a la carte.Dinner was very satisfying and all dish we ordered were satisfactory. Good wood grilled steak, paella with generous seafood portion, octopus leg that is very nicely poached/grilled. Shisido pepper was a bit soggy but not too bad.No complaint. Great service from the waiters/ waitresses really well trained and very kind as well.

I came to Ponto Lago for the Baja Brunch with my sister and two friends. They did not disappoint. The food was fresh and mostly Spanish influenced. Sure they had some traditional breakfast foods like french toast but they also had paella. The Baja Brunch was $84 a person and it included coffee and tea. The bottomless mimosas were extra. They have a churro bar and a Bloody Mary bar. The brunch had so many selections: Fruit bar, salad bar... carving board with beef. They even have oysters. Our server was very attentive to refreshing our drinks. This is a popular brunch spot due to TikToks and IG posts about their brunch; but it was not crowded. This is a beautiful restaurant with views of the ocean. Many of the patrons were guests from the hotel. Ponto Lago is located in the Park Hyatt Aviara Hotel in Carlsbad. The Baja Brunch is only available on Sundays from 12:00pm to 2:30pm.

Service is excellent. Attentive and friendly.Ambience is exactly how we like it, Not loud and annoying, open kitchen adds a nice buzz, and the room is warm, open and comfortable with nice decor.Food exceeded expectations especially the sea bass and oysters aguachile style was interesting. Mushrooms and corn were winners.

Fantastic restaurant great chef and the food is amazing Amazing staff very well trained

My friend and I came here for restaurant week. I never would have thought of this place if she did not suggest it since it is one of those hotels with valet only and I try to avoid that. Anyways, she was running late due to traffic and when I called, the staff was really accomodating about moving our reservation a little later.Kylie, our server, explained the menu and how they prepare and grill the food over the fire. She was thoughtful of the fact that we were celebrating a birthday and also made sure our wine, appertizer and entrees came out at good times. We enjoyed the meal selections but the branzino and sweet potato sides were our favs. Although the pickled red onion, chorizo and green sauce seemed like a strange mix for sweet potato, everything tasted well together. Ponto Lago plates look small, but we left full!Cool hotel with nice art, courteous service, thoughtful food prep and a bustling open kitchen to view. I am glad to dine here during RW and enjoy their 3-course offering.

I appreciate that we must have visited Ponto Lago on a bad night. Our party of six plus two little ones arrived at 7pm for my wife's birthday dinner. We were seated on the terrace. It was chilly. Having asked for one of the outdoor heaters to be brought near our table, they explained that they were out of propane. Other tables seemed to have no propane issues. Even people who were seated long after us got a working heater. A heater arrived at 9pm.Now to the food. We ordered starters and main courses and a hot dog for the 2 year old. He wasn't to know that the hot dog would not arrive until after 9pm. The starters took an hour to arrive and were adequate. Another hour and a quarter would pass before we were to set our eyes on our entrees. When they did arrive, one tenderloin steak arrived cold and the other one overdone. I can't eat that late so I sent my lobster taco back therefore I can't tell you if it was any good.During our inordinate wait for our main courses we asked for some bread. When it arrived our table burst out laughing. Five slices of WonderBread! I've only ever seen that in fish and chip shops in the UK, never in a place with stars on the door.The evening concluded with me being nearly reversed over by the valet driver in the parking area. The irony of the moment was that they nearly reversed over me using my car.Aviara is a good golf course but the hotel has issues. Maybe we caught them on a bad night. They only charged us for drinks as they knew they had screwed up our party from start to finish. Sadly, my wife will never get that birthday back.