Laguna Grill at Discovery Cove

FOOD

Tropical fruit does more than fill the breakfast bowl at Laguna Grill. Mango salsa turns up with jerk chicken, sweet plantains join mojo pork, and mandarin orange finds its way among salad greens and feta. Breakfast and lunch are both unlimited with Discovery Cove admission, with this Caribbean-influenced lunch following a morning of eggs, waffles and pastries. Selections can vary; the tropical thread is easy to follow.

Grilled jerk chicken comes with island-style rice, fire-roasted vegetables and mango salsa, a combination that makes sense in this palm-filled resort. The chicken and salsa also turn up in the grilled jerk chicken wrap, joined by lettuce and peppers. Jerk seasoning reaches the cold selection through that wrap, while mango returns in the signature salad’s vinaigrette. Fruit belongs to the savory lunch here; it isn’t waiting politely for dessert.

Mojo pulled pork comes with sweet plantains and Caribbean coleslaw, making the side dishes a real reason to remember the pork. Plantain enthusiasts, this is your plate. Jamaican pepper steak brings beef with island-style rice to the same spread. Roasted salmon joins them with garlic-cilantro butter sauce. The hot lunch has a clear Caribbean direction, with enough variety to keep it from being all chicken, all afternoon.

The Laguna Signature Salad deserves attention even in company with those hot entrées. Mixed greens, tomato, red onion and black olives meet mandarin orange, feta and mango vinaigrette. The fruit-and-cheese combination is particularly inviting, with olives and onion keeping plenty of savory company in the bowl. For a restaurant where pork and pepper steak could easily claim the attention, this is a salad worth remembering by name.

Quinoa salad gives the cold selection more substance still. Tomato and shaved red onion join roasted red peppers and cilantro, with sweet garlic chili and red wine vinegar completing the dish. Between this grain salad and the fruit, feta and greens of the signature salad, a cold lunch has real variety. Grilled chicken Caesar adds a familiar, substantial salad of its own.

The Laguna Beach Burger comes with fries, and the menu includes Impossible and veggie burgers too. Children’s meals bring chicken tenders, a hot dog with fries and macaroni and cheese. There is no need for every member of the table to develop a sudden enthusiasm for mojo pork. Vacation diplomacy, with fries.

Breakfast is a comfortably different affair. Belgian waffles come with powdered sugar and maple syrup, and French toast sticks keep the sweet start going. Standard and Southwest-style scrambled eggs sit alongside sausage links and breakfast potatoes, with butter biscuits in the spread too. It’s the sort of morning meal that welcomes both the syrup crowd and the eggs-and-potatoes crowd. A sensible arrangement before anyone reaches for a snorkel.

Petite cheese and fruit Danish, mini muffins and cinnamon buns make the pastry selection tempting in small portions. Seasonal fruit—pineapple, melon and berries among the possibilities—joins yogurt parfaits and cereals, with coffee or orange juice alongside. Lunch finishes with assorted cakes and bars, whose selection varies. A day with breakfast pastries and lunch dessert has a certain admirable commitment to the sweet tooth.