Full disclosure: there’s no way we were going to be able to test every restaurant during our five-night stay here. However, we did manage to try out five different restaurants for dinner and wanted to share our honest opinions on them.

View other posts in this series:

• Trip Introduction: Thankful in The Bahamas
• WOW: Delta One Lounge LAX is Incredible
• Review: Delta One 767-300ER LAX-JFK
• Review: Delta One Lounge JFK
• Fun in the Sun: A Review of Grand Hyatt Baha Mar
• Grand Hyatt Baha Mar – Breakfast Restaurants
• Grand Hyatt Baha Mar – Dinner Restaurants (this post)
• Grand Hyatt Baha Mar – Activities
• Grand Hyatt Baha Mar – Pools and Beach
• Wet and Wild Excitement: Baha Bay Water Park
• Grand Hyatt Baha Mar Thanksgiving Activities
• Review: Copa Airlines 737-800 Business Class NAS-PTY
• Review: Copa Club PTY Terminal 2
• Review: Copa Airlines 737-MAX 9 Business Class PTY-LAX

Kids Aged 5 and Under Dine Free… Sometimes

There is an official website with the terms of the promotion:

• Must be a registered guest
• Children aged 5 and under get a free meal from the kids menu when a full-priced adult entrée is also ordered
• Not every restaurant participates

I’ve found that it is a legitimate promotion and that they didn’t need to see proof of age for the child (no need to walk around with your passports). You also need to specifically ask for it to be free, as otherwise the wait staff might not remove it proactively. However, sometimes the participating restaurants were not participating. As an example, Palms Café was listed as a participating restaurant–but only starting at lunch and not at breakfast.

Stix

Let’s get the worst restaurant we tried out of the way first. We originally had a reservation planned at Katsuya, but ultimately decided to cancel it because the kids were a bit exhausted after all the travel to the resort. So we instead decided to walk up at Stix, which was conveniently located near the East tower elevators. There also wasn’t a wait to be seated.

The menu is a mix of East Asian dishes, which I suppose adds variety. Just note there is a typo in the menu, which honestly should have tipped me off on the place coming in but Alex really wanted noodles so I obliged. The correct spelling for “Tonkatsu Ramen” is tonkotsu — tonkatsu is the breaded crispy pork dish, which is not what this dish is. I’m not trying to be pedantic, but it adds to the feeling of disappointment in this place.

We ordered some milk and a brown sugar milk tea. The tea was way over-sweetened and had an off-putting taste to it, almost like something overly processed was added to it.

The drunken noodles didn’t taste authentic and the meat was a bit tough.

The “tonkatsu” ramen? I’d say it tasted like instant ramen with a broth that was missing a few ingredients. I prefer a rich broth but instead it seemed incredibly heavy on the ginger. The meat was also tough on this one too.

The kids udon at least had vegetables but it was heavy on the sesame sauce.

Take it all together and I’d honestly say the flavors and authenticity is a bit better at Panda Express (which is saying a lot). Add in the price of the food ($81 after tax and VAT for the above) and this restaurant falls squarely into the “please don’t go here” category.

Pizza Lab

Right across the way from Regatta and down the escalator from Stix is Pizza Lab, a restaurant that naturally specializes in pizza. There is both indoor and outdoor seating here.

We chose to dine outdoors, which was nice getting some fresh air.

The local kalik beer — don’t even fill it up all the way. They fill it up so it has a thick head, then serve it before the head dissipates, and then you’re left with a beer that looks half-consumed before you touch it. It’s a bit disappointing.

We ordered a couple of pizzas and a cheesy garlic bread. The pizzas were exactly what they should be—good consistency with a little bit of chew to it and a cheesy pull. If you’re coming from New York, I think you would be satisfied with the pizza here.

We also ordered some chicken wings, which were crispy and flavorful.

And we ordered some pasta for the table. The meatballs are substantial and delicious.

Overall, the meal cost $203 to feed our party of eight, which felt relatively economical given the higher food prices at the resort. The food is excellent, so if you’re looking for a good, casual dinner spot to hit up, this is it.

Pizza Lab is also an excellent place to come for dessert when you’re feeling like you want something sweet. It’s $7 for a fairly large ice cream cone (only $5 if you stick with a cup). We stuck to the fruit flavors, which tasted fresh and very satisfying, especially if you come here while the sun is still out.

Marcus

Marcus is located out by the entrance to the Baha Bay waterpark. The restaurant has a rather modern beach feel to it. Reservations are highly recommended. We did show up a little early but couldn’t be seated until our requested time, which was understandable.

The bar here is nicely decorated and a good spot to hang out before your dinner reservation.

We were seated in the rear section of the restaurant, which was nice because it felt a little more private. The service here ended up being the best we received while at the resort.

We went with a couple of orders of the cornbread, which was a hot seller at the table. Sure, you don’t get too much cornbread for the price paid, but it’s a good cornbread.

As an appetizer, we ordered coconut shrimp. The shrimp used were thick and juicy, breaded in a crispy crust. It came with a tamarind sauce that had a delectable combination of sweetness and spice.

As for the main course, we went with the 40oz porterhouse. Yes, this steak is the most expensive thing on the menu ($205), but it was a good steak–cooked to perfection and plenty juicy. There was a good crust on it. I wouldn’t say it was quite the best steak I’ve ever had, but it was definitely an above average steak. It would have been nice if we could have brought the bone back home to make a good broth with it.

We also ordered the island seafood broth, which had good flavor and plenty of goodies inside it.

For some refreshment, we ordered a side of broccolini, which was similarly perfectly cooked.

The kids catch of the day was salmon, which is Alex’s favorite fish. I wish they gave a little more fish, but the kids also picked off the adult food to round out their meals.

Char approves of the mac and cheese here, which was simple yet cheesy.

Naturally, we needed to take a look at the dessert menu, and ended up choosing both the Guava Creme Brule Cheesecake and the Sundae AF (we told the kids that “AF” means “as fun”). As you could tell by the price of the Sundae AF, you could probably guess it’s a huge dish. You definitely need a big group to help finish it off.

We were here to celebrate Jenn’s birthday and the restaurant placed the largest birthday candles on each dessert. That made for a fun surprise that caught the attention of nearby tables as well.

It ended up costing us about $650 for dinner after VAT and automatic service charge, which was our most expensive meal here at the resort. Steakhouses can be expensive, so it’s not a surprise that this one hit the wallet the most. But it was also an excellent meal, with the best service we received during our stay here. Was it worth it? I’d say yes and I would absolutely consider coming back to this restaurant.

Cleo

Over in the neighboring SLS hotel is Cleo, a restaurant specializing in Mediterranean food. Again, reservations are highly recommended here as well.

As we were sitting at the table, we noticed quite a few tables ordering the haloumi cheese saganaki, which was presented with a tableside flambee. The combination of the pesto-like sauce with the mozzarella-like cheese made it taste a bit like a pizza without the crust.

We also ordered the meatball shakshouka, which came with an excellent sauce. I think Cleo overall is very good at finding the right combination of flavors for the sauces that come with the dishes. You’ll want some carbs to soak up that sauce when you’re otherwise done with the dish.

I know lamb can be a divisive meat based on its typically stronger taste relative to beef. The rack of lamb served here didn’t have that lamb taste but it was still pretty delicious.

The Chilean seabass was still flavorful, but it is on the smaller side so it might leave you feeling like you want a little more.

As sides, we went with the roasted mushrooms, which were refreshing.

You can order rice, but be advised that the portion is intended for roughly one individual. That said, it was delicious.

What about the kids meals? Again, we found the kids meals to be delicious but the portion sizes felt a little smaller here and forced Alex to order a second.

For dessert, we went with the chocolate cake, which came with a big spoonful of hazelnut ice cream. It’s a good combination of flavors, but it’s definitely filling. I’m getting full just looking at it again.

I think service at Cleo wasn’t quite as polished as it was at Marcus, but Cleo offered more unique flavor combinations than what we had elsewhere. It was also a cheaper meal (around $400 to feed our party of eight). Ultimately, I would still recommend Cleo if you’re a fan of Mediterranean and tell you to get a variety of smaller dishes to pair together a good meal.

Costa

Over in the neighboring Rosewood hotel, you’ll find Costa, which specializes in Mexican cuisine. I found the Rosewood a bit unnecessarily dark in the evening, making it pretty difficult to find my way around the resort. In fact, I didn’t even know I showed up at the right restaurant until I was greeted by the front desk. Again, reservations are highly recommended.

The restaurant is surrounded by a large koi pond. You can ask the staff for fish food for the kids to feed the fish.

We started off the meal with a couple of cocktails: a margarita and a baha-rita.

For the table, we ordered the queso fundido, which is a tasty cheese dish covered in a red enchilada sauce. The kids loved it. I found it a bit heavy, but that’s not all that surprising.

We also ordered the trio of ceviche, which came with shrimp, snapper, and conch. Of the three, I preferred the snapper, but all three were delicious. It offered a nice contrast to the heaviness that comes with the rest of the food we ordered at this meal.

Lastly, Jenn and I ordered the skirt steak fajitas. I prefer my fajitas to be sizzling when served, but it wasn’t the case here (though the plate was still very hot). The beef had a lot of flavor. On the plus side, we needed some extra tortillas and weren’t charged for them.

The kids ordered a pomodoro pasta and some chicken tenders (Char couldn’t wait for the photo to be taken). This was also the only restaurant here at Baha Mar where Char’s kids meal was proactively taken off without needing to be told for it to be removed. Score! One more thing I enjoy is that the kids meals vary by restaurant rather than the options being the same at every restaurant. It gets a bit boring pretty quickly if every place serves the same food.

We were asked if we were celebrating anything during our stay, so I let it slip (again) that we were here to celebrate a birthday a couple of nights earlier. That meant yet another giant candle at our table–though this time it came with a complimentary dessert.

And what meal isn’t complete without some churros? These were cooked to perfection–crisp on the outside, warm and soft on the inside. I just wish it came with a thick chocolate sauce instead of the cajeta (think of a caramel sauce), but I still enjoyed it.

Costa had good service–I think it was better than Cleo but marginally less polished than Marcus–and the food is tasty. If you’re a fan of Mexican food, I think it’s a solid option. I think the ceviche was the best thing here and worth a purchase if you’re into it.

Stay tuned for the next installment where I’ll talk about the activities available at the resort…