AVEO Table + Bar — Restaurant in Dana Point

Once you step out of your car, you are welcomed by the luxurious entrance of the St. Regis Monarch Beach hotel. Sunday brunch with an amazing ocean view is what living in So Cal is all about.

Their brunch buffet has so much variety: an omelet station and a deep fried/teppanyaki station outside on the patio; a quesadilla station, pancake/waffle/french toast station, carving station, and hot foods stations to the side; a raw seafood area; and last but not least, the dessert area, along with a crepe station, in the back.

Everything was top-notch quality. The raw seafood was fresh. Crab claws were meaty, and already cracked to save you the hassle. Oysters were fatty and briny. Cocktail shrimps were big and fresh. Smoked salmon was fatty and tasty! They also had ceviche and poke that were great!

The omelet station lets you choose between your usual egg omelet or an all egg-white omelet. Of course, you can always just order a regular sunnyside up or overeasy egg. While you are waiting for your omelet, you can take in the magnificent view of the hotel's garden/pool, and the pacific ocean. Absolutely breathtaking!

The dessert station had so much variety of cakes, cookies, chocolates, french macarons, and pastries to choose from. It is definitely a dessert-fanatics dream come true. Each piece was like a work of art, delicately put together. So don't forget to take pictures and to save room for dessert!!

While everything was amazing, my favorite that morning was their freshly-made-to-order french toast. You get to choose what bread you want: an egg bread or a cinnamon raisin bread. Once you choose, the chef will dip it in egg batter and start cooking it. Once he hands you your perfectly cooked french toast, you get to scoop your own freshly-whipped cream. There are three flavors of whipped cream: original, chocolate, and berries. Try all of them because they are absolutely delicious! The french toast is soft and fluffy inside and goes so well with the whipped cream and maple syrup.

There is so much variety and food to choose from. If you just took one bite of each, you'd be stuffed so full.

Unlimited champagne brunch buffet is $79. Brunch buffet with no champagne is $69. Parking is valet only. Get a validation and it will...

The staff and service 5/5 stars! They went above and beyond to make sure every guest had a wonderful experience. Great manager, great servers and great bartenders. The drinks were great!

The food was disappointing and pretty average. The mac and cheese was confusing and lacked seasoning. It was also slightly soupy. The shrimp pasta was bland and pretty average. The caesar salad was average and lacked flavor. It was supposed to be a “cilantro caesar” dressing but didn’t taste anything like that. The Chilean sea bass was edible but lacked flavor and seasoning. The coconut sauce was underwhelming. The fish was cooked nicely however lacked flavor and seasoning. We had the peanut butter moose for dessert which was average. It tasted like it was bought from Cisco and presented nicely on a plate.

The breakfast buffet for new years was disappointing. Pre-toasted bread sitting on a plate was odd. It tasted like stale salty cardboard. Instead, why not have guest toast their own bread. The eggs benedict and omelette station was incredible. The bacon was sitting in its own grease for what looked like hours. The quality of the bacon was great however, an overflowing pile of bacon in its own grease devalued its quality. The tater tots were stale and hard. It looks like they overflowed the Schaefer’s instead of replenishing them every so often. This led to low quality products. The sushi rice was stale. The sushi was sitting on a table at room temperature without any refrigeration, which is probably a food safety hazard. The tuna was Luke-warm. The staff was incredible and the managers were incredible!

Overall, we were very disappointed in the food from dinner and breakfast. For the new years breakfast brunch, it is not worth the $200. For being at a Waldorf Astoria, we had high expectations especially at the price point they are offering. The food quality lacked seasoning and flavors and was average for being overpriced.

This restaurant has the potential of something great! So many great things about...

Dining alone at Aveo Table and Bar was fabulous!

Concert worthy live music (Santana would be proud) Ocean & Pool views Warm and friendly service from the bartender (Marvin - best smile in Dana Point) 5 ☆'s for the Legaris, 2018 Tempranillo, Ribera Del Duero (Dry, Cherry, Cocoa & Oak) ... yum! I cheated on my keto diet & ate a few of the croutons on the Caesar salad. It was better than dessert. Perfectly dressed with a hint of Peruvian spice and yummy pepitas for crunch I wanted the MOJO chicken, but heard that it ran sweet (ugh ... the crouton was my cheat) ... I ordered the filet with Chimmichuri (Pittsburgh style) It melted in my mouth. A+++++++++. I skipped the potatoes & green beans, but only because they weren't diet compliant.

Two regrets - our hero wasn't here to share. Thank you B for working so hard to save our planet!! And, I really wanted to...