It’s another week, and another Magical Dining review! Last Wednesday Matt and I had gone to Four Flamingos, which is located within the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort. This reservation was our last one for Magical Dining, of course unless we find a handful more before the end of the month when the event is over!
Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort
The drive to the Hyatt Grand Cypress was pretty easy, although I didn’t realize how enormous this hotel was until we actually got on the property. They have a guard shack in the front of the property, who realistically wasn’t any help when we stated we had a dinner reservation. Thankfully there were signs for the specific restaurant, so we just followed those along the property until it led us to a flat top parking lot. We actually walked long the pool area, which was beautiful with all the greenery (which the property was filled with trees and florals). The path actually led directly to the restaurant, so it was a simple walk!
Four Flamingos
The decor for this restaurant was super cute, with a very Florida looking mural on the path outside leading up to the entrance. They had bright colors, as well as small flamingo pool decor in the pond below the entrance, and the entire place had a very touristy Florida vibe to it. I adored the way it looked, as well as the employee’s uniforms, which were dark colored tropical shirts.
This was the dining experience we were looking forward to for the upgrades. They ended up sitting us down early when we arrived, which was nice! Our waitress was super sweet, and got us some water and drinks, which I had gotten their Euphoria drink, as well as Matt getting a seasonal Peach Julep. For appetizers, they had the Goat Cheese Brûlée, which came with nasturtium salad, seasonal fruit, and pine nuts, the Seasonal Ceviche, which had aguachile, avocado, red onions, and cilantro, and the Spiney Lobster Bisque, which was pineapple lobster salad and datil oil. There was an upgrade for Crab Cakes for an additional $18, which I was looking forward to (and later Matt convinced me). The main courses that were offered were Key West Mojo Chicken, which was a key lime mojo, cilantro lime coconut rice, Cuban style black beans, Red Grouper, which was garlic haricot verts, pineapple & saffron coconut cream, fried plantain crown, or Rabo Encendido, which was a sweet plantain puree, Cuban style braised oxtail, pickled onion. The main course also had an upgrade of a 16 oz “Neptune’s cut” Swordfish Prime Rib for an additional $25, which was something Matt was trying to convince me to get (which he also later convinced me, haha). Lastly, for dessert they had a Coconut Pannacota, which was a mango foam coconut ginger streusel, a Dulce de leche Crème Brûlée, which was dark chocolate biscotti, exotic coulis, espresso soil, or a Tres Leches Tiramisu, which was a tiramisu with raspberry gel and candied pistachios. Each meal per person was $60, which I would say again was worth it based on the quality of everything (besides the bread, which I will mention later).
The waitress brought out our mixed drinks, and they were both really good, although we were trying to save them for our main meal! Mine actually had a cute little show, where the waitress asked me to take some sage, and she blew up a smoke bubble on the top of my drink. Once it pops I put the sage on top, and it was very fitting for me!
We ordered our food, and while we were waiting they brought out some bred and butter to snack on. Matt said he saw reviews that people enjoyed the bread, but in my opinion it was just Hawaiian rolls baked with something to make it crunchy. We only had one roll each, and honestly I wish I didn’t even do that because I get full real quick, but it is what it is!
I had gotten the Crab Cakes upgrade, and Matt had gotten the Seasonal Ceviche. I was up in the air originally about upgrading, but holy guacamole I am so glad I did! They were crispy on the outside, and kind of flat, but the crab on the inside was to die for! They also put the crab cakes on top of some really good sauce that had a little tang to it. Matt’s ceviche was also really good, but the juice it was in was super spicy because of the jalapeño seeds! Both appetizers were really good!
For our main course, Matt had ordered the Rabo Encendido because he wanted to try the oxtail, and originally I was going to get the Red Grouper, but he convinced me to get the Swordfish Prime Rib. I’ve seen some pictures of the swordfish, and I didn’t know what to expect taste-wise, but I was not disappointed! It was a huge slab, and absolutely filled with garlic, which I love! It tasted super clean for fish, and completely lacked the “fishy” taste. Matt said his food was good, and the few pieces I had did taste delicious, but he complained that cutting it was some work. I actually needed some help eating my food because it was so much food!
For dessert Matt had gotten the Dulce de leche Crème Brûlée, and I had gotten the Tres Leches Tiramisu! To be honest, I think Matt had only gave me one bite of his, but my tiramisu was fantastic! It wasn’t like a real tiramisu, where I feel like there is that coffee and rum taste, but the raspberry was so tart, and the cake was so good, I was in heaven!
All in all, everything was amazing. The staff was super friendly, the food was probably one of the best ones we’ve tried, and the vibe was fun! I know realistically we would probably never come back due to the price, but it was amazing to try while we had the opportunity during Magical Dining!