RESTAURANT REVIEW : Diverse Menu Is the Ticket at La Terraza : The stunning dining room at Hyatt Westlake Plaza is largely successful in its effort to be many things to many diners.

Hotel dining rooms are no longer those faceless places serving mediocre food to captive guests. Competing with local restaurants, many hotel dining facilities now have a separate name and a distinctive menu to lure local gentry as well as in-house guests.

Inside the enormous Hyatt Westlake Plaza is La Terraza, which tries to be assorted things to numerous people and is successful on many counts. Adjacent to the lobby, the giant room is stunning, with peach textured walls, attractive indirect lighting, well-spaced booths and tables, and handsome sculpture.

The servers are friendly and well-trained, although on one occasion I was surprised when the server plopped the bill on our table without asking if we wanted dessert or coffee. She explained that since we were taking the remains of our entrees home, she assumed we were too full for anything else.

When it comes to satisfying my sweet tooth, one must never assume anything as I can always manage to make room for a dessert or two.

For those who enjoy fancy alcoholic libations, there’s a special menu section listing such exotic creations as a Red Cactus ($4.75), made of tequila, Triple Sec and raspberry liqueur; a Polar Express ($5.25), chilled vodka garnished with a lemon slice dipped in espresso and sugar. And for those who have a designated driver, International Ice Tea ($6.25), a seemingly lethal combination of vodka, rum, tequila, gin, bourbon, Triple Sec and just a splash of Pepsi for taste and color.

The wine list is quite reasonable, and I appreciate their offering nine wines by the glass and 14 kinds of beer.

Among the appetizers, I liked the crisply fried calamari ($5.75) with a fresh-tasting marinara sauce, and an enormous platter of nachos ($5.75) topped with spicy beef, Cheddar cheese, sour cream and salsa. Buffalo chicken wings ($4.50) are served with the requisite blue cheese dressing but lack the hot bite of enough Tabasco to satisfy me.

Another way to start is to split a large salad such as the Thai combination ($9.25) of tasty marinated beef strips in a mixture of pea pods, bean sprouts and mushrooms with a peanut-based dressing. Or an excellent Cobb ($8.75), which contains diced chicken, bacon, avocado and blue cheese atop baby lettuce, escarole and radicchio.

Splitting a pizza is definitely not the way to start your meal. The vegetable pizza ($9) is a gloppy mess of artichoke hearts, mushrooms, onions and tomato sauce on a vapid crust. Even worse is the version with four cheeses ($8) in which mozzarella, Cheddar, jack and provolone have a messy confrontation that’s nearly inedible.

Happily, I liked an order of penne ($9.25) in a very spicy tomato sauce, which proved that the chef’s Italian repertoire wasn’t completely defunct.

Chicken fajitas ($9.75), with slivers of grilled red and yellow peppers and onions, are wrapped in whole wheat tortillas topped with piquant guacamole and sour cream. I also enjoyed tender lamb chops ($18.75) with a yummy minted pear chutney, juicy seared salmon ($12.50) alongside a sweet papaya salsa, and excellent pork chops ($13.25) accompanied by a tangy black bean relish.

From a section of the menu entitled “Cuisine Naturelle,” I could choose healthier items that are lower in calories, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. Since it takes some talent to make these dishes taste good, I was overwhelmed by the delicious lentil chili appetizer ($5).

Almost as good are entrees such as the spicy Cajun-seasoned scallops ($9.25) and the marinated chicken breast over mixed greens ($8.25) served with a sprightly dill cucumber dressing. Alas, the grilled chicken burger ($7.75) was indeed low in calories and even lower in flavor.

Homemade desserts include a decent pecan pie ($4), an average apple pie ($4), wonderful chocolate torte ($4.25) and, best of all, gooey chocolate brownies topped with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge ($4.75).

If you’re suddenly feeling virtuous, go back to the healthy list and choose a very light cheesecake ($4) flavored with Grand Marnier and coming in at a mere 124 calories. I felt so healthy about choosing it that I desisted from eating ice cream for at least 24 hours.

Details

* WHAT: La Terraza, Hyatt Westlake Plaza.

* WHEN: Breakfast 6:30 to 11 a.m. daily; lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; Sunday brunch 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; dinner 5 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Sunday, 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

* WHERE: 880 S. Westlake Blvd., Westlake.

* HOW MUCH: Dinner for two, food only, $25 to $55.

* CALL: (818) 991-1800.