09/23/09

Favorite Restaurant in Houston

by opinion2008

I discovered Voice recently during restaurant week and like it so much we went back with others a 2nd time when restaurant week was extended. This is definately my new favorite restaurant in Houston. (ok, it might be tied with one other). Really wonderful food both times and all our dinner companions were equally happy. The dining room is absolutely beautiful. The staff was perfect the 1st time. Slightly less perfect the 2nd time but still much better than much of the service in Houston. This will be my go to place for all special occassions or for dinners when we want to do wine pairings. $25 corkage fee per bottle allows us to bring along some of our wine collection.

• Pros: Food, decor

07/03/09

Amazing Anniversary Experience

by adambrown123

My wife and I just had our 3rd anniversary and I scoured the entire city to find the perfect restaurant. I wanted to go somewhere downtown, and we hadn't been to VOICE before, so I thought we'd give it a try...ended up being an amazing experience that I just have to share! I called about a week in advance to make the reservations, and told the employee that we would be there for our anniversary. When we walked in the restaurant, Ludwig was very gracious and remembered speaking to me on the phone, and told us "happy anniversary." Really good service.

Next, on to the service and food. Our server, Chris, was very knowledgeable, but not pretentious in the least (in fact, when we ordered normal ice water, he made a joke about people who order distilled water). Me being a law student, we had to be slightly economical--I ordered one of the cheapest bottles of wine on the menu, which was an Argentina Malbec priced at $35. I was surprised at how good it was for that price...but honestly none of the wine seemed to be overpriced for the type of restaurant it is (there were several bottles in the $50-60 range).

We started off with the mushroom truffle cappuccino (soup). Let me just say this might be the best cup of soup I've ever had. It was extremely rich and delicious, with the natural flavors of the mushroom and truffle to season itself without adding a ton of salt. You must try this if you decide to go. Then we shared a salad recommended by Chris that was a special for the week...I'm not normally much of a salad guy but this was really good and my wife loved it.

Onto the entrees, I had the lamb, and my wife had the duck. We were both just amazed at how tender and perfectly seasoned our food was. The lamb was served on a bed of mushrooms, onions and potato wedges--the perfect additions. The duck was served over a bed of sweet corn and black-eyed-peas (kind of a summery dish) with a corn-puree sauce drizzled around the edge. It was to die for.

Chris recommended a white-chocolate creme brule for dessert...which was amazing. Also, when they brought it out, the chef had drizzled "happy anniversary" around the edge of the plate with chocolate...what great service!! (and obviously got me some points with the wife, haha.)

Anyway, all in all, this restaurant has it all: perfect ambience, food, service. And at $120 (before tip) it wasn't just out of this world expensive for the amount of food and wine we got. Great place for a special occasion, just ask for Chris to be your waiter, he will treat you like royalty!

• Pros: Great food, wine; exceptional service
• Cons: none

08/15/08

GREAT FOOD. If you're a foodie, you GOTTA GO

by thebestcritic

This was our first visit and it was on ?Houston Restaurant?s End Hunger Week?; our initial impression wasn't very good. We sat at the bar waiting our friends, it took 25 minutes to get a glass of campaign and vodka rocks (very simple drinks). There were only 5 other people at the bar.

When we were seated we order another round from our waiter, and it took 30 minutes to get the second round, bring them out one or two at a time. We order a bottle of moderately priced Italian red, the waiter brought out Chardonnay glasses after about 10 minutes, and then the wine followed 10 minutes later. My wife asked the waiter about the glasses, and he obliged by replacing them with Cabernet glasses. Fortunately, the remainder of the evening went very well. The food was ?on time,? proper temperature, and absolutely wonderful; making up for all the blunders leading up to the meal.

As this was a first visit, we order different times and shared. For starters we had: Mushroom Soup "Cappuccino"? The best every, and great presentation; Corn Risotto ? Excellent; Blue Cheese Salad ? Very tasty. Main Course: Slow Braised Beef Short Ribs ? Fantastic flavor and texture over pureed potatoes; Gulf Red Snapper ? Perfectly done, very fresh, and uniquely garnished; Pork Tenderloin ? Very nice, certainly above average, but nothing unique. Desert: Vanilla Creme Brulee with berries ? EXCELLENT, Warm ?Gooey? Chocolate Cake with Ice Cream ? not sure, my wife wouldn?t share.

The ambience is EXCELLENT; parking was complementary valet at the door; service has a long way to go to meet the standard necessary; food is fantastic and unique; limited menu, but varied. When the manager came around we explained our initial problems and he comp?d the drinks as a gesture of good will and apologized with making excuses. Hope the service problem will be remedied soon and Voice will make the big times.

STAY OUT of the BAR, it might tarnish your evening bu starting you out wrong.

• Pros: Food, Creativity, Ambience
• Cons: Service, Bar