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100% ambiance
“love VOICE because it adds a lively atmosphere to the already beautiful Hotel Icon.”
64% dessert
“Food was absolutely delicious, especially the crab cake, snapper, and duck.”
93% drinks
“Desserts were lovely, and accompanied by an excellent Greek dessert wine.”
91% food quality
“Anyway, all in all, this restaurant has it all: perfect ambience, food, service.”
100% menu variety
“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.”
100% overall
“Their specialty cocktails are fun and fruity - great place to grab a drink after work.”
100% return potential
“Voice is pretty good, and I might go back because it's close to work.”
100% service
“The service was friendly enough.”
91% value
“not usually a huge fan of game, served with a Chateauneuf Du Pape, some of my all-time favorite wines.”
100% wait time
“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.”
VOICE Restaurant & Lounge
Hotel ICON Houston
@hotelicon
What Our Expert Scouts Say
Gorgeous space with gourmet food. When I think of going on a date, Voice is one of the first places I think of. Wonderful decor of plush velvet drapery and soaring high ceilings, superb and expertly prepared dishes (make sure the Chef is in the house), create a wonderful excuse to get dressed up for a romantic evening. I will never forget the first meal we had here. The food was just delectable. My husband had a wonderfully light hearts of palm salad. A small work of art that tasted as good as it looked. I ordered the duck breast, caramelized and just that right degree o crispy with a medium rare center. The highlight would be the peanut butter banana custard - peanut butter custard topped with thin slices of banana and lightly crunchy creme-brulee-like sugar coating - tasted like gourmet nutter butters and unbelieveably scrumptious. This dessert wasn't there the third time I visited but the pastry chef made a special one just for me when he heard I was disappointed to find it off menu. Just an example of the level of service you receive at Voice. Yes, you pay top dollar, but it is well worth it for the quality of food, the artistry in its presentation, and the great date night(s) I've had...
Tips for VOICE Restaurant & Lounge
mixed feelings. This is a good place to bring a date for a drink. The menu is weird for me. The bread they bring to the table isn't really that good. I did order appetizers with my husband. Overall, the food just wasn't worth dropping $150 on. The atmosphere and decorum is nice. My husband and I won't be going back except to have a drink at the bar.
I keep coming back....
I think it is obvious that VOICE has been waiting for someone like chef Greg to get a real handle on the menu. I love the custom cocktails and the charcuterie before dinner, and the menu is adventurous but well thought out. The ambience is lovely and we always stick around as long as possible and order dessert and coffee to linger.
Valet parking can be a downer as it isn't complimentary but they are fast when it comes to fetching your car.
If you're in the downtown area, don't pass it up.
Citysearch Editorial Review. Occupying the 1911-built Union National Bank building, the Hotel Icon lobby and lounge is as grand as its history might suggest. Tall marble columns and high-backed chairs enclose you as you settle in for a cocktail at the bar or one of the city’s more notable meals in the restaurant. Chef Greg Lowry successfully mixes the informal and upscale with offerings ranging from a gourmet hot dog for Monday night football to an epic seven-course tasting menu. Although the tasting items change every Tuesday, expect playful homage to both the sweet and savory, like a cocoa taco of cinnamon-cured foie gras. All in all, Voice is an elegant choice well-suited to impressing clients and dates with the culinary chops to back up its environs.
Surprisingly good happy hour specials. Not sure if the specials are just in April, but this place has great deals for happy hour. This hotel bar is very sleek and beautiful while being intimate and cozy. In April, on Tuesdays they have $5, yes 5 DOLLAR burger and fries specials. And I'm talking Kobe beef burger with truffle aioli, truffle-paramesan fries. Yes, sir! There's also a crab cake burger, moroccan lamb burger, etc. Delish!! For $5 more you can add your favorite lager or ale. What a deal! And, don't forget the $1 martinis on Wednesdays. Parking is the downer if you can't find something on the street. But, have your server validate your valet ticket to reduce if from $12 to $6.
Blown away by the beauty and service! must go!.
VOICE is gorgeous. I went there for a girl's night out on a Friday, and I figured it would be overly crowded or too stuffy. However, we were greeted by the nicest staff...I almost thought they may have mistaken my friends and I for celebrities.
It wasn't crowded at all, and we were immediately seated. The staff was so attentive, so knowledgeable, and VERY VERY NICE! I will definitely be going back. Anywhere you sit, whether it be at the bar, a table, the lounge chairs, etc, you will feel comfortable and feel like you are seated somewhere somewhat private. Great music. GO!!!!!! I will be back.
Heavy on the salt, lacking on the service.
The topper on the food service was when we asked for decaff capucinos and we were told we are out of decaff would you mind regular? What? Out of decaff. They said they had decaff coffe but we were served the regular, as evidenced by being awake at 5AM. They must make the capucinos by using a mix of some sort. The waitress walked off from our table before she took the rest of the desser order when we started laughing about the decaff statement.
My soup was the scallops and was very very salty. And the portion was so tiny in this huge bowl that I had to tilt the bowl on the first bite. Salad was good but the good stuff was hidden under the lettuce with no garnish showing on the plate as presented. Mushroom capucino soup was good but gimicky.
Entree came out hot and timely. Port tender was a tiny serving of three little medallions. Menu had said it was served with sweet potatoes but it was just a swipe of color on the plate. Duck was good. Bone in Ribeye was good. Fish serving: we asked for Halibut served and garnished as the grouper and we got grouper prepared as the grouper. Server argued with us and we sent it back.
Dessert was weird. Chocolate cake was stale tasting and dry and the weird salty ice cream was a loser. I cannot even remember the other dessert. It was not memorable. And we only had two since she walked off from the table.
This was a Christmas gift night from a friend and I did not complain. We had a wonderful time visiting in the gorgeous room. But the host was taken advantage of with the prices and the quality of the food.
Enjoyable enough, but a little lacking in value. Voice is pretty good, and I might go back because it's close to work. But a person can get better food for the money, even in Houston. I wouldn't say it's a rip off, but they charge at the very top of the range for the quality of food they serve. The execution of everything was fine; the dishes were fairly safe--not particularly creative. Nothing was wonderful, but everything was OK. The service was friendly enough. I like the space, and the music was usually pleasant too. As for decor, I can't endorse the cow-print chairs (and tapestries?), but everything else looked nice.
Favorite Restaurant in Houston. 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.
Amazing Anniversary Experience.
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!
GREAT FOOD. If you're a foodie, you GOTTA GO.
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.
VOICE Restaurant & Lounge
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