Hunky Dory

What to say about hunky dory… except so delicious! We started out with the oxtail poutine… so good. Next came the squash blossoms which were also really good. Then came the main course and OMG everything was delicious. We had short ribs, pork cheeks, chicken, fish & chips and a side of pork chops!!! Let’s just say I’ve got the meat sweats. We got the dessert called the money shot which was just ok but next time I probably won’t bother. Overall I would definitely recommend hunky dory. I will be back!

Congratulations Hunky Dory… I’m awarding you my second one star rating!
I wanted to try out Hunky Dory for months because people were raving about the atmosphere and food, but I kept getting the same warning — beware of the service! Good food and a great atmosphere are enough to overcome mediocre to slightly below average service, but nothing can overcome atrocious service. Last night, after dealing with a long and tough class weekend, my friends and I dealt with a rude staff and some of the worst service I have ever experienced (and this is coming from a guy from New Jersey).
What happened?
Ten of my friends were the first to arrive and placed their order around 8:30 pm. Four of us didn’t arrive until an hour later at 9:30 pm, but by the time my friends got their food, the four of us that arrived late had already finished eating (re-​read this paragraph again because it’s mind-​boggling…).
At around 10 pm, the assistant manager came out and offered a poor apology. I describe it as poor because he actually threw in, «well, normally we don’t deal with parties this large without reservations.» That may be true, but why seat us in the first place? If your staff wasn’t prepared to handle a party this large, then don’t bother seating us.
*Side note: When the four late arrivals showed up, the waiter said he wouldn’t be able to combine tables, and we offered to sit in a different location. However, the assistant manager came out, said it would not be be an issue, and helped combine another table. *End of side note.
The assistant manager tried offering free desserts to make up for the screw-​up, but my friends asked for at least part of the meals to be comped. The assistant manager then said he would «see what he could do.»
Twenty minutes later at around 10:20 pm (still no sight of any manager or the food), four of my friends went inside to speak with the manager. Unfortunately this is where things escalated and the manager, Sarah Meyer, and the chef reacted rudely and childish. Instead of apologizing for the two hour wait for the food, Sarah managed to blame our party!
Here are a few of her gems:
«You went out and seated yourselves! This is your fault!» Wrong. One of my friends approached the staff and made it clear that there was a party of 10. The staff said it would not be an issue and seated the party. If this was an issue, I’ll ask once again — why seat us? Also, the four late arrivals received the food and finished the meals. How does this explain the two hour wait for the rest of the party? How was this any of our fault?
When my friends told Sarah that we did not seat ourselves, Sarah replied «well, that’s not what my staff is saying.» Great, not only was there a two hour wait for the food, we’re now being called liars.
The chef also came out with a smug look on his face (picture one of the smug chefs from Pixar’s Ratatouille but without the talent to make up for the smugness), but instead of apologizing, he just replied by asking «what do you want us to do about it?» in a way that implied he did not care and would not doing anything about it. Thanks chef. You’re not as fun as South Park chef.
How much patience would you have if it took over two hours for your food to arrive? How would you manage to keep your cool if there was no accountability and accusations from Sarah Meyer or the chef? How would you react if you told a waiter that Sarah accused you of being a liar, and the waiter replied, «well are you a liar?» This is a quite an amazing staff at Hunky Dory.
I’m sure this restaurant will be fine based on the location and the reviews for the food, but you will not be getting my business. You can bet my friends and I are spreading the word to the rest of our classmates about this poor experience.
BTW, the 14 of us are a group of Longhorns and Aggies, so it was funny to see us find some common ground to unite against Hunky Dory.

Good food, slow service, disrespectful management and horrifying customer service. If you like to play roulette, try this place out, you might win!
Several of my friends and I went out to eat last night as we usually do Saturday nights and we chose Hunky Dory since we had heard good things about the steaks. We arrived at 8:30pm and asked for a table for 10 and were seated outside. We appreciated the contemporary décor and pleasant ambiance of the outdoor seating. We ordered a few drinks and appetizers which went well, but then we struggled to get our menus to order. After requesting the menus and ordering, the wait began.
In this time we had 4 more friends that were going to meet us later last night get out and decided to join us. The staff got offered to join another smaller table with our main group and took their orders at 9:30. Surprisingly, the group of four was served first and finished eating before we inquired about our our original order. We noticed that the restaurant was fairly full inside but a majority of the outdoor seating was empty. Over the next hour we inquired with the the waiter and assistant manager a few times about our food and continuously kept receiving the same empty «I’ll check on that» response.
Our food was finally served at 10:40p when the restaurant was starting to empty out. We expressed our displeasure with the assistant manager and manager only to have her yell at us and accuse us of seating ourselves without reservations. (Yes, we did not have reservations as this was a spontaneous decision to dine at Hunky Dory, but an honest, straightforward communication of the expected time to be served would have been appropriate wait staff when we were being seated at 8:30.) The chef/​owner also came out and told my friend, «You sir, have been a problem since you got here.» We were not given any genuine (we did have a couple empty insincere applogies and smug looks from the chef, but nothing genuine) sentiments to correct the situation and win back some of their regular customers.
So is everything «Hunky Dory»… Only if you’re delirious.
The bottom line: The food was good, if you’re feeling lucky, try this place and just hope that nothing goes wrong. Before you step foot in the restaurant, I’d advise taking a deep breath and remind yourself that the arrogant management is not here for your best interest.

Great ambience, service, and staff yet the pork ribs were extremely dry. I expected more from hunky dory and was disappointed. Sadly, I loved everything about this restaurant was amazing but my meal.

Worst dining experience ever. First ever review, basically I feel obligated to share with the entire customer community. I have never seen a more rude chef and manager (Sarah Meyer). Went there on 11^th June, 2016 with 14 Fellow UT classmates and waited from 8 to 10:30 pm for food. When the food finally came it was not cooked right. Tried addressing to manager and chef and they instead flipped back on us with excuses. If customer service is of any value to you please don’t dine here.

My husband and I went here this evening with friends. We got there before the dinner rush. Our waitress was Kira. She was very pleasant and helpful with drink and meal suggestions. I had the Sufferagette City coctail. It was delicious! We had the octopus and the pork belly for appetizers. They were very good. Three of us had the New York steak and my husband had the Snapper. I didn’t care for the flavor of his meal, but we all thought the steak was delicious. We were too folk for dessert. We all took a portion of the steak home. I would recommend this place and visit again.

All I can say is, I’m in love, and it’s all Hunky Dory!!!
Please please please, if you’ve never been you must order the NY Strip with Oxtail Poutine, you’ll be in love.

I have been to Hunky Dory twice now and the place is so freakin cute. The food is just as cute and mostly on the mark… with the exception of a couple liberties they have taken with the soups of the day, but otherwise great.
I want to love this place and make it my go to business lunch Mecca, but I just cannot for one reason. The service. So far with two different wait staff it has taken Forever to greet the table, then to get a drink order… food was not fast, but for good food it is expected, but then the waiters forgot about getting us our check for another 20 minutes after we were done.
My office is close by and like most I need to be in and out of a business lunch in one hour. Expect at least an hour and a half minimum. If you have the time then great, but otherwise you may need to tell the host or manager ahead of time that you cannot be there all day.
I hope they can work it out. I want to love this place badly. I’m rooting for ya HD.

This is my second time going there. I was here previously for brunch and ordered savory crepes. They weren’t special and I’ve had much better crepes from the HEB on West Alabama. Yes, my dish was worst than a grocery store dish. My husband liked his meal so we went back a second time.
On this occasion we went there for lunch on a weekday. It wasn’t too busy. However, I think our waiter was brand new… either that or he wasn’t too customer oriented or attentive. We ordered the samosas as an appetizer. They came out immediately. It actually came out when our ice teas and sodas came out. This is why I’m saying our waiter was probably new, like it could have been his first day since it took him as long to get our drinks as it took our appetizer to come out. Our drinks weren’t a bar order either but simply two ice teas and two cokes. I also asked for a straw that the waiter said he’d get but I never got.
When I asked our waiter how much longer for our entrees he simply stated, «it’s coming,» and left. It took about 45 minutes after we got our appetizer for our entrees to be served. My niece ordered the kids cheeseburger but hardly touched it. It had a weird taste to it… some sort of seasoning that a 11 year old could not eat. I ordered the chicken tika masala. The other people in my party ordered the shepherd’s pie and the lamb vindaloo.
It wasn’t our waiter that served us our entrees. It was actually the hostess. She gave me the wrong plate. She gave me the lamb vindaloo instead. I didn’t know. I just thought the chicken had a gamey taste to it. It was actually quite gross. I had already tried to stomach about three bites before I realized that this couldn’t have been chicken. They gave the chicken tika masala to my mother-​in-​law. She was eating it and didn’t realize either that we were given the wrong plates. She tried the vindaloo also and agreed it was really gross. It tasted like burnt bitter curry.
Our waiter didn’t care to see if we enjoyed our meals. If he had, he would have seen that two plates were basically untouched.
I wanted to talk to the manager but my husband doesn’t like to complain. He also likes to still give a 20% tip even when the service doesn’t justify it.
We won’t go to this restaurant again.

We came here for brunch one Saturday and it was empty! I was surprised since it is such a cute place. Then I looked at the brunch prices and was taken back. I didn’t know brunch would set us back $ 80 but boy was it delicious. We got the sausage and beans dish which was very flavorful and the salmon rice dish. The restaurant is a British fusion type place with classic London bites and Indian cuisine. I LOVED their food. I think if they lowered their brunch prices by $ 2 it would be more reasonable for an expensive brunch spot. The drinks were amazing and very refreshing. I will definitely be coming back but after my next paycheck.

Celebrating for my girlfriend’s birthday and brought in a birthday cake. Upon arriving at the hostess station, she looked very surprise and did not comprehend or know what to do with my cake. Later our group was informed that it would cost $ 2.50 per slice for the restaurant to serve the cake I brought in (which would cost $ 20 for the 8 of us!!!)
Service was mediocre! I had ordered their speciality pork chops that came with fries and mashed potatoes. My sides did not arrive at the same time with my pork chops, and I had to notify my server. After 10 mins later, he informed me that the kitchen must have put my sides along with my other friend’s side dishes. (which look like a personal portion). If that was the case, the waiter should have told us in the first place when everything was being serve on the table. It is unacceptable to tell me that my sides were shared on my friend’s dish when he was already almost done with the entire plate.
I was very unhappy with my experience that night. I do not think that is the right way to conduct business. Management really needs to look into their service and try to learn from this situation to prevent losing business from unhappy customers.

Very good, certainly traditional. Good service and nice layout!
Went there for brunch and had a the breakfast menu. Need to up their tea game though…

I think the dinner left me speechless it was so amazing. I definitely expected a great meal but the food was cooked so well and the flavors were beyond words.
The night started out a little rocky since I was a little bit late and overwhelmed with so much planned in one day. I sat down at our table where my friend Kim was already there with her Moscato that was too strong for her so she needed me to ask if she could exchange it for something else since she was expecting something else. I ordered from their amazingly large scotch, whiskey, and bourbon menu. Good stuff!!!
We had the snapper tartare (Amazing!!!), Filet Agrodolce (Impressive), NY Strip with Oxtail Poutine (Exceptional), Whole Hog Cavatelli (Hog says it all!!!). For dessert we had the sticky toffee pudding (worth coming just for dessert!!!).
My new favorite place. Makes it hard since I love both Hunky Dory and Bernadine’s for different reasons.

Enjoyed a fabulous Valentine’s Day dinner. The only flaw was the foie gras could be more buttery… otherwise, foods, drinks, and service were awesome. They have fun sommeliers.

First visit so can’t go to five stars (yet).
Finally, one of the new entrants living up to the hype from their publicists and Ms. Cook. Unlike the adjoining Bernadine.
We had a delightful dinner — one of the best we have had in Houston recently.
The space is nothing special — open, uncluttered. Average noise level.
Service is superb — friendly and well paced. No rushing.
The menu is quite small — about 6 appetizers, entrees mainly grilled steaks and chops, with a few others — chicken and fish of the day, and about 3 desserts. These limits are OK — each dish will shine as they are not trying to cook 49 things.
Wine list is fairly big — heavy on Old World — most in the $ 75+ range. Looked like a ~ 3X markup.
Our dinner:
We all had cocktails ($ 10 — $ 13 each) and they shined. If you are a whiskey fan, try the «Sheep Dip».
All four of us somehow managed to order the Partan Bree ($ 12) — a magnificent crab bisque with sherry. The pretzel bread «roll» really didn’t add anything.
Entrees were the «Gulf fish», filet, NY strip, and butternut squash. These were all winners — maybe a bit too much salt on the steaks? Entrees were $ 17 — $ 38.
We had a malbec (only one of the menu) — decent at $ 70.
Damage for 4 with tip was $ 400. We’ll be back and see if they deserve another star.
And BTW — we didn’t need to valet park for a change — there were a number of slots on the street.

I love Hunky Dory. I’ve been here for brunch and I’ve been here for dinner. It’s great. Everything about it is on point.
Atmosphere — it is stylish, more appropriately it can be called posh, being that it is a riff on a British pub fare. So it had that upscale feel, but also quaint and rustic.
Service — the staff is knowledgable and friendly. They’re attentive and can make food and drink recommendations.
Drinks — the Scottish Bloody Mary is tasty. I’ve had a few different red wines here and they’re very good. My boyfriend is a beer guy and he enjoyed the options available. Have some dessert wine with dessert. It makes it even better.
Food —
Brunch:
Scones. Who thinks scones are noteworthy? I really didn’t. I always found them to be dense and dry, like a biscuit that was forced to be something it’s not, a breakfast pastry. Their scones are fantastic! I love scones! Yeah, strange, I know. Have scones.
Ploughman’s Brunch is great for sharing. Noshing if you will. A nice variety of cheese, terrine, chicken liver mousse, bread (you’ll need more than the amount you get so get some more), and pickled veg.
Bacon and tomato sandwich topped with an egg. Break that yoke and enjoy it soaked into your sandwich that has crisp tomato and thick crisp bacon. Unreal. Hand Cut fries. Sinful.
Dinner:
Snapper tartare — surprisingly good. Snapper can sometimes be a fleshy fish that has a chewier texture. It’s usually not my favorite fish. Just tougher sometimes. Not as a tartare here though. Every ingredient is present and well placed. If you like the sound of capers, dill, shallots, tender fish, and vinegar… you’ll love this.
Chicken and eggs is not your average chicken. I usually stay away from chicken at good restaurants. This chicken was moist and enhanced with the eggs consistency and added flavor. What came first — the chicken or the egg? I ate both with every bite.
NY strip — this was the least awesome thing I’ve tried here. You know when steak blows your mind and you’re like — someone who loves steak made this. I didn’t get that feel with this steak. It needed to be cooked less, rested longer, and it needed some butter to pamper it more. The chimchurri was helpful, though the steak needed more in the way of its ability to stand on its own.
Lemon pudding cake. Sticky toffee pudding. We had both of these along with some Sauternes and life ended on a full and delighted note. They make delightful desserts. I sucked and didn’t get pictures of our dinner, but I did get brunch and one of the desserts.
Hunky Dory is my favorite restaurant in Houston currently. It’s not cheap, but I have such a great time when I’m there.

Had an awesome Saturday brunch recently at Hunky Dory! The décor and ambiance of this spot screams «perfect brunch» and it definitely lived up to its appearance. It’s classy and chic while still feeling warm and welcoming– the perfect mix of British and American, I suppose.
Now onto the food– there was a dozen brunch entrees to choose from, but don’t come here expecting pancakes and hash browns. American breakfast is one of my favorite meals of all time (gimme a biscuit and gravy any time of the day) so I was wary to try out British brunch but was pleasantly surprised. I tried the lamb sausage and beans — basically a stew of lamb sausage, white beans, and spices served up with crusty French bread — and was very pleased, it was on the heavier side so I’d recommend this for a hungry bruncher. My friend got the bacon and tomato open face sandwich — this was divine. The tomato jam on the sandwich was incredible and the fries it came with were perfection! Prices for entrees were between $ 14 – 18. The alcoholic beverage menu looked really great (they have a «divine inspiration» each day that sounded pretty tempting!) but unfortunately I didn’t get to try any.
Service was excellent and we didn’t feel rushed at all. I came on a Saturday morning around 11am and didn’t have to wait at all for a table; throughout our meal it didn’t seem too crowded but then again this restaurant is a huge space.
Will definitely return to try more of their offerings and to bring out of towners to this little spot! It’s a perfect highlight of the variety of affordable casual dining that makes Houston unique.

Not a huge fan of British food, but seems like dinner is way better (and more $$$) than brunch (³⁄₅).
Off the brunch menu, I would suggest their take on kedgeree. Poached egg instead of boiled. Smoked salmon. All pulled together with a tasty curry sauce.
Smithfield’s breakfast (formerly known as the English breakfast?). Fried slice = fried bread = amaze. Everything else was pretty standard. Not a fan of the blood sausage (black pudding) — it was too oily. Our waiter told me it tastes better in the dinner menu item black pudding and onions, which is fried in pastry dough.

After a lackluster meal at a well known $ 75 per person tasting menu restaurant that shall remain nameless, I was starting to think I had become jaded. That my expectations had simply become unreasonable. That I had eaten too many good meals and that delicious food no longer registered as anything above average. It was a scary thought and I am relieved to say that Hunky Dory proved me wrong in a spectacular fashion.
We started with the silver salver platter which was a huge amount of food for 4 people but amazing. The spreads had great flavor and the whole plate with the different cheeses, condiments, and bread/​crackers/​food vehicles made for some incredible mix and match crostini.
The wine list is very large, but luckily a very friendly and not at all snotty sommelier helped us navigate it and guided us to some pretty good wines. The only thing I’d say is that the list is quite pricey. But if you can snag the Laurel Glen Cab I’d go for it!
My steak was seasoned and cooked perfectly. It was seriously delicious. I was pretty full from the appetizer plate and had probably 1 slice of bread too many, so I took half the steak home. And let me tell you, it was equally delicious for breakfast the next morning. the sauce had a terrific peppery flavor, but not aggressively so, and it just all melded beautifully. My husband had the cakestand porkchops which were, as described, served on a cakestand. Others at the table had the rabbit special which was really good. There were no complaints to be had at all.
It was a pricey meal, mostly because of the wine, but SO worth it. You can bet I’ll be back.

This is such a cute restaurant! Not sure what to expect when I decided to come here for lunch, but after getting here, I knew it was kind of a mistake to eat lunch here alone. Hunky Dory is a place where you kind of want to have a nice lunch/​dinner while having a sip of wine and talk to your date or friends about nothing and everything all at once (and yes, I just quoted Green Day!)
The first thing that came to mind as I was pulling up into the parking lot was «holy crap, this is a huge parking lot!» And they do indeed have a huge parking lot. I guess considering the area, where street parking would be scarce, a huge lot would be a necessity if the place were to get packed. Another thing that I noticed was that there wasn’t any huge sign that said «Hunky Dory» anywhere in sight. There was kind of a smaller sign off of N. Shepherd, but that was it. I didn’t see anything else until I reached the entrance and saw the sign on the door. And FYI, the entrance is to your left, right by the outside seating area and not the door that you would see in the center of the building.
I came in for a late lunch — around 2:00 pm. They open for lunch everyday between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm so I had about an hour. As soon as I walked in, the hostess who was at the other end of the restaurant immediately came to me to seat me. She asked whether I’d like to sit in the bar dining area or the main dining area. I opted for main dining area. At this time, there were only three other parties dining in the main dining room, and a few people sitting at the bar. My server was pleasant, friendly, and attentive (which I would have expected considering how slow it was). However, she didn’t introduce herself. But no worries, she came by plenty to check on me so I didn’t have the need to call her.
After quickly looking through the lunch menu, I decided to go for the HD burger because I had seen a picture of it online and it looked delicious. Of course I had to try it! My server also showed her approval of my choice by telling me how delicious the burger was. I did ask her about the steak on the menu and she told me that the steak was also delicious. However, I wasn’t in the mood to spend $ 35 on steak for a quick lunch.
My burger didn’t take too long to come out. Pretty simple: two patties (which I’m assuming is about 3 oz each — I didn’t ask), melted cheese, and some red onions on lightly seared buns. I can’t lie, the burger WAS delicious. the buns and the meat were delicious. The fries that came with the burger were also delicious. Crispy and lightly salted. However, there was something missing which I thought could have made the burger better. My server didn’t ask me how I wanted my burger cooked because my burger was well-​done, and I love my burger medium. I’m not sure if that was their policy to cook all their burgers well-​done or if my server had just forgotten to ask me. If that’s their policy, I sure as hell hope they don’t have the same policy for their steaks!
Another note, the burger was surprisingly filling. I couldn’t even finish my fries. And people who know me know that I finish everything on my plate. But I just couldn’t do it.
After I was done, I paid. It was a very pricey burger. At $ 14 + tax + tip then you’re looking close to $ 20 for a burger and some fries. I don’t think I’ll be coming back here too often for lunch considering the price point. But would I come back here for dinner with friends, or to bring a date? No doubt about it. And plus, I need to try their steaks!
Edit:
I came back for a dinner date and the food and service were great. However, they were kind of strict about placements and such to the point that I found it hilarious. For example, when my fork wasn’t aligned with the other utensils, someone would actually come and fix that. When my date had moved her fork to the other side of her plate, yep; someone came and fix that also.
Yes, I understand dinner etiquette, but come on. Sometimes we just want to eat and not worry about the etiquette too much, you know?
Still highly recommended, though.