The Veranda Steak and Seafood

what an amazing meal. We were full and still ordered dessert. The atmosphere is wonderful. The service is super. We will be back soon.

Celebrated our wedding anniversary one evening. We got a quiet table for two next to a window. The wine list had many varieties to choose from as did the dinner menu. I started with the Texas wedge salad with was fresh and flavorful. For the main course, my wife had the salmon with avocado poblano sauce which she and I both enjoyed. I had the bacon wrapped pork tenderloin which was ok but not as good as that salmon. Dessert was crème brûlée which is amazing and a caramel drizzled New York cheesecake which wasn’t too rich and that’s just to my liking. Prices are very reasonable for the quality and amount of food. Neither me nor my wife could finish our entries. We did want to save room for dessert though. Highly recommend The Veranda for fine dining in Kingwood without the fine dining price tag.

Did our 54^th Anniversary dinner here with some close friends. Walking up the sidewalk and viewing the dining room you are so impressed with how beautifully set it is with the sparkling candles on each table, art work and furnishings. After seating you will notice the wonderful music Ray and Pat have recorded over time.
The meal was as exemplary as the surroundings.
Two of us had steak an two had seafood. My Steak Diane was excellent and the best steak I have had in 45 years of travel. My wife ordered the Tuna and it was
prepared as she asked. Our friends expressed the same accolades about their steak and seafood choices. After the entrees we all had a dessert and they were excellent as was the whole experience. Their coffee was very special and we enjoyed the beautiful place for about two hours and we will go back

If you are going for atmosphere, this is the place to go. Dark, quiet, romantic. My husband and I went for our anniversary and had a nice time. The food, however, was not that wonderful. I had the filet and it was really good. The sides were pretty blah. The service was wonderful. It’s very small and you do need a reservation. The size enables the waitress to be very attentive. I personally will not go back because of the food.

It’s OK but probably won’t be back. Service was great. Both of our entrees were sent back for being undercooked. There was a new sous chef working the night of our visit. I struggled with a two or three star review. It wasn’t because our entrees that I settled on two. I feel for the price it should’ve been outstanding but really it was less than average. Bread is sourdough baked from frozen dough. Mashed potatoes were over whipped so they had a gummy feel to them.
Kudos for apologizing and comping a couple of glasses of wine for the entrée issue. This is an old school restaurant that is a bit behind the times. Maybe we visited on a bad night but for the price we were underwhelmed.

Normally, The Veranda is closed on Monday. However, for private events, they will open on Monday. We held a private dinner for 23 guests. Honestly, I thought the filet was pretty good (see my picture). It was topped with a mushroom dijon cream sauce. It had a really good taste and was cooked to perfection. For the appetizer I had the lobster bisque which was more cream than lobster. It tasted good but was light on the lobster. The Executive Chef is the daughter of the owners and did a good job preparing the food. If this review was based only on the food, it would get 4 stars. However…
Let’s talk about the physical restaurant. It is old and dusty. Several of my guest complained about the dust when the HVAC system kicked on. They kept noticing dust falling from the vents in the dining room. I even had one person end up with a clump of dust in his hair. That is really unacceptable.
The other major problem I had was the lack of staff. I understand that they opened up for us on an off night. However, the chef had an assistant helping in the kitchen but no help waiting tables. The chef was also the waitstaff which made it very difficult. Glasses remained empty for a long time. It took a while to get everyone served.
I feel that I really needed to leave this blunt and honest review for them. I really appreciate the fact that they opened for us on an off night, but they desperately needed more staff there. More importantly, they need to have the HVAC system thoroughly cleaned. Oh, they also need to get rid of the raccoon in the attic. Yes, you read that right. Thankfully, when it got dark, he left the attic and scurried around outside instead of inside where my guest could have heard them.

My wife and I just celebrated our anniversary there tonight. I had a delicious mahi mahi Pontchartrain that was excellent. My wife had a wonderful filet Mignon that she was kind enough to give me a few bites of. One of the best steaks we have ever had including national high end steak houses. We love the atmosphere every time we go and they never hurry you to leave. Another wonderful meal with attentive service from the owner.

Dinner was excellent. Service was outstanding! Hidden gem so close to home, but I would drive to come back.

Friends told us about a lovely, romantic dinner they had enjoyed at The Verandah, so for our 20^th anniversary, my husband made reservations.
We were the only guests throughout the evening, which made me wonder how they stay in business. The owner, a very sweet woman, was our server and answered our questions about the menu items, highlighting a couple that had won awards in a competition.
Our wine was served perfectly chilled, and it was delicious. We ordered a couple of appetizers and a salad for starters. My husband enjoyed the Fire and Ice shrimp, but the crab cake was a little mushy inside. My spinach salad was well put together but needed a dressing with some acidity.
I ordered mahi mahi for my entrée, and it was outstanding. A large piece of fish, perfectly cooked. My husband got tilapia with an odd mango sauce. We both expected more of a salsa, not a thickened sauce. However, we could taste the fresh mango in it, which was a plus.
We decided to order dessert and both the cheesecake and a layered chocolate cake had obviously come from a commercial bakery. They were average. I’d love to see another one or two homemade desserts added.
Overall, we had a great evening. The restaurant was very quiet, obviously, and relaxing.

First of all this restaurant is in kingwood texas. Don’t get confused with kingswood England. Taking that into account… it’s a rather nice place. It’s an old home that doubles as a restaurant and a photography studio. I came here for lunch with a girlfriend one day we were the only ones there. Kind of odd.
The people who work here are overly nice and the house is very cute. They have $ 12 lunch special which involves and entrée and a salad. I had the spinach salad with chicken crêpe. The food was decent especially for the price. Service was quick. Much to our surprise they actually have many GLUTEN FREE options on the menu.
Overall good value for the price. Cute place. If your stuck in kingwood for some reason check it out.

We had dinner on a Saturday night. Most everything was delicious: much better than described in the brunch reviews. Tomato basil soup excellent: fresh and light. The fire and ice appetizer was trendy and superb! 3 of 4 of us had steaks and all were pleased. Very attentive service

I think the reviews left by other Unilocalers here basically sums up everything you need to know about the Veranda (besides the 2 – 3 ridiculously high ratings) but let me chime in with my 2 cents…
First off, I probably wouldn’t even stop by the Veranda if it wasn’t the fact that my girlfriend boss gave her a $ 100 gift card to this place… For those wanting to stop by, dinner and brunch are only taken by reservations only so you must call before you stop by (at least that’s what I was told when I called)… I’m not really sure why reservations is needed since there were only 2 other parties there when we arrived around noon for brunch this past Sunday…
Enough about that, let me get to the «good» stuff… THE FOOD!
If I could use one word to describe the food at the Veranda, the word would be… :drum roll: MEH
$ 20 brunch gives you a three course meal: started, entrée and dessert.
Starter:
Chicken Tortilla Soup: ¹⁄₅
The soup is SALTY! I think I finished half a cup of water and a glass of mimosas before I finished half of the soup…
Entrée:
Crab Cakes w/​Saffron Rice and Green Beans: ²⁄₅
Crab Cakes was smashed and fried to a crisp! Really? Did you you guys really do this to the crab cakes? Saffron Rice was great and the Green Beans were full of salt…
Dessert:
Crème Brulee: ²⁄₅
I only ordered this because our waitress said that its their signature dessert. I took 2 spoonful and pushed it aside…
Overall:
I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone and I like I said earlier I probably wouldn’t even have came here if it wasn’t for $ 100 voucher…
«The Veranda, more than a meal, its an experience» motto is an experience that you could definitely live without…
BTW, the service was GREAT and that’s the only reason why I’m giving this place 2 stars!

This place makes absolutely no sense, yet it somehow remains a Kingwood staple. It’s generally over-​rated, but the food is edible, and the people who own it are nice, and very involved in the community.
The Location:
Not right on Kingwood drive, but not so far off it that you’d get lost. However you might confuse it for yet another nursing home, since that is the majority of business along this street. The building itself looks like a house; it is actually a house too — I think the owners live upstairs? However just in case a residence /​restarant wasn’t enough, it also houses a photo studio.
The Ambiance:
The description from the business says it’s a «romantic» restaurant. Well if you’d consider the décor of your friendly mall photo studio romantic, then yes, I suppose it is. The oddest thing about the pictures is that they are all framed differently so that they all look like they belong on different walls; I think the message is they are trying to sell the photography more than dining experience.
Take a walk down to the restroom, and you are bombarded with baby photos and jewelry catalogs. 1) That is creepy, I don’t want to look at babies when I pee. 2) What happened to doing one thing and doing it well?
The Food:
I can only speak for their Sunday brunch prix-​fixe menu. Three courses, $ 20.
But the Unilocal listing says their closed on Sunday I hear you shriek! No, that is simply not true. …though if you show up on Sunday, for brunch, you may think I’m lying because, let’s just say, it’s not well-​attended.
Course One: Tortilla Soup OR «Ceasar» Salad
Ummm, I thought this was brunch with a B. Salad? At brunch? Where’s the fruit /​muffin option? I’m eating breakfast…
anyway, I ordered the «Ceasar» Salad, which was not a Ceasar salad, thus it earned quotation marks. There were tomatoes. and tortilla chip strips. Ceasar would not be pleased.
Course Two: Eggs Benedict (ooh finally a breakfast-​y thing!) OR Salmon OR the Entrée section of the regular menu. Yeah, they don’t change them for brunch.
So of course, I got the Eggs Benedict, because it is one of my favoritest things. Well, usually. They tried to «shake it up» by putting them on biscuits instead of English muffins Here’s the thing, biscuits get mushy when you smother them in Hollandaise. Mushy biscuits, runny eggs, creamy sauce all together create a plate of eggy soup. Structural integrity, and diversity in texture are two very important components of good food.
Speaking of the Hollandaise, it tasted like that make-​it-​at-​home hollandaise sauce packet stuff, and not the AWESOME SAUCE that it should be. What a shame. If you’re not gonna make it right, leave it off the menu.
The Benedict was served with Spanish rice and a veggie medley (consisting of carrots, broccoli, and squash) instead of asparagus (traditional pairing) or pancakes (diner style). Honestly having no sides would be better than sides that don’t complement the flavors.
Course Three: So far, even though it’s been mediocre, there’s been a lot of food — two courses plus rolls, so I’m really not sure that I need dessert, but If I’m gonna shovel down more Calories, I’d like them to be so delicious I couldn’t resist if I tried. Something along the lines of Honeyduke’s finest chocolate actually jumping into my mouth of it’s own accord, which is not asking for much, in my opinion.
The desert cake and key lime pie is not made on premise. That’s right ladies and gents, boxed cake. The crème brûlée is made in the kitchen and holds the award for best dessert on the menu, although it is not caramelized by the breath of Khaleesi’s dragons. I am still puzzling over why a restaurant with «an array of exciting menu selections» could not come up with two chef-​made sweets to stick on the brunch menu.
The Service: Friendly enough, and knowledgeable about the menu, but not quite what one would expect from a «fine dining» establishment, which this place bills itself to be.
Overall: The experience here isn’t a dreadful one, it just doesn’t live up to the expectation of fine dining. If they lowered the pretense a few notches, and admitted it was more casual, they would get more stars. However they’re trying to compete at a level above their actual ability, like an amateur trying to go up against the pros and I have to mark them down for that. I would also point out that no one has more than one check in here, so there are no Unilocal regulars. I’m not saying it’s a bad sign, but even the 4 and 5 star reviewers don’t come back? That’s weird.
If they could admit that it was a neighborhood restaurant, with a intimate casual atmosphere it would be a step in the right direction. If they did that AND switched out the bought cake for fresh made cobbler (or similarly recently-​prepared fare) and renamed the «Ceasar» salad with a more honest moniker, they’d probably be up to 3.5 or 4 stars. (I can forgive wacky sides if they’re the only sin)

I’m very surprised at the bad reviews on this restaurant. First of all, I ate there for a bridal luncheon 10+ years ago. It was a large party & from what I remember, the food & service were very good. Last night, my boyfriend surprised me w/​a romantic evening which included reservations at the Veranda, which I didn’t know until we pulled up. I was pleasantly surprised because it had been so long since I’d been there & had never eaten there for dinner so I really didn’t know what to expect. Since it was a Wednesday night, they weren’t very busy, but the owner was actually our waiter. He was very friendly & kept the bread & water coming. We had crab cakes for the appetizer, my boyfriend had a wedge salad, then we both had steak. He had the strip steak & I had the filet mignon. Everything was very good including the veggies… LOVED the potatoes & I thought the squash, zucchini, & broccoli were cooked perfectly. I’ve been to plenty of fine dining restaurants that can’t get veggies cooked right, but these were great & my steak was very tender. We had cheesecake for dessert, which was also good… we thought it was just as good as Cheesecake Factory. We also ordered a bottle of the Landon merlot, which is a Texas wine & it was very good. Can’t believe I’ve lived in the area my whole life & have only been here twice. Great food & great service. Also interesting to hear about their family (who live upstairs & play music). Great family run business & I will definitely be back.

This was our second time there. First time was for a mother’s day brunch. We had a party of 12, latest time was 2÷22÷12 for our anniversary. Both times there we have had WONDERFUL service. Waiter/​Waitress were very helpful, not pushy, very knowledgeable. Mother’s Day it was very crowded but our service was never interrupt. Now on to the food, oh so good! Hubby started with Spinach Salad and loved it. I had the Cesar salad came with a shell of Parmesan cheese around the lettuce. Presentation was on point as was the Cesar salad! I had the 16oz ribeye special with caramelized onions and mushrooms. Husband had Filet Diablo, and loved it! Both of our plates were cleaned! Love it!!!

My bf took me here for our two year anniversary. I had the total opposite experience from the other two reviews on here. The waiter was extremely welcoming and not pretentious. For example, another table paid using a lot of gift cards and dining coupons and he had to go back and forth from their table a number of times because some of the cards did not register value. His manners were not phased by this at all. That is the kind of situation where some restaurants can make diners feel bad for using discounts because it inconveniences them. It was very romantic and I really enjoyed myself overall. I started with the Camembert on Field Greens, which a delightful deep fried piece of Camembert on a field of greens. My bf had the Roma Caesar and enjoyed it. For my main, I had the Filet Mignon and my bf had the Filet Diablo. My bf absolutely raved about the Filet Diablo. We finished the meal with a chocolate Crème Brûlée. One thing that I should mention is that diversity in the menu is wonderful for conversation. I could see this as being a great restaurant to take someone you are interested in impressing but worry conversation might stifle. The menu alone has enough to keep conversation going.

This is an overly pretentious place with delusions of grandeur. The food is never executed well, IMHO. They seem to have a real issue with judging done-​ness on their proteins and tend to always overcook. (Shades of the initial review). Also, for fine dining, I cannot believe that they fall back on that tired old «vegetable medley». Really? If your chef is worth his toque, he (or she) can come up with something better than vegetable medley. I will say that in general, the starches prepared here are ok. I will not say great, but OK and the bread is pretty good too. I’m almost certain that the desserts which the first reviewer liked are from Lawler’s, which means they’re decent. They need to make sure they are completely thawed before serving, though.
Service is another problem. It’s either slow or snooty. Fine dining does not have to equate to being treated like you are beneath the staff. I hope they figure that out one day.