 Pond View Restaurant Route 125, Kingston 642-5556 pondviewrestaurant.com Price guide: $ Inexpensive - up to $15/person; $$ Moderate - $16 to $30; $$$ Expensive - $31 and up Ratings guide: * acceptable * * good * * * worth a detour * * * * worth a journey Visit the Dining section of NewHampshire.com to read previous Our Gourmet reviews listed by town. |
There’s also a very good view of a serene pond, complete with a floating gazebo for warm-weather use and the whole restaurant is very popular for weddings and anniversaries and has a warm family feel in the service. While the food here isn’t earth-shatteringly interesting, it’s generally well prepared, with something for everyone.
We started with a combo appetizer of a few of the a la carte selections including stuffed mushrooms, loaded potato skins, stuffed clams and coconut shrimp ($11.95) and all good to share. The stuffing on the mushrooms had some nice, savory herbs, which gave them some good flavor and the coconut shrimp, with its sweet and sour dipping sauce, had a nice sweetness from plenty of coconut.
A Greek salad ($7.95) was large, with a good portion of crumbled Feta cheese and some plump olives throughout. French onion soup ($5.25) had a rich beef broth and some nice sweet onion, but was over-broiled on top, making the cheese hard.
While a pile of ribs next to us looked enticing, we opted for the 10-ounce prime rib ($17.50), which came with horseradish sauce, choice of starch and some lackluster mixed vegetables. The prime rib was fine, juicy and flavorful without too much fat, but the baked potato was small and overcooked.
They have many pasta entrees here and we tried the chicken Marsala with linguine ($16.95), a large serving of tender chicken breast with fresh mushrooms. The pasta was nicely cooked, but the sauce was far too sweet.
The Continental seafood platter ($29.95) was unusual in its presentation, with smaller dishes of stuffed shrimp, lobster claw meat, crab cake, haddock, and broiled sea scallops, all served on a large silver tray, which we found amusing. The lobster and crab cake were very good, as were the fresh, stuffed shrimp, which had a tasty seafood stuffing, but the scallops were a bit rubbery.
Desserts here can be fun. They make Bananas Foster for two tableside ($12), which always is entertaining. The sauce, with banana liquor and rum along with plenty of butter and brown sugar, is hard to resist and the vanilla ice cream they use is very good. A crème brulee ($5.50) had the right consistency in the custard and a good mild vanilla flavor, as well as a perfect sugar crust on top.
The wine list is small, very inexpensive and not very interesting but there is a full bar in the large dining room as well as in the adjacent lounge, where for the time being (when and if the ban passes) there’s lots of smoking going on.
The staff here is all about family, which is always refreshing. The restaurant has been in one family for more than 30 years and carries on a tradition of warm welcome and hearty classic New England cuisine with a menu that covers all the bases in a restaurant with a lovely view.
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