The
best part about the entire ordeal? When I asked him what kind of cuisine he
would prefer, he told me 1. American, because we were in America and 2.
Somewhere that I haven’t been so it could be a blog post. Now this made my
whole day. I am pretty sure there are about 3 the readers of this blog, most of
whom either are related to me or date me, but if even one reader is in
Switzerland then this blog in INTERNATIONAL! Too delightful.
Since I
generally go out to eat more often than I cook, it was sheer luck that Hudson
Grille on Bedford Street had recently changed hands and rebranded to Hudson
Social and DOUBLE luck that it was also Restaurant Week. As learned that
evening, Switzerland does not have a “Restaurant Week”, so it’s a real marvel
that you can get 3 courses for $28. If you don’t overeat in America, were you
even here?
After a
brief office visit, Dario in addition to a few other colleagues and I headed to
dinner at Hudson Social around 5:30PM EST. I was able to make a reservation on
Open Table, thinking restaurant week might beef up the attendance, but we were
the only seated table in the place. The restaurant still had a great ambiance
and service was attentive and alas, no signs of a rowdy previous Saturday night
to be seen or smelled.
Their
cocktail list was what you’d expect and it was even $1 off each drink for RW,
but I went ahead and got a mimosa because it’s cold and flu season. Half Full
Lager was on draft, so Dario was able to take a sip of our local beer offerings
on his visit as well. In
reviewing the Restaurant Week menu, I was really blown away by the options for
$28. There are also restaurants doing the same, but for $38 and this seemed
like it couldn’t be beat. All 4 of us decided to utilize restaurant week and I
don’t believe anybody was sorry.
My appetizer
order was the avocado and burrata toast and let me tell you, this was the
absolute star of the show. I could have had an additional slice of this and
left the happiest camper that you’ve ever seen. Basic or not, I eat a ton of
avocados and this toast was superior to most. The toast was topped with
marinated tomatoes, balsamic, pistachios and a burrata that made you beg for
more. This appetizer was smaller than some of the others that came out to our
table, but I would go back just for this on any given Sunday morning given the
chance.
Moving
on to my main course, I decided on the pan roasted branzino, which came with
roasted fennel, tabbouleh, orange segments and gremolata. Now I had already
read reviews on Yelp, so I wasn’t too shocked by how incredibly small and thin
the fish was – but there was barely any tabbouleh and absolutely no orange
slices to be found. I don’t like fruit, so I wasn’t disappointed but I also don’t
generally eat fish skin but was forced to just because I was afraid I would
otherwise be leaving the dinner quite hungry. The picture here looks big, but it is an illusion. It’s probably a lot to ask for fresh
fish at such a low price, but the fish was truly very dry and fried being so
thin. I would not order this again here, Restaurant week or otherwise.
Following
that fish fiasco, the brownie sundae was delivered and all negative memories of
the entrée were erased from my mind. The brownie was soft in the center and the
ice cream was cool and creamy. Lately most desserts have been a real letdown at
restaurants for whatever reason, but this brownie sundae was decent.
The
owner came over twice to check on things and seemed really eager to ensure that
we all had a good time, which I absolutely did. As we were leaving, the place
was really filling up for dinner on a Tuesday night I am hopeful that this guy
will have a lot of success in the location. Overall it seems restaurant week
was the best way to get to know this restaurant to be clear on what’s good to
order at brunch and what’s better to skip. If being social is your focus, this
place is the spot.
Hudson
Social CT
128 Bedford St, Stamford, CT 06901
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