Ian Waller and his wife enjoy a child-free meal out at one of Bath’s best know restaurants
One of the advantages of having teenagers is that just occasionally you can leave them at home to fend for themselves and perhaps enjoy a meal out. So with pizzas ordered and strict curfews and telly limits set to be ignored, we headed out for a child-free meal together – a simply unthinkable concept just a couple of years ago!
We’d heard good things about Hudson Steakhouse in Bath and the very fact that it’s been going for 20ish years in a city where restaurants so often seem to survive with all the longevity of a rabbit in a field of foxes, somehow said a lot.
We booked in for 7.30pm on a Friday evening and Hudson’s was already getting busy, always a good sign of a successful restaurant. We were shown upstairs to our table for two by the very smiley and welcoming Hana, with our place in the corner giving us the chance to take part in that most enjoyable restaurant activity, trying to work out who among out fellow diners was on a date night, a family celebration or a group of friends enjoying a monthly get together.
After looking at the menu, you get the idea that Hudson’s success and longevity is based on serving the classics done well. The starters, mains and desserts are predominantly well known dishes, predictably focused around a steak-based menu with a few alternatives added in. Among the mains are: Tuscan Butterfly fillet 6oz with wild rocket and shaved parmesan (£27); a rib eye super marbling 10oz (£32); prime fillet 6oz (£30), 8oz (£38) and 10oz (£48); and a New York double cut 16oz (£38) – all favourites, all very appealing.
For anyone not in a steak mood, there’s also grilled sea bass, salsa verde, garden peas and asparagus (£27), and tortelloni stuffed with butternut squash, sun-blushed tomatoes, asparagus, pesto and parmesan (£19), also available.
Before the mains, we decided on starters of Tempura tiger prawns and crispy calamari with creamy spicy nobu sauce (£15), and smoked mackerel pâté, pickled cucumber, horseradish cream and ciabatta crostini (£12). While we waited, Hana served us our beer and mojito drinks, and we relaxed and tried to work out whether the middle aged couple across the room were on a first date.
And those starters? They were excellent! I don’t think I’ve had such a tasty Tempura batter before, with the prawns and calamari perfectly cooked. The pâté, meanwhile, was wonderfully seasoned and clearly enjoyed the company of the pickled cucumber to create a delightful dish. This was a cracking opening to the evening and generated very upbeat expectations about what was to come.
Before the mains, however, Hana brought over a couple of glasses of organic Argentinian Malbec which she recommended would ideally suit the ribeye and fillet steaks we had ordered. The mains soon followed, flanked by generous sides of French beans (£6) with toasted almonds, garlic portobello mushrooms (£6), cherry tomatoes with red onion and basil salad (£6) and salt and pepper French fries (£6).
While it’s so easy to get a steak wrong, it’s fair enough to expect that a restaurant with Hudson’s experience and reputation does the job with a high degree of skill. And you know what? They did – wonderfully! Both of our steaks were cooked with an expert’s touch – the fillet rare and the ribeye medium rare. Yes, you can absolutely ask for any of the steaks to be cooked however you would like, but for us these were spot on.
To complement the steaks, there is a variety of sauces available, which actually created a bit of debate. While my wife’s choice of a mushroom sauce on the ribeye was a successful partnership, I’m not so sure of the red wine jus I selected for my fillet. The jus was delightful, however possibly too flavoursome so as to slightly overpower the natural taste of the meat.
Such quandaries aside, this was a perfectly prepared and presented meal, with the chefs clearly knowing and understanding the needs of the different cuts, and the waiting team on the top of their game. Add in the ideal wine for the meal and we were very happy diners indeed.
With no room left for desserts, we left Hudson Steakhouse happy, well-fed and pretty confident that there was a teenage-induced bomb site to clean up once we got home. It’s no wonder really that this place has been around so long. The team here know what their customers want and they’re able to produce it to a high standard and with an excellent level of service. Great work.