Celebration Steak: Hudson Bar & Grill

For our 100th post Rich reviews our latest journey to Hudson Bar and Grill in Bath. So whilst I quietly celebrate post 100 you can enjoy reading about our steak night.

Bristol these days is not exactly well-served for good steak restaurants. Since the closure of Cattlemans just over two years ago, there has been a lack of steak expertise. Good steak is available of course, but for that truly awesome experience, only The Cowshed has really stepped up to the plate. The finest steak however lies not that far out of Bristol, and comes courtesy of Hudson Bar and Grill.

Hudson's Front Door

Hudson itself is now well-established in Bath and everyone I know who has been there has drawn the same conclusions. Abby herself first went here nearly ten years ago and has been raving about it ever since. So her, myself and our friend Steph booked ourselves in to celebrate my first month in my new job. One of the coldest nights yet, we shivered along to the restaurant and were embraced by it's warm cosy feel and open fires. 

Bread sticks and creamy dip

We sat down to a table downstairs by the fire and had thin bread sticks to dunk in a creamy garlic dip which only made us hungrier. A good sized wine list means you get all sorts of variety without there being an overwhelming choice, and there’s a good range of prices (taking into consideration the fact that wine in restaurants always has a huge mark-up) I chose us a bottle of the Vallobera Rioja, a wine we have had there before and really love. It is packed with smooth full bodied fruits and a good hint of vanilla a great wine which I have recently found you can buy from Avery's so I will be getting several bottles to enjoy over Christmas.

Buffalo mozzarella salad

Tempura prawns with spicy ponzu dip

Crispy goats cheese medallions caramelised apples and baby spinach

We ordered our starters, a buffalo mozzarella salad, tempura prawns with ponzu dip and crispy mini goats cheese salad, which were all excellent as we sampled each others with great joy and only heightened the anticipation of the steak. At Hudson they feature Angus and Limousin beef slowly matured for a minimum of 35 days. So three super marbling rib-eye steaks were ordered, one a medium, one a medium-rare and for me a rare. 

For years I always ordered my steak medium-rare, and had always enjoyed it that way, but a friend a few years back had said that ‘the better the meat, the rarer you should eat it’. And whilst I don’t 100% agree, as I don’t really do blue steak, it’s a true enough statement, as the worse a cut of meat, the more well-done you should have it, and so knowing of Hudson and it’s meat excellence, I had my rib-eye rare. 

Super Marbling Rib Eye

Steak perfection

Close up steak with fries

The steaks arrived looking perfectly cooked and presented, sat in the meat juices and red wine jus with a small salad and helping of béarnaise on the side in a little tempura crisp cup, plus a healthily sized portion of salt and black pepper fries for us to share. Simply put, it’s the best steak I've ever had. The meat is delicious and just melts in the mouth, while the flavour itself is intense with the red wine adding to, not over-powering, the flavour of the steak. The crisp and béarnaise that comes with the steak too perfectly complements both the meat and the fries. Not many words were exchanged as we slowly pace our way through the course, taking care as we are not to rush this sheer thrill of pure flavour.

And yet, after all that, we still somehow (greedily) found ourselves able to order dessert. Although to be fair we did only order two to be shared between three - in this case a crème brûlée (Abby’s go-to choice) and a Belgian waffle topped with toffee sauce. The crème brûlée was very good (and I’m reliably informed by my crème brûlée connoissseur, that it was very VERY good), but for me personally the waffle won it, with one of the best toffee sauces I've ever had. Think rich, smooth, sweet, and all those other good things that you’re not meant to want in a food – it was all those and more.

Brûlée with dipping cookies

Waffles and a butterscotch sauce shot

Hudson is to my opinion the best steak out there you can get. If anyone is willing to prove me wrong by finding a better option, then please feel free to, but to my mind the meat used, the cooking of the meat, and the seasoning and flavouring, is just too near perfection that I’d be sceptical of there ever being a better steak. It isn't cheap, with more than likely dinner for two coming to at least £60 (depending on what you have of course), but if you want good food, and it is very good, it is worth the money. For people who don't want steak there are other less expensive menu options like the burger plus some fish and tasty sounding vegetarian dishes also. But for meat eaters, just go straight for the steak, as my dad said recently, it's the best steak he's had outside Argentina.

Service was very good, with our designated waiter being attentive, friendly, knowledgeable and very helpful, and the atmosphere was exactly what you want from a restaurant. Cosy, warm and very relaxed it is definitely one of Abby's favourite restaurants and I have to agree with her, we've never had a bad meal here and always look forward to attending. I think I know where she is going for her birthday next year. What are you waiting for? Check out their website for full menu details.