Amaia Martini Bar — Restaurant in Hudson

First time visit tonight and this place has a lot of potential. Drinks were ok but a little on the pricey side ($10 - $12), maybe that's just me. I started with a Cosmo. It was made it Ketel One and had a lot of burn going down, made it not enjoyable to drink. I'm sure I could have asked for a better vodka, but at $11 not sure what that would have bumped it too. We also had a Boston Mule, White Noise and Cool Cucumber which were all decent. We stuck to the tapas menu to try a variety of things. Fried Goat Cheese was just ok. It needed more of the honey thyme gel to add sweetness to a very tart cheese, couldn't really detect it. Tuna Tartar was missing acid and a few other things really elevate it. It seemed to be just fish with sesame oil and a little spice. We love Tuna Tartar but this one was just missing something. The Brisket Poutine needed a lot more cheese curd (like a lot), but was good otherwise. Our favorites of the night were the Grilled Cheese (could totally be a desert) and the Arancini Balls. Both were really good and would definitely get again.

Service was a little slow even thou there were not many in the bar, but our waitress was nice.

Will visit again to try some more drinks and...

The food, I'll grant you, was good. The hygienic and operational attention to detail were sorely lacking to the point of not making it worth going back. Sticky tables, dirty silverware, and lipstick on my wine glass. A mechanical issue in the kitchen meant half of the tapas were unavailable, including things I'd planned to order, having perused the menu earlier in the afternoon On Tuesdays, burgers and a glass of wine or bottle of beer is $15. We all ordered burgers, and no one was offered anything. I ordered a glass of wine anyway, and on the receipt, not only was the burger $18, even though a la carte on the menu on any other night it's only $16, the glass of wine was itemized separately for $10. I asked our server (politely of course) to correct for it, and while the wine came off the burger still came back as $18. We decided to just give up and eat the overcharge. My advice? Patronize another establishment - downtown Hudson has plenty to choose from where I'll bet they care enough about their clientele to get these...

Perhaps my expectations were off but when I think of a martini bar, I think of a sophisticated, intimate place to grab a high-quality drink. We came here with another couple hoping to get a nightcap after dinner. When we walked in, a child (maybe 10 years old) asked us how many and seated us. There were many children around, playing at tables and on the floor. They had a live band playing rock music that was so loud we couldn't have a conversation. My ears were ringing. The drinks weren't great. When we were ready to leave, the child came back and took our payment and gave us our receipt. Perhaps if they change their name to Amaia Rock Bar & Daycare, customers will know what they're...