Hudson Garden Grill — Restaurant in New York

Quick summary: Horrible service, cold bread, tasteless salads, mediocre food, not worth the price, do not recommend. Please visit the garden but don’t come to Hudson Garden Grill to eat.

My partner and I are big fans of NYBG so we were very excited and eager to try the Hudson Garden Grill. Unfortunately, our experience was pretty disappointing and put a damper on our night. We thought it was a nice restaurant, but we were proved wrong. The dining experience was way below our expectations, and frankly quite frustrating and upsetting. NYBG is so amazing and incredible that having such dismal quality food and service at Hudson Garden Grill is almost embarrassing. I’m just grateful we didn’t come here for a special occasion like we planned to because the dinner would’ve ruined our night.

The service was absolutely abysmal, and it was so difficult to get a hold of our waiter. It took some time for us to get some water after we sat down and when we asked what the vegetable of the day was, our waiter left to check and didn’t return for another 15 minutes. When we finally got our appetizers, I cut into the focaccia and the center was cold. I would’ve asked if we could have the bread heated up, but we couldn’t get ahold of our waiter. We gave up trying to ask our waiter for help and when he finally came to check on us, we had long finished our entrees and the plates were cleared. Also, quick note on the focaccia, it was dense, not airy and bubbly at all like focaccia should be, but maybe I would’ve enjoyed it more if it weren’t so cold.

The kabocha squash appetizer was mediocre and somehow very dry and not flavourful. I love kabocha squash and this was the first time I’ve had it prepared in a way that I didn’t like.

The beet salad was fine. Since it was a salad, we expected there to be more greens. We also added the tofu for an extra $8 and it was not worth it because the tofu is seared on two sides and then cubed, so some tofu cubes looked cooked and others were just a plain cube of tofu. Regardless, it lacked flavour and didn’t taste as fresh as we thought it would. The salad also just looked a little sad.

The lamb tagliatelle pasta was good, but over salted. Pasta was cooked well but the lamb was too salty.

The flourless chocolate cake was fine, the ginger and fig on top didn’t really pair well with the chocolate cake in my opinion, but the presentation was nice.

I didn’t like eating on the piece of paper covering the cloth table cloth, but I guess it’s easier to clean so I understand.

I also tried the blueberry smash. I wish they gave me a straw or a stir stick or something to stir my drink so that the blueberry syrup/flavouring wasn’t all at the bottom and the soda all at the top. It made the drink tasteless in the beginning and too sweet at the end. But again, I couldn’t get ahold of the waiter to ask.

I really cannot recommend any of the dishes I’ve tried and I do not recommend coming to the Hudson Garden Grill. I really wish I had better things to say but this was such a disappointing dinner experience that we will never come back nor will we recommend it to...

Disappointing lunch here. I would not recommend it. Will not return. Botanical Garden visitors would do much better to go to Arthur Avenue for some terrific Italian eats.

The service was inconsistent. Our server was pleasant and friendly. However, not all staff were OK. We dined outdoors, and when my friend and I went to use the restroom, the hostess at the front door stepped in front of us, to stop us (with a noticeable dour attitude) and said "excuse me! Those not dining here need to use the restrooms outside" without asking us if we were patrons. When I informed her we were, in fact, dining there, she just stepped aside and let us pass. No smile, no words. The person who brought our food to the table, had no idea of who ordered which dishes, so instead of asking, he just started placing plates randomly in front of us.

Food was very overpriced for the quality, and most dishes were served in embarrassingly small portions. Only the Burger was a meal-size portion. The smoked trout salad arrived with, at most, one tiny cupful of greens, and about four 1-inch squares of thin trout. It was plain, and a pitifully small portion of food, especially at the $23 price. Much of the plate was empty space. The menu listed quail eggs and Kalamata olives as ingredients, but I saw none. The waiter apologized, took my plate to get it made right. When he brought it back, they had added the quail eggs, but he explained that the Kalamata olives had been there "under the greens." In fact, there was--literally, at most--1/8 teaspoon of olive tapenade (not olives) spread under a tomato. That's equivalent to maybe half an olive. The menu also listed "heirloom" tomatoes. In fact, there were a few nice grape tomatoes, but most were ordinary, not-so-great, supermarket variety tomatoes. The kitchen needs to do better at this price, in terms of service, quality control and portion size. We love the Botanical Gardens, but we have no desire to...

Came here during one of the Orchid Show nights with my partner and it was disappointing from beginning to end. Upon entering we saw 3 different employees hovering around the host stand but no one greeted or even acknowledged us for a bit. When we eventually we're acknowledged, the tone was not warm to say the least. We didn't have a reservation so they said they'd have to seat us at the bar which is completely separate from the main dining room. The main dining room did seem full but the covered outdoor seating was completely empty. They said they were all booked up and this was fine with us, but it seemed to create a gap in service throughout the night.

After we were seated at the bar it took forever for anyone to even hand us menus or even water. Both drinks and our eventual food took long to come out. It took long for us to even get our check to leave. No one seems to "tend" the bar but it overlooks the open kitchen and waiter stations. Even though the bar's not in the main dining room it'd be impossible to forget us because we're seated literally right in front of all of the staff coming in and out. We also saw every single group of diners who came in after us get seated in the main dining room or the covered outdoor seating. We were the only people ever seated at the bar. It felt hard to believe every other guest actually had a reservation considering we spent 2+ hours there, most of it just waiting for service.

The food and drinks itself were just OK. Not worth the wait or janky service. Plus my partner unfortunately got a bit a food poisoning right after eating his meal.

Maybe it was an off day for them considering they typically don't do dinner service but I definitely won't be returning. The service itself might just be subpar on it's own, but we also personally just didn't feel...