Blu on the Hudson — Restaurant in Weehawken

Restaurant The restaurant is in a fantastic location, and you can tell the owner(s) worked hard to "try" to create a fantastic place, yet I think they tried too hard. The tables inside are located in heavy traffic areas, and thus it doesn't make you feel great eating in this areas unless you are way inside in the dining room. Don't believe me? You'll see when you walk in. There was a couple sitting literally 1-2 feet maximum away from the very busy entrance by the fake fireplace. I felt bad for them. The reception area seemed too overkill. Maybe the designers tried to work with the bare-bones design of the facility and not have to reconstruct too much to save on costs. Who knows at this point. The music was very loud, as if it's a club. They also have outdoor seating (supposedly a new option that started 2 months ago). This was nice.

Service Disappointing from beginning to end. When we were checked in, we were asked if we wanted indoor or outdoor. We said outdoor, and they acknowledged. A few moments later they proceeded to sit us indoor without explaining why in the very busy walkway area. Hated that. I respectfully asked why we were seated here when we chose to be seated outdoor, especially since they asked us. The lady looked confused, when back to the front desk, confirmed, and brought us to the outdoor seating area. Great. No issues. We liked that. Our server took a while to show. When he did arrive, he asked us what we'd like to get started with to drink - we said sparkling water, which was brought quickly. He then said he will bring us the drink menus, and then disappeared for the next 20-30 minutes. We had to ask for our waiter to another employee, who then had no idea what we were asking for as he did not understand English. We had to figure out how to say it in Spanish, and then about 5 minutes later our server appeared. He asked us what we wanted to drink, but remember, he never brought us the drink menu. He quickly got us the menu and then disappeared for another 10 minutes. When he did finally show back up, this time without us having to ask, but mind you 10 minutes later, he took our drink orders, and in case he disappeared again, we put our entire order in. I mean, we did have more than enough time to decide. We ordered the Octopus and Calamari for starters, and for the entrees we ordered the Lobster Diavolo, Prime Steak, and a Vegan pasta. Sides were the charred broccoli and the truffle fries. He then disappeared for 30-45 minutes. Our starters arrived first, fairly in decent time, but oddly, our drinks never did. Roughly 25 minutes in we asked about our drinks which were only then brought to us. By this time, more than 30 minutes passed. Drinks were delicious. We had the Mai Tai, Mojito, and the non-alcoholic "easy" drink (forgot the name; the Mai Tai and Mojito were off-menu). Our main entrees arrived after another 20 minutes or so. The food was delicious and presentation was great. When it was time to pay the bill, we had to find our server again through another staff member. The guy loves to disappear. I don't know if he's just screwing around or if he's actually busy. There was another female server who was ALWAYS around and checking in on her tables outside and inside. She appeared extremely focused on her tables and quickly able to assist with their needs without having to be called for. What was our server doing? Beats me. We asked for the remaining food to be packaged to take home. The server asked one of the assistants (busboy) to help get the food wrapped and he said, "no". LOL, I have never in my life seen this happen nor hear of it. My wife had to say that she'll do it, to which the server replied that it's their job. We paid our bill, I left a note for the server on the back of the receipt and a generous cash tip (considering how we were poorly taken care of, it was still a generous tip).

Maybe the other servers are great and this was a one-off experience. I hope...

We arrived at the valet, which provides you with the option to pay cash or card. If paying via card, they'll send you a text message, and you pay when you're ready to pick up the car. Love the innovative technology, especially when it's cold outside and you don't want to wait in the cold. We entered the restaurant, and there was an enormous waiting lounge as you walked in. We were asked to wait a minute, literally escorted to our table under a minute. They sat us in a private little booth tucked away in a corner. The only flaw with this was that I didn't really get to see much of the restaurant since we were placed in a corner booth by the door. But what I did see was enough to leave a 3-star review.

Our waiter arrived and provided us with a drink & food menu and within a few minutes we placed our drink order. Upon return, I would say as he bought back our drinks (5 - 10 minutes), he asked if we were ready to order. We started ordering our appetizers, and then he asked that we place our dinner order in because they were expecting a busy night. My friend informed him that we were not in a rush and were not ready to place our dinner order. He then responded that they needed to take the entire order for the table. At that point, my friend (birthday girl) got a bit antsy and explained to him that we were looking to stay a while and enjoy our meal and not feel as if we were being rushed. He then took the order for our appetizers and went on about his way.

For appetizers, we had ordered Rice Cakes, Blufin Tuna Crudo, and Belgian Endive. For dinner, we ordered the Faroe Islands Salmon, Wagyu Skirt Steak, and the Blue Roll. All of the appetizers and dishes were exquisite & well executed on their presentation of it. We didn't ask for any modifications of the dishes, being that we wanted to have the best experience possible.

During our dinner my friend noticed a lady sitting at the bar with some sort of recyclable shopping bag under her chair and within a few minutes a small dog popped out of it and just stood there underneath the chair. Now, I'm a dog lover and, in fact, have a small dog at home. It's one thing if you have a service animal; but this small dog was CLEARLY not a service animal as it just stood under her chair for most of the time she was there drinking with her co-hort. The worst part was that she was sitting on the corner of the bar where one side intersects with the other side, so there was a lot of traffic going back and forth. Now I look at this establishment as being upscale & classy; but when you allow patrons to come and not have any boundaries as far as what they are allowed to do, than I have a problem with that. What if that dog had peed or pooped in the restaurant. I for sure would not have tolerated that stench while I was eating. In addition, how about those people who are allergic to dogs?

Here's where my last issue with this restaurant came in. There was an Uber driver parked outside in front of the valet, and while backing up to leave, he slammed into another vehicle behind him. The valet attendants all were checking the vehicle out and even called out who I believe was some sort of valet supervisor/ manager. There must have been some conversation with him, and upon the person picking up their vehicle, no one said anything to her. As a business where patrons are paying over $300.00 for a meal, I think the least thing you could do is explain to the individual about the situation and have her check out her car for any damage. Luckily, we were stuck waiting to leave, so we informed her ourselves about the situation and recommended that she inspect her car. PARK at your Own Risk.

Overall, my experience was great with the exception of those 3 incidents. I think this restaurant has great potential to be a Hot Spot in NJ; but if you want to maintain your upscale & classy reputation I would recommend that they get their staff in order and not allow for these incidents to...

Our entire experience from the moment we walked in until we walked out was filled with amazing and attuned service. We were awed by how beautiful the interior design of the restaurant was and how you had the option to choose between casual (the bar area) or formal and romantic (main dimlit dining hall). We came to celebrate my wife and I's wedding anniversary and the birth of our baby girl. Our waitress, Justice, was extremely considerate and attuned to our needs. Adam, our sommelier, checked in on us multiple times and addressed any concerns that we had. They recently changed their drink menu selections, so they were genuinely interested in our opinion about their drinks, which demonstrates how much effort they put into providing an elegant fine-dining experience and their sincere passion towards refining their menu to the best of their capabilities. The service provided to us was definitely exemplary and demonstrates what true 5-star hospitality should look like!

Now onto the food: Prime Delmonico with Truffle Butter (4/5 stars): The cut was nice with a rich outer layer of fat to balance the fresh beefy flavor of the steak. The char and seasoning were on point. Although some parts of the beefs were rawer than the other, Justice made sure to take care of it and had the steak cooked to our liking. The truffle butter was fun to watch it torched on top of the steak, but it didn't really enhance its flavor much, for we could barely taste the truffle. If you want to enjoy a nice little presentation, then sure go for it, but I would recommend getting other sauces instead. This can be an easy fix though, which entails either incorporating a higher intensity of truffle into the butter or leaving some on the side for diners to tailor to their liking.

Lobster Fra Diavolo (4/5 stars): The lobster was pleasantly sliced up for an easier consumption; my wife found the lobster to be incredibly fresh and perfectly cooked, where the meat was tender and juicy! The pasta was cooked perfectly al dente, and the sauce was flavorful. Overall, a pretty large portion and reasonably priced dish, good enough to share!

The Blu Roll (2.75/5 stars): Unfortunately, we did not share in the same experience as other diners towards this dish. Our toro was more on the rougher side, which might be due to a bad batch/cut. However, our server was receptive towards our feedback and informed us that she would let the chef know. These things happen and it's impossible for the chef to taste all cuts of fish, especially toro since it's extremely pricey and each piece counts. Nonetheless, I hope they can do their best to ensure that their toro are as fresh as possible moving forward!

Creamed Spinach (5/5): Not much to say about this side dish except that it was rich and creamy as it should be. It was also seasoned perfectly that it paired quite well with the steak. Would recommend this dish if you like creamed spinach!

Overall, despite some hiccups with some of the food items, we still enjoyed our dining experience to the fullest, and that's thanks to the amazing service provided by both Justice and Adam; there's not a moment where we felt neglected and we always felt heard and understood, especially when we had some mild dissatisfactions. A true fine-dining experience was provided to us this evening; not all foods and drinks will always be perfect, but steps taken to ensure that these minor issues are appropriately addressed and do not detract from the enjoyment of the meal is needed to reflect a true elegant fine-dining experience, and the staff at Blu on the Hudson executed that flawlessly. It was my pleasure to celebrate our wedding anniversary and birth of our baby girl with Blu on the Hudson, and I look forward to returning for an even better experience! Thank you, Justice and Adam, for taking care of us and our baby girl!

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