Hudson Waterway East

Critic's Review

Hudson Waterway is Closed. An Argentenian Grill named CHE!!! has opened in it's place. I'm betting it's closed by next summer.

Review 1/10/15

Old Calypso is gone, and another bunch of rich people have opened a restaurant in South Florida. After looking at the menu I wasn't going to go, as the prices are absurd. It's also not a good thing when you google their chef, George Cocilova and you get a mugshot and see that he's on probation. But the deal was done when I noticed that they're using the Gab Group; the agency of choice by some of the most colossal failures in South Florida: Philippe Boca, M Bar, Tundra, Fork & Knife, Smokehouse Grill & Wingery West; all of which failed in about a year or less. What surprised me is that the operations manager, Scott Niskar, likely lost his shirt as part owner of Fork & Knife, so you think he'd know better.

I admit going into the place with a negative outlook, mainly because I knew it was overpriced. With no lunch menu, it's apparent that they're not even trying. I got there late, mainly due to an unanticipated accident on 95; about 2:50pm. The good thing about coming at a tweener hour is that bad service can't be blamed on crowd management.

The restaurant is open-air, so I wasn't sure how to answer the "Inside or Outside" question. I asked for a booth, given that the restaurant was 3/4 empty. The have some booths that are almost on the patio; not my color by comfortable.

Hudson at Waterway East Outdoor Booths

after seeing the patio furniture I was glad I didn't sit out there. I can't see sitting on deck furniture at an expensive restaurant.

Hudson at Waterway East Patio

The "host" told me that I had a "fantastic" server, which to me either means that she's his sister or he's banging her, so it had little impact. I ordered a beverage; they only have fancy iced teas; I went with the unsweetened green tea.

Hudson Waterway Green Tea

I didn't see anything on the menu that excited me; I certainly wasn't going to have a $12 Wedge Salad, so when my server returned I asked if there were any specials. While it wasn't unexpected that she didn't know what they were without looking at a crib sheet, it was strange that she seemed reluctant to tell me what they were. She just told me about a flat bread, which I immediately stopped listening to because did I really come to a nice restaurant to eat a flatbread? Then she stopped. "That's it?" I quipped, musing at the idea that a flatbread could be the only special. "Oh, and mahi is the fish of the day for the fish tacos". "Ah, I see. Give me another minute or two please".

She didn't return for 7 minutes; I know this because I took a bunch of pictures while I was waiting and they have time stamps. I considered the Short Rib, but I didn't want potatoes, and the Halibut had some strange accompaniments that scared me off. I went safe with the $25 salmon.

About now the lunch crowd was either gone or filing out; they have a pretty nice bar with a couple of TVs.

Hudson at Waterway East Bar @3pm

They've done a nice job modernizing the place; Old Calypso's decor was dated. They didn't gut the place, but they added modern materials and fixed the rickety dock.

Hudson at Waterway East Dining Room

A classic signature of a restaurant that is only interested in money making and not in providing a dining experience is when you're not offered water or bread. The menu has a lot of mediterranean touches such as rapini and white beans, but there's no olive oil or bread.

Music started out with Semisonic but segued into Sinead O'Conner and Jazzy Jeff. A mish-mosh of themes. Finally the food came out.

Hudson Waterway Salmon

At first glance, my thought was "This is all I'm getting for $25?". I deconstructed the Culinary Institute pile into a plate of food, and it looked a lot better.

Hudson Waterway Salmon Deconstructed

The Rapini (aka Broccoli Rabe) was badly overdone; cook it more than a minute and it's ruined. As for the presentation, it's kind of ridiculous to put the tomato salad in the hummus just for the sake of proving that you went to chef school; how can you distinguish the flavors of the dressing and the hummus when they've been combined? As I finished taking pictures, my server stopped and asked how everything was. "I haven't tasted it yet", I said, to which she replied "That's Awesome". Kind of an odd response, as if she didn't even listen to what I said.

I took a bite of the salmon after salt and peppering it, and it seemed fine. Then I broke it up to see how it was cooked and it was 80% raw.

Hudson Waterway Raw Salmon

I couldn't eat this, or at least I wasn't going to. I think in 1500 restaurant visits I've sent back the food 2 or 3 times, but I wasn't into sushi today. I looked around and didn't see her anywhere, so I waited. I saw her talking to the "host", and she didn't seem to notice my displeasure, so I waved her over. "Can you have this cooked a bit more for me please". So the plate disappeared and I waited some more. My server ignored my nearly empty iced tea glass; another server actually noticed and brought me a refill while I waited for the re-do.

Luckily reception was superb so I had my phone. I walked out to the patio to get a shot of the view from the waterside seating.

Hudson Waterway View from Patio

No boats. Even with cheaper gas the boat people aren't going to pay these prices, apparently. The salmon came back out, and they put the pile back together. I'd cut up the Broccoli rabe, and they'd replaced it with some new stalks. This time it wasn't overcooked.

Hudson Waterway Salmon Do over

The "teardrop" tomatoes seemed pretty round to me, but overall the food was fine. The rabe was just boiled in unsalted water; why serve Rapini when you have no idea how to cook it properly? The "idea" of this dish was the lemon, which pairs well with salmon and Rapini; it would have worked better if the salad and the hummus were separate, and if they simply added some lemon wedges to the plate.

My plate was empty (and I mean completely cleaned, iced tea empty) and my server was no where to be found, so I went to the bathroom rather than on the way out. I was astonished that when I returned, my plates were still on the table. I got the bill and headed out, armed with a boatload of first-hand info on this poorly run establishment.

They have some sort of happy hour, but their crackerjack marketing team doesn't tell you what the deal is, so I can't tell you. Clearly the crowd at happy hour isn't as sophisticated as they'd hoped for.

Hudson at Waterway East Bar @4pm

Conclusion

I've gotten to a point where I can tell what a place is all about without having to actually go for a visit, but I humor myself anyway. What we have here is yet-another group of rich people who open a restaurant hoping to make more money, without understanding (or caring) why people go to restaurants. There aren't enough rich people in Delray Beach to support this place; if they continue to focus their money on PR and glitz they're going to have a long, hard ride.

$34 for lunch. You can make the call on the value.