Swoon Kitchenbar

The three of us came late on a Friday night around 9:20 thanks to Amtrak and were pleased by the ambience, décor, and that there were still plenty of patrons. Our waiter was professional, knowledgeable, and deferential; the menu was close to the current online version, with items we were hoping to find, like the crispy artichokes (a hit), caramelized Brussels, roasted cauliflower. We passed these around and the yes votes were unanimous. We also had the pan seared salmon and the house made fusili, and sunchoke risotto. The quality of preparation was high, and i look forward to the next time we are coming through Hudson from the city.

Came here on Thursday for burger night, the special this night was bacon avocado. The burger was good, loved the spicy pickled chili peppers. Asked for my burger medium rare and it came out mooing. Burger — 3 stars. The reason for the 4^th star you ask? The banana cream pie. Oh. My. Goodness. It was incredible. It came with chocolate toffee on the side that paired very well with the dish. Will definitely be back for the dessert!!!

The workers are sweet and the food is awesome. They use great quality ingredients for everything. Burger night definitely boasts one of the best in town and Meatless Monday is always great too (they do have a regular menu too, but the Monday menu is a great deal.)

As other reviewers have noted, Swoon is very inconsistent. Out of all the times we’ve eaten here, two times it was excellent, three mediocre, and two poor. When Swoon is good it’s very good. When it’s not, it’s well …
Our meal last week is our last at Swoon. My wife had a wonderful and fairly priced hamburger. My daughter had the tasty and fairly priced papardelle. Both of these dishes were good and came in generous portions. However, we never received the pre-​meal bread, although the server offered the bread before dessert (she said she forgot because the restaurant was extremely busy.)
When my entrée came my wife said «you’ve been ripped off». And I was. I ordered «pan roasted salmon with fingerling potatoes and beets». Translation: a three-​inch square of salmon, three EXTREMELY small and WAFER THIN slices of potato and maybe five half-​inch cubes of beets. The price for this dish? $ 27.95! Highway robbery! I felt bruised to say the least. Perhaps if we’d gotten our bread I could’ve bulked up on that but, as I said, we got no bread. Although we had the option of eating the bread AFTER the meal!
Comparing this visit with past times we’ve eaten here, it seems that Swoon is easing into being a little less pretentious. I think that’s a good idea, given that the quality is uneven. But they need to adjust either the portions, quality or prices of their «fancier» entrees.
A better bet is Ca’Mea, which is across the street. We have been there many times and it is consistent and fairly priced. There is also a relaxed atmosphere, as opposed to the often harried and noisy Swoon. It makes sense that the word «bar» is part of Swoon’s name. Last week, in addition to the problems noted above, we were treated to a table of raucous people who, after many noisy drinks at the bar, sat down to dinner and screaming conversation.
We won’t be coming back to Swoon. We’ve given it many chances.

Waited 20 minutes at our table, no server, no water. People who were seated the same time we were had their food when we walked out.

I’ve been coming here for so many years now and did not realize I have yet to review Swoon. The atmosphere reminds me a bit of northern California with the light woods and perfect lighting.
On Thursday night we sat at the bar and we each had a hamburger our way! The size of the burger was perfect and my sides of caramelized onions, cheddar, and spicy peppers were amazing. The three of us were hungry after a long day and we shared a nice bottle of 2011 Belouse, Macon la Roche Vineuse, Burgundy. The wine was light and delicious with the nice French chalky clay and limestone finish and not too high in alcohol. I was a bit surprised the wine said Pinot Noir on the bottle. Yikes.
Dining off the regular menu is amazing too. I had the Brown Sugar Brined pork chop with leeks, kale, and white beans. My friends had the pan seared tuna that tasted delicious and the skirt steak. I also love the squash risotto and fresh pastas too.
If you are lucky on a Thursday for Burger night or Friday oyster happy hour, say hello to one of Hudson’s best bartenders — Tony. The selection of bourbon and scotch are quite strong if you want to enjoy a drink at the bar.

Be careful what you order.
I get that some places can be hit or miss, but from my experience, the misses greatly outweighed the hits. Seated with a party of six, I was able to see a nice variety of what the menu had to offer.
The good: 5-​stars for the local duck; this was perfection. The tuna was also very good; cooked perfectly and fresh. The shoe string fries are fun and the fried artichoke hearts were also very good. It’s a pleasant ambiance as well. All of this together is the redeeming factor that earned this place that additional star.
The bad: It took roughly fifteen minutes to deliver the bottle of wine that was ordered. Way too long. Also, for an area of the state with such great breweries and falling into the restaurant category of «American (New)» the selection of beers was pathetic. This combined with an inattentive and borderline incompetent wait staff made for a thoroughly disappointing experience.
The ugly: Two people in the group ordered the snapper. Both pieces of fish came out with their centers completely raw. And when I say raw, i don’t mean rare or undercooked, I mean a slimy rubbery translucent piece of flesh. Disgusting. The fact that this happened to both plates leads me to believe that this was not a fluke in timing and that maybe the chef actually did not know how to cook snapper. It was disgusting and dangerous. What if someone had just taken a bite into that raw uncooked fish?
To make things worse, the wait staff made excuses and suggested that maybe it was ordered rare when this fish isn’t even given that preparation option to begin with. One person who had the misfortune of cutting into this raw fish was so disgusted that all appetite was lost and the fish was asked to be removed and not replaced. Another person switched the order instead to the tuna. What actually happened added insult to injury. The same piece of fish that was delivered uncooked before was brought back into the kitchen, tossed into a dirty skillet, and redelivered back to the person who had asked to have nothing, while the person who ordered the tuna was ignored and received nothing. So, content with having no meal after cutting into a raw fish, the customer was presented with the same piece of meat as before but this time it was all brown gross with grease from a dirty skillet.
The chef’s an incompetent asshole. The wait staff are idiots. Do not eat here.

I have no idea why this place only has 3.5 stars. Coming from NYC, this food is on par with any of the delicious restaurants we have.
Ambience was wonderful. Very cozy and chic farm-​like, which is what I want when I go upstate!
Everything was incredible fresh. The pastas were incredible. I would highly recommend all the vegetable sides.
I’ll definitely be back.

Food was pretty great. Service was not. Below is a rather boring play by play at the comedy of errors our Swoon dinning experience. Not funny though. Only factual. As a disclaimer, I don’t ask much out of a waiter. I’ve logged many years in the restaurant service biz. However, my personal rule is, when dinner break $ 100 for 2, I believe I’m entitled to better-than-Applebee’s service.
What went wrong: Sunday night, Labor day weekend, 8pm reservation for two. Pretty full house. After 10 mins, had to flag any down for water. Server comes 5 minutes after water was pored by the wait assist and forgoes the hello portion of our greeting. Skips right to asking «what do you want to drink.» Attitude catches us off guard. Drinks come out 5 mins apart from each other. While eating our appetizers, bread and butter comes out. Before we’re finished with our apps, our pasta course arrives after asking the server to please course everything out. She blames the kitchen. While all of these small events are quickly adding up, I’m trying hard not to stare at the rather large spider in web hovering a foot above my wife’s head. If wife was informed, I knew an ear piercing scream, table flipped over, and new table requested would directly follow.
The server does apologize in regards to the timing of courses and fixed the problem. She wins back our favor for only a second before dropping off our check with out any final ‘thanks you’s’ or ‘have a good nights’.
It’s a damn shame because the food was rather amazing! Crispy artichokes, Lamb Ragu Pappardelle, and Blue Fish.

Before Is say anything else, get the House Made Bucatini — holy crap, it was so damn good. Easily, one the best pasta dishes I’ve had.
Moving away from the bucatini for a moment… Getting out of the city for a few days during the summer (or any season really) is always welcome, and we came to the Hudson area to relax and enjoy the quiet while being outside. The one and only time I was reminded of NYC was dining at Swoon — regarding both the food (the bucatini!!) and the environment.
The vibe was really welcoming & relax, with a nice rustic and chill décor. The bar is big, the tables are not on top of one another — it’s a great scene whether your dining alone, on a date, or out with friends… hopefully one of you orders the bucatini.
As an starter, we split a tomato heirloom salad and smoked salmon pâté. The salad is what you would expect from any restaurant worth it’s salt. The pâté was fantastic — between the two of us it felt like a race to the bottom of the dish. And then we had the bucatini — which by the way, was pretty fantastic.
Good spot, check it out if you’re in the Hudson area.

Honestly, this was a major disappointment.
The interior is cute. I love the tin molding on the ceiling. The bar is big. The tables are nicely spaced apart. You don’t feel like you’re on top of your neighbors, and better yet, you aren’t distracted by your neighbor’s conversations.
The drinks were good. I had the bitter mule. A beautiful, pink drink. Well balanced and not too sweet or bitter. For appetizers we had the chicken liver pâté and mixed olives. The olives have an unidentified spice. It’s great! The liver was also excellent. Served in a classic style, with small pieces of toast and pickled onions. We were set up to believe the rest would be outstanding.
The service I experienced was meh. Maybe it was a bad night? But on a Thursday when the restaurant isn’t completely full, it seems a little odd to not see your waitress once after your appetizers have been cleared from the table. We would have ordered more wine, we would have liked more water, I would have told her that the duck was really really salty, the risotto was a bit bland, and the octopus strozzapreti was excellent, but we never saw her again until it came time to ask us if we wanted dessert or the check. The check please… and I don’t think I’ll be returning.

The food-​scene in Hudson has grown quite impressively during the past few years. The city seems to have something for everyone, from the super laid back food truck oasis on Warren Street to the ultra slick foodie destinations scattered about downtown. In an area with so much variety, Swoon Kitchenbar stands out and shines brightly.
Today, we came to Swoon for brunch (served 12pm — 3:30pm on Saturday) and were immediately seated. We chose to sit at the bar and really soak in the vibe of the operation. The ambiance was relaxed, as was the décor, though it should be noted that there were only about a dozen other people at the restaurant at that time. I would imagine it gets pretty lively during the dinner hours, with large parties and an impressive list of spirits.
As far as what we ordered: We began with an order of the bacon wrapped dates, served to us in a tiny skillet. They were decadent, but in the best possible way. For a meal, I ordered the speck, served with poached eggs, potatoes, and mixed greens. I had never had speck prior to today and I became an instant fan. My wife went for the bacon and kale frittata, also served with mixed greens. The dish was cooked perfectly and presented beautifully. We each ordered a can of Grey Lady to round things off. This was a truly great meal.
I hesitate to give Swoon the five star treatment, but it has nothing to do with the food or the vibe of the restaurant itself. The meal was just very expensive, something we knew going in. Despite that, I’m just not accustomed to paying quite that much for brunch. However, if price isn’t an option or it’s a special occasion, I would recommend Swoon Kitchenbar. It is simply a cut above the rest of what Hudson’s food scene has to offer.

This restaurant is fantastic for a special occasion (prices are a little steep), and I am so happy that we celebrated my husband’s birthday here. We went early on a Saturday at 5pm, and were happy to have the restaurant almost all to ourselves at this time. It was a cozy environment, and we liked the décor and feeling of the place. Our service was really fantastic, and our waitress really did a great job helping us choose what to eat. The food was AMAZING. The pork chop we ordered was so tender, and probably the best we’ve ever had. We also had an octopus dish, pasta, and a carrot salad. All were unique, beautiful, delicious and used only the freshest of ingredients. If you are looking for a special experience, then definitely try this restaurant.

Always a stop every time we are in Hudson NY. Great servers! Incredible bar staff! Comfortable atmosphere. And outstanding food! How can you go wrong? Thank you Wrigs, Lisa and Mox for your incredible hospitality and always welcoming us home.

This was our first meal on our first trip to the area. The meal was fantastic along with the service.
What we had:
Health Margarita
Bitter Mule
Cheese plate
Strozzapreti pasta dish
Octopus Confit

5 stars hands down! When you will work in a table of 13 on the spot– that’s the epitome of customer service.
We showed up on a sat at ~6:30 after being turned away across the street due to the size of our party. We asked if they could accommodate a party of 13 and at first glance the hostess didn’t think it was possible but I could see the wheels in her brain turning as she did some Olympic grade hostess mental math. After a few minutes and conferring with her manager she made it happen! It was tight but we were hungry so we were happy!
That alone could earn them at least a 4 or 5 but no need to stop there… the food did not disappoint! With such a large party, we tried a large part of the menu and everyone was satisfied.
I got the duck and OMG– this duck was definitely done right! It was incredibly tender and the skin was perfectly crisp and flavorful. My husband got the spice rubbed skirt steak (which he liked) but he definitely had duck envy. All in our party who either ordered the duck or tried the duck raved about it.
Others got the pork chop, the salmon, the pappardelle, and the buctatini and everyone was quite satisfied with their meals.
5 stars for service, food and ambiance– even the bathroom felt like a botanical garden!

Excellent! Service and food are superb! Had the salmon, fabulous! And shrimp lumache! Ask for Nancy to serve you. Beet salad was excellent! Beautiful restaurant!

Swoooooooooooooooon
Had dinner here with the young lady. Decent selection of fine dining with options for all.
We started with the Artichokes $ 8 and Salmon Plate $ 10. For the main we had the Spaghetti and the Steak $ 28. Also had a dessert dish that was whatever, so I don’t even remember what it was.
The starters and mains were all solid and enjoyable.
Service was cool.

Great food and excellent service. Two thumbs up, this place rules.
Beet salad, Brussels sprouts, duck confit, pasta. All top notch. The environment is also extremely classy but not stuffy at all. Do it.

So let’s talk about generosity of spirit and libations. My girlfriend and I did a day trip to Hudson from Woodstock where we were staying. After a good day of exploring we stopped at Swoon for afternoon cocktails as one does. We were warmly greeted and sat at the bar. The bartender made what was easily a strong and delicious vodka martini, making sure to stir and not shake. He killed it with my girlfriends margarita. Which he topped up with more tequila as he passed saying — «to good health!» Amen sir.
Following the cocktails we got some snacks, cut fries and kale salad that were both delicious. They had closed for lunch at this point but didn’t rush us out at all. We sat, laughed, and enjoyed the staff who all seemed to really be having a great time at their job.
Finally at the end we eyed some pretty gooey lookin chocolate cookies. The waiter prepping for dinner just gave me one over and said enjoy. I tip my hat to you sir because those were some of the best cookies I’ve ever had. We felt like we stumbled on a true gem, and a good reminder for us to come back for dinner in the future.
A toast to Swoon and their staff. Long may you continue to bring smiles to your patrons and the residents of Hudson. Hussah!