LOVE Helsinki Hudson. Â The food just seems to get better and better. Â First, the space is awesome. Â The building is gorgeously restored and has a dark wood, open feel. Â On a recent visit, we took our vegan relatives, which is always a challenge finding a restaurant to suit them, but had no problem. The kale salad with pear and currents was unbelievably delicious and will keep us coming back. Â Picky vegan uncle had the quinoa salad and loved it - as it was a large portion that completely satisfied him. Â I was sinful and ordered the ribs which were amazing. The southern comfort sauce was perfect, the meat fell of the bone and the cornmeal fried green beans were fun. Â Other dishes ordered were scallops and the pork chop and all were excellent and perfectly prepared with a bit of southern 'kick'.
As if all that food wasn't enough, we ordered dessert. The cherry pie was wonderful with a lovely crust and the carrot cake was very sweet w/the caramel sauce but scrumptious.
As for service, it was top notch. Â Our waiter was just phenomenal - he was professional, well versed in all menu items and spent time answering all of our questions and never once acted rushed or irritated. Â He clearly loves his job and it shows.
We also ordered alcoholic mixed drinks which were tasty but I felt our tequila beverages were a bit weak.
Hudson's great restaurant meter is rising and Helsinki offers fair pricing, it's 'family friendly' and not too 'precious'. Â Oh, and don't forget, it's also a great music venue.
I love this place!
I live in NYC but take the train up to Hudson every few months to check out the shows at Helsinki and have yet to be disappointed. Musty Chiffon's Xmas show is amazing, the Bindelstiff Circus is breathtaking and hilarious, live music is intimate and has great sound.
Definitely reserve a table and have dinner with the show if you can. Their menu is great. While some of the entrees are a bit disappointing (the lobster pot pie was watery last time I was there) the appetizers are always outstanding. I could eat a bucket of their french fries, the pâté is amazing (it has bacon sprinkles!). I highly recommend the cauliflower pasta dish - it will rock your world. I will say I mourned the loss of their brussels sprout appetizer. Please bring them back Helsinki!
An added bonus to seeing shows at Helsinki is that often the performers hang out after the show and if you are polite they are usually more than happy to talk with you. I've been able to chat with some of my favorite musicians at their shows which has never happened at venues in NYC.
We found Club Helsinki because a friend sent us chasing after a musician. Â It was a bumpy start. Â I bought tickets online, noted that they were "general admission" and figured we'd need to arrive an hour early to get good seats. Â The day of the performance, we called the club to make dinner reservations. Â I'm sure the person I spoke to meant well, but she was both tentative and uninformed which made talking with her frustrating, time consuming and left matters unresolved.
I can't find anything on the website, in the ticket purchase process or in the confirmation email that explains this, so until management steps up, here is what you MUST know when you buy tickets. Â You are not buying a seat. Â You are buying admission. Â If you want a seat, you need to make reservations and buy food and drink. Fairly high priced food and drink. Â OR, if you are like me, calling within 10 hours of a sold out performance, you can be stunned that the vague and uninformative wench is trying hard not to tell you that you didn't buy a seat, you bought entrance, and since the performance is sold out, you can look forward to standing against an outer wall for three hours. Â Waffling between not going and calling on my inner bitch, I got insistent and incredulous. Â The venue "squeezed in" an extra table to accommodate me and Mr. W. Â Both the voice on the phone and the ticket giver at the door conveyed they had done me a favor - while I was pretty sure they had misrepresented what I was buying. Â It was an unpleasant way to start a night out. Â In fact, when I said to the ticket giver "I can't be the first person who misunderstood..." he simply ignored me and passed me on to an usher. Â Grrr.
As for food and drink, it was not the pub menu shown on the website, but the regular restaurant menu. Â Yet another item that the website and that the lovely voice on the phone failed to explain. Â It was dark. Â And if I am going to spend $25-27 on an entree, I want to see it. Â It should be prepared well, presented with some style and taste delicious. I had the lamb, with a generous 9 ribs, but between the fat and excessive tenderness, I opted to take it home so that I could evaluate what I was eating... it was fatty and much more rare than I thought I'd ordered. Â 3 minutes on our grill, peel off the fat and the lamb was both pretty and delicious. Fortunately the starch and veggies provided more than enough for dinner. Â Mr W had the scallops which were beautifully cooked, a little chewy and carmelized, but the beet, goat cheese grits (in the dark) didn't pop. Â
If it seems I'm being cranky about the lighting - I am. Â The show was 2.5 hours away. Â Dinner lighting wouldn't have diminished the show. Â Feed me a $10 hamburger in the dark, and I'll quietly eat up, but the meals we purchased should have been visible.
We arrived at 6:30p for a 9p show. Had a lazy dinner, remembered that we like each other, took pictures to send a friend... all great. Â As the tables filled, so did a line of people along each wall; the poor schmucks who didn't know they had only purchased standing room. Â I couldn't resist pointing out to Mr W that the next time he gets annoyed with me being pushy, he should remember that he got to sit at Club Helsinki!
The wait staff was great, the performance was stellar, and we will go back. Â But I won't order tickets online, I'll call, make a table reservation with my ticket purchase and ask LOTS of questions.
I love, love, love Helsinki. I've been to the Club side twice (great pub menu - the fried okra is spot on!) and to the restaurant side 4 times now. Â Every mouthful is supurb. Â I'm a vegetarian, so I often have to cobble together some sides to make a meal...not here! Â I had to come back so I could try the other options. The kabobs were so flavorful! Â My husband is a big fan of the chicken pot pie and the scallops. Â Decor is lovely - interesting things to look at all over the space. Â Service is impeccable, and I'm a server, so I'm kind of fussy about that. Â
Most recently saw James McMurtry - front row - amazing acoustics, great food. Â What a fantastic night!
I would recommend Helsinki to anyone - great atmosphere, delicious food, and very attentive service.
We had the kale salad and tamale appetizers. Â The kale salad was unique and delicious. Â The tamale was also delicious - especially the salsa. Â If only the rest of the meal was as tasty!
The scallops were good, but not great. Â Two of us got veggie burgers. Â They were absolutely awful. Â They were a super-fried mush of potatoes (with a few other veggies). Â They were dry on the inside and had no flavor at all. Â Also, they were served on a dry white roll (a whole wheat option would have been fantastic). Â They were accompanied by average french fries with a spicier ketchup. Â IF YOU'RE A VEGETARIAN DON'T ORDER THE VEGGIE BURGER! Â I'd suggest making a meal out of 2 of the appetizers.
We had an apple pie (dough-y and not fresh) and chocolate cake for dessert. Â Definitely not worth the $7 or so they're charging...
Overall - great apps, and maybe good for meat-eaters... Â but terrible veggies burger.
I would have given this place 4 stars after my dinner there Friday night. We had outstanding, efficient friendly service from the host, the waiter, and even the guy who brings your bread. My friend had the pot pie (outstanding), I had the steak frites (average - not great but not bad). The space is warm and inviting and we really enjoyed our experience.
We returned the next evening just for drinks. Shortly after sitting at a table, a waitress (pregnant one) walked over with a sour look on her face and said "If you want drinks, you're going to have to get them from the bar. I'm off.". Seriously, besides the rudeness, the look on her face made me wonder if she was experiencing contractions and getting ready to pop out Rosemary's Baby. Now I don't have a degree in Food and Beverage Services but I would imagine a more appropriate greeting would have been something like "Hi guys. I'm just getting off at the moment, but please feel free to order drinks from the bartender. Have a great night!". And maybe a smile would have been a good idea. Or perhaps it would have cracked her face and it would have shattered into a million pieces. It's hard to know.
Friendliness was in short supply that night. The bartender, who had been such a wonderful waiter the night before (and who we tipped over 20%) seemed fairly cold as well. It probably wouldn't have bothered me so much if we hadn't just encountered the crazy pregnant lady. Who knows, maybe her presence there poisoned everyone's night - patrons and staff alike.
Will I be back? No. Sorry, but food and service are both requirements for a good place to spend money. I can find both of those qualities at other places in Hudson.
Hopefully she plans to take a long, long, long, long maternity leave.
A friend recommended this place, but he couldn't describe the cuisine. Well, after having dinner here last night, I'd say that they serve "nouveau comfort food." Gabe's brussels were delicious and the cherrywood smoked chicken pot pie could easily serve two people. I washed it all down with Keegan's Mother's Milk. The food was good and the space is really unique. Now, if you'd just add our waiter to the dessert menu, well, I'd give you five stars. ; )
Review Source:This was our favorite meal in Hudson (and yes, we did try Swoon). The food was tasty with quality ingredients and good portions. We had some great crayfish and shrimp cakes, a shrimp po-boy, and the Viking veggie burger. The weakest part were the deserts, which seemed a bit generic, (brownie and ice cream, er, ok).
Service was great with everyone eager to help and giving no attitude.
This is not 5 star cuisine, but it's good and the service is great.
(Also, the place looks really nice. Definitely qualifies as a date place.)
Had dinner with constant companion prior to a concert in which our son's band, Other Colors, was playing. Â We were wonderfully surprised by the high quality of the ingredients, and the good service. Â We ordered the Southerner's Caprese- fried green tomatoes with fresh mozzeralla and basil. Absolutely delicious! Companion order the Lemonade Poached Scottish Salmon- very flavorful! I ordered the Backyard Applewood Smoked Ribs- so delicious- the meat falling off the bone and a nice zingy sauce! Â The accompanying sweet potato salad was amazing. Â The only drawback- the fried green beans were good- but there were far too many! Â Thankfully, my companion and son consumed the rest (prior to his show).
We deferred on dessert- too much food already- and settled in to enjoy the show with great coffee!
This place is the real deal!
Although my visit was less than enjoyable, I will still give this place 4 stars. Why you ask? Because every decision I made regarding this restaurant was bad. Deciding to come here despite viewing the over/ priced "southern" (yes quotes because I'm not sold on why this place is considered southern) menu on line =bad. Instead of owning my poor decision and order something that was at least a signature "southern" dish, I go with the bland burger, which was over cooked, despite my request for medium-well. I was one of two customers so It could not have been that hard to remember. That was bad decision number two. Deciding to sit outdoors on what appeared to be furniture from the local garage sales was probably the height of bad decisions. Warm summer night, plants everywhere, the smell of greasy bacon in the air. All I needed was an arrow directing the flies, birds, bees, and other night time creatures to my bland, overpriced, and disappointing meal. Maybe if I stayed for the night festivities and had another drink, my mood would have mellowed and I would have had a more favorable view of helsinki. But while I am somewhat comfortable eating alone, I feel down right awkward clubbing and doing other social activities alone. I would forever be remembered in the small town of Hudson as that creepy girl with the Afro hovering on the sidelines. Umm..No thanks.
So 4 stars it since I knowingly invited a bad time on myself.
We had dinner here before one of the weddings for the Love Ball and were thoroughly impressed! Â I ordered the jambalaya and my husband ordered the steak - both dishes were pretty darn good! Â Our waitress was also very attentive and accommodating. Â
Helsinki Hudson is a great venue for parties of various sizes, date night, and/or happy hour! Â I was really impressed with the decor and the hip vibe - it was a great surprise in this little town. Â I would definitely recommend on your next trip to Hudson for whatever your occasion.
My life friend and I went here for dinner, after arriving in Hudson that afternoon. Â We had just come from a fulfilling but also FILLING lunch at C.I.A. Â So, we didn't order as much as we probably would have (i.e. no dessert)
That said, I have to believe this might be one of the best restaurants in Hudson. Â We started with a special appetizer the boiled peanut hummus. Â The peanut flavor was not overbearing, like I feared a bit. Â It was actually just the right mix, and this was some damn good hummus. Â After the pitas were finished, I grabbed the last piece of bread brought to us earlier to eat up some of the last remaining areas of hummus. Â This is not a normal part of Helsinki's menu, but if you see it again definitely order this.
For entrees, I had the sea scallops with broccoli rabe and sweet potato gnocchi. Â Certainly butter helps all to taste better, but this rabe was some of the finest I have had in my time here on earth. Â The scallops were not overcooked, but not perfectly cooked either; could have used a bit more firmness. Â Still, they didn't taste "fishy" so that counts for a lot.
My dining friend had the red beans and rice with cornbread. Â She and I were surprised at the amount of red beans served. Â It's not my cup of tea for an entree, but we both agreed it was well done and prepared.
The drinks needed a bit of help. Â I had the Louie Armstrong, and I liked it but it needed a bit of dilution of the bourbon and a bit more sweetness (yes, I am a baby) Â We also tried another drink (forget the name) which had tangerine and chili. Â She didn't like at first, but as things "settled" in the drink the flavor improved and she managed to finish. Â
The club looked like a good time as well, though we didn't check it out.
I really would like to go back here again next time I'm in Columbia County.
Went here for a show and dinner. What is not obvious from the website is that is very awkward and poor viewing and you don't sit unless you make reservations for dinner too. After a weekend of going to delicious places in Hudson this was such a let down especially given the price. The food had some funky flavors, the portion sizes varied a lot, the cocktails were boring, and we ended up spending more money there than we had anywhere else.
Review Source:"Hudson Ho-down"
by Josh K.
We had front row table seats to see "new grass" phenoms Crooked Still. Â This was the social event of October. Â Road trip Hudson!
Located only a block over from the busy and hip Warren Street, Club Helsinki is a large but aesthetically pleasing space that is quickly becoming a premiere center for live music in New York.
The venue itself is pretty sweet: very classy, very comfortable, good acoustics, great lighting. Â I can't think of a better indoor, live music performing arts space.
The restaurant is in front, and the club in back. Â You can eat and drink at both. Â Reservations are required for table seating during the show however.
We already knew it would be good music, but I was a little weary about the food - classic Southern soul food with a new-age culinary makeover. This usually just means fried chicken and grits and charging 25 dollars for it. Â I am skeptical.
As it turned out there were 5 hits and 2 misses when it came to the food.
Drinks were ordered first and promptly. Â Club Helsinki had a great selection of beers, wines and cocktails. Â There were local domestics such as Chatham Brewery brown ale on tap and 3 dollar cans of Blue Ribbon for the cheapies such as myself.
We started off with Appetizers - Fried Oysters and Duck Confit.
The Oysters were bad. Â Certainly not fresh, and flavor was off. Â Nasty brown and green stuff was all that I tasted. I hadn't had bad oysters like this since Bob and Ron's. Â The hollandaise sauce was good though.
The Duck Confit however was outstanding. Juicy, flavorful, and meaty dark meat served alongside tasty and fresh blackberry bread and spinach.
As for the main course, the 4 of us ordered different entrees. Â We were intending to share but enjoyed the meal too much.
I ordered the fried catfish ($22).  The usually plain, some may say bland, fish had a nice salt and pepper batter that went down easy when topped with a spicy, jalapeño butter tartar sauce.  The fried fish was served alongside tasty homemade red cabbage slaw and two big, deliciously light and airy lobster hush puppies.  There was a lot of love given to this entree.
My wife's plate, pan-seared scallops, was a letdown. Â Like the oysters, the scallops were hardly fresh. Â They lacked the flavor and texture of a good scallop. Â We should have known better- this is inland Hudson. Â The succotash of fresh vegetables it was served over was fine. Â Not too keen on the brown mint butter dressing though. Â She was content; however, as I shared my enormous portion of catfish, slaw, and hush puppies with her.
I cannot comment on my other friends' entrees other than that they enjoyed them immensely. Â Their plates of fried chicken and apple wood smoked ribs were licked clean long before the time our receptive server took them away and brought more drinks.
Dessert of southern vanilla almond cake was also ordered and scarfed down glutinously.
Like American folk bards to their fattened lords, Crooked Still played an enjoyable 2 hour set to a packed and now flatulating audience. Â We ate well and heard great music. Â Can't ask for a better weekend evening.
It is pleasing to know that only 30 minues south of Albany, in a once ramshackle industrial river town, one can find a vibrant and (arguably)off the grid arts district that rivals the scenes in New York City (unfortunately this is starting to include NYC prices as well).
Hands down one of the best restaurants in Hudson. The food is fantastic - fresh, local offerings expertly prepared. The service is wonderful and very professional. The decor is inviting, warm, and a good topic of conversation. I always mean to ask about the artists because there's one piece in particular I'd love to buy and maybe it's for sale.
Anyway, it's nice to have a place to get nearly authentic Southern food in upstate NY. Looking forward to my next meal at Helsinki.
Beautiful venue for music! Unfortunately when we attended on a Saturday, the club menu wasn't offered. Only the full dinner menu which is very, very pricey for the quality and offerings. The food was not particularly good. Catfish was under cooked and had to be returned to the kitchen. The accompaniments were kind of lackluster.
Honestly though, you can't beat the music venue anywhere, even in New York City--- just have to polish that kitchen!
I have been to Club Helsinki 3-4 times now, and each time I have loved it. Most of the shows I've seen there have been wonderful, and while the club can't take credit for that, they do provide a beautiful venue.
The building itself is gorgeous; the owners did a very nice job with the renovation. Not only is it beautiful, but it seems that you have a good view of the stage no matter where you are seated. From the tiny tables right up next to the stage to the balcony near the sound mixer, there are no obstructions and everything on the stage is easily visible. The place is also quite small, so that also helps the visibility. The small size also lends an intimate feel to the place, so you really get a feel for the musicians. One time when I was there the sound was off - the guitars were so overpowering you couldn't hear anything else - but most of the time the sound is right on.
The food is also quite good. I am a vegetarian so I've only sampled a few of the menu items, but each one was very good. The wait staff ranges from extremely attentive to barely there, like most places that serve food, I guess.
This is one of my favorite live music venues and I'll definitely be back.
Must amend my review of a few weeks ago as relates to the restaurant, not the club. Â
Specifically the drinks are weak; the bartender needs to pour more generously. Â I've never heard an establishment criticized for cocktails that are too strong, but certainly for the converse. Â After two mojitos, barely a buzz.
As to the food, there is clearly ambition in the kitchen, but proportions need to be adjusted. Â Example one: Â the pea pie, an interesting dish, sits atop a circle of tasty sweet corn mush... but there isn't a sufficient amount of it given the size of the pie. Â Example two: Â the excellent cucumber gazpacho comes with a float of crumbled feta cheese, of which there is way too much. Â Perhaps the crumbles should be served on the side so the diner can take control of the dish.
But still, I'm coming back for the very hospitable vibes and gorgeous
setting.
Our very attentive waiter was Riley, I think.
Went to a free local showcase tonight at Helsinki...two solo acts...got a chance to see an acquaintance play a wonderfully funny and introspective solo guitar set.
The building is simply beautiful and it seems the more time you spend there, the more you appreciate the fine attention to detail paid by the owners. Sadly, still no liquor license.
Helsinki has moved to Hudson and it's fantastic, albeit still in development/construction. No liquor license yet, so settle for shirley temples. The performance space is gorgeous, rough-hewn and tiered.
We caught this all-cello performance last night:
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Ds1RlBV9Ak30&s=73231f54167c448792a6eabb7e5cdf1918c9d591e89d100f5c08b44c33afffe0" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/w…</a>
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