Hudsons taps into a love of country
It was the eve of Canada Day and we were just back from vacation. With little food in the fridge (and no flags to wave) we did the next best thing — went out for dinner at the most red and white, flag-waving, Canada-gushing restaurant in the city.
Hudsons Canadian Tap House is unabashedly patriotic in its decor and menu, thus the motto, “Where every day is Canada Day.”
Since opening its doors in February, Hudsons is striving to become a local institution in downtown Saskatoon. At the corner of 21st Street and Fourth Avenue, it fills the space recently vacated by John’s, a bonafide dining institution that closed after more than 35 years.
It builds on the success of Hudsons in Calgary and Edmonton; Saskatoon’s venue is the largest of the three, according to Greg Clark, the local operating partner.
But if truth be told, the real reason we went to Hudsons was to sit on the sidewalk patio and watch the world go by on a golden evening in the city. Inside, the place was hopping with the Saturday bar crowd, but out on the sidewalk, it was relaxed and peaceful.
I started with a John Candy, a parrot-blue cocktail named for the Canadian comedian whose final film, Canadian Bacon, featured an American invasion of Can- ada. Perhaps an appropriate choice given that, while on vacation, I visited Old Fort Erie, site of the bloodiest battlefield in the War of 1812. But I digress ...
My husband John chose the B.C. entry on the list of Beers Across Canada, a selection of regional micro brews from Atlantic to Pacific.
“We tried to find the best products available (through SLGA) for each province and still have a good variety across the board,” says Clark. “We did a lot of fun tasting and sampling to get there.”
While sipping, we shared an order of Atlantic Butterfly Shrimp, nicely crispy on the outside while soft and flavourful on the inside.
John followed up with a 7 oz. top sirloin steak which came with garlic mashed potatoes and a seasonal vegetable, in this case, a pretty stack of whole glazed carrots. Both vegetables were perfectly prepared and the steak was good, if a tad too far on the medium side of medium-rare.
I ordered the Sault Ste. Marie Chicken Salad which was loaded with chicken, feta cheese, tomatoes and bacon. Well, actually, it arrived at our table without the bacon but, upon informing our server, she returned promptly with a little bowl of bacon to scatter overtop.
After a satisfying salad, I had room for dessert. The menu offered two choices. We went with the Maple Blondie — sponge cake with maple crumble, maple walnut ice cream and caramel sauce.
When our bill arrived, the price of the salad had been deducted — a nice nod to customer service. On a similar note, after an early glitch, Hudsons now accepts payment by debit card.
Is Hudsons a restaurant or is it a pub? Clark describes it as a resto-pub with equal emphasis on food and beverage service. However, with 45 HDTV screens on a “very intricate matrix system” so that each one is individually programmable, there’s a lot of sports-watching potential.
“Obviously, we are Canadian and sports resonate huge with us,” says Clark. And on Rider game days, I’m told the place bleeds green — our second most patriotic colour.