Restaurant Week. Stop No. 2: Hudson's on the Bend

I had heard great things about Hudson's on the Bend...specifically, that if I liked game (you know, not your typical hamburger helper types of meat), I had to go. 

The menu is on the $$$ side, so we went to try their FAB Restaurant Week menu. 

The really cool thing about this place's ARW is that for $10 more you have wine pairings with each course---it's like the dining experience on steroids.

OK so I was expecting a fancy restaurant (from all the hoopla you know? And a 30 minute drive to dinner is painful when you're hungry), but what welcomed us was the prettiest outdoor seating area, enormous trees covered with lights, a busy patio, and a rustic waiting area with heavy woods, a tin roof, and guitars signed by all the ACL stars. 

It is so country, in a good way. 

The dining room was cozy, even romantic, with low lighting and heavy candle light. It was comfortable. 

Started off with complimentary cocktails while we waited. Yes, please!

Our first course was the amuse bouche: Wild Boar in a puff pastry with tomatillo white chocolate sauce with cotija (or queso fresco) sprinkled on top. I must admit that I am NOT the biggest fan of white chocolate, but this was gooood.  

Italianini had the Chipotle Lobster Bisque with a Parmesan Puff Pastry Crouton. He loved it. He, literally, would not shut up about it and how perfect it was.

I had the Smoked Duck Diablos: Duck breast, jicama, jalapeno, figs in balsamic wrapped in apple wood bacon with a red chili glaze dipping sauce. The presentation was a little weird, but the bacon was perfect and the jicama gave it a great crunch. The dipping sauce, however, just ruined it. It was too vinegary, too thick... I just skipped it. 

We both HAD to have the Pecan Grilled Venison with Chipotle Beer Blanc

Served with green chile mashed potatoes and a medley of summer vegetables. It's hard to explain how good this dish was. The meat was tender, nutty, and cooked to perfection. The mashed potatoes tasted like a piece of New Mexico...that green chile kicked my butt!

Oh, and that sweet tooth of ours... I had the Warm Spring Berry Flambé atop Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. It made me warm and fuzzy inside. 

Italianini had the Brownie Sundae with Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch Ice Cream

and Hot Fudge Sauce. It was good, but he kept stealing bites from mine! 

The choices of wine were vast. You had two or three choices for each course. The service was stellar, and overall a great experience. 

The regular menu has things like- rattle snake cakes, rabbit, pheasant, buffalo, elk, etc...

Panza llena, corazon contento.