At Blu on the Hudson, lunch is reimagined: seasonal plates, award-winning cocktails, and the Manhattan skyline as your backdrop.

On a bright weekday afternoon, Manhattan stretches across the river like a promise—shimmering glass, towering spires, the Empire State Building anchoring it all. Yet instead of being swallowed by the city’s restless pace, you are sitting across the Hudson, cocktail in hand, watching the skyline as though it were framed art. This is the luxury of Blu on the Hudson in Weehawken—a restaurant that has mastered the art of perspective.

Now, with the launch of lunch and patio dining Tuesday through Friday, Blu invites you to reclaim the middle of your week. It is not simply a meal, it is a pause. A reminder that sometimes the best way to experience New York is to step just beyond its borders.

A Restaurant with a View—and a Point of View

Set against the waterfront, Blu on the Hudson is more than just a perch with sweeping city vistas. It is a striking modern American restaurant that feels both refined and effortlessly relaxed—a combination New Yorkers crave but rarely find.

From your table, the Hudson ripples softly in the foreground while the Freedom Tower glints in the distance. The energy of Manhattan is right there, visible across the water, yet the hum is replaced by something quieter: conversation, laughter, the clink of glassware. It is this juxtaposition—intimacy paired with grandeur—that sets Blu apart.

The Culinary Vision of Chef JC Ortega

At the heart of Blu’s new lunch service is Executive Chef Juan Carlos “JC” Ortega, whose résumé spans some of New York’s most polished dining rooms, including Catch Steak and Blue Water Grill. His style is ambitious yet approachable—food that feels refined without losing its sense of comfort.

For lunch, Ortega has crafted a menu that adapts to every kind of diner. The power-lunch dealmaker, the friends catching up over cocktails, the solo guest in search of something far better than a desk-side salad. Variety and freshness guide the experience, but the plates never feel excessive.

For Ortega, the goal is simple: to make midday dining feel intentional rather than rushed. His menus create space for pause, pleasure, and perspective—even in the middle of a busy week.

The Midday Menu at Blu on the Hudson

Take the Nori ‘Tacos,’ jewel-toned bites that arrive like edible art: salmon paired with ikura, toro topped with Kaluga caviar, and A5 Wagyu tucked into delicate seaweed shells. Each one playful, but rooted in precision. The Chirashi Box, scattered with tuna, Hamachi, spicy tuna, eel, avocado, and ikura, reads like a painter’s palette, a reminder that abundance can also be elegant.

Salads lean, classic, but never ordinary. The Wedge Salad becomes a study in contrasts. Glazed bacon for smoke, crispy shallots for crunch, blue cheese for tang. The Jumbo Lump Crabmeat & Shrimp Cobb reimagines the American staple as a seafood-forward indulgence, layered with avocado, corn, and deviled eggs. These are the kinds of dishes that make midday dining feel deliberate, not rushed.

For those who want comfort with a flourish, there is the Blu Burger, unapologetically stacked with white cheddar, a sunny-side egg, and bacon-tomato jam. Or the Wagyu Fried Rice, where chili garlic heat and maitake mushrooms lend a luxe spin to a casual dish. Even the Crispy Chicken Sandwich feels less like a grab-and-go staple and more like a signature worth savoring, served on brioche with waffle fries that practically beg to be shared.

Cocktails as Culture at Blu on the Hudson

Here, the bar program is not just about pairing. It is about shaping the mood of the afternoon. The Three Martini Tasting turns lunch into a quiet ritual of leisure, offering three miniature pours that feel both playful and indulgent, a nod to the long lunch culture, more common in Europe than in Midtown.

The Aperol Spritz carries that same continental ease—fizzy, citrusy, and evocative of summer afternoons on an Italian terrace, now transposed to the banks of the Hudson. Together, they frame a meal that does not rush you back to the office but dares you to pause, extend, and savor.

For those who prefer their glass filled with tradition, Blu’s Wine Spectator award-winning list makes the restaurant as much a destination for collectors as for casual drinkers who simply want the right glass with their view.

A BKLS Perspective

What makes Blu on the Hudson resonate is not just its view or its menu. It is the permission it offers. In a city where lunch is often eaten hunched over laptops or squeezed between meetings, Blu reframes midday as an occasion.

To sit across the river, skyline in full view, cocktail in hand, is to be reminded that perspective is a luxury in itself. It is not about being far from New York but about seeing it differently—appreciating its energy without being consumed by its pace.

It is this idea—that reclaiming time can be as indulgent as the food itself—that makes Blu worth crossing the Hudson for. And once you are there, the difference is immediate.

A Different Kind of New York Escape

The air feels softer, the skyline less imposing, almost painterly when seen across the water. Conversation flows more easily, laughter carries without being drowned out by traffic, and the pace of the city suddenly feels optional.

For New Yorkers, Blu on the Hudson becomes a reset button within reach of the subway. For visitors, it offers the rare chance to see Manhattan in full—dazzling yet distant, close enough to admire but far enough to breathe.

It is less about escape in the grand sense and more about perspective—a simple shift that changes how the whole city feels.

Practical Elegance

At Blu, the logistics are as seamless as the experience itself. While lunch remains the centerpiece, weekends bring brunch and weekday afternoons flow into a lively Social Hour—proof that the restaurant’s sense of occasion extends well beyond midday. Lunch runs Tuesday through Friday, from noon to 3:30 PM, with reservations available on OpenTable for those who prefer to plan ahead. And while Blu does deliver through Uber Eats and Grubhub, the view across the Hudson is reason enough to step away from your desk.

This season also marks a new chapter: Blu on the Hudson will expand with a second restaurant in Livingston, proof that its vision of skyline dining resonates far beyond Weehawken.

Blu on the Hudson: A Moment Apart

To sit at Blu on the Hudson at midday is to reclaim something the city rarely grants—time. The view itself reframes the day: Manhattan stretched wide across the river, glass towers softened by distance, the rush of traffic replaced by the rhythm of the tide. From this side, New York feels almost like a painting, its brilliance easier to see when you are not caught inside it.

But Blu is more than a backdrop. It invites you to slow down, to let the courses unfold in their own rhythm, to let the wine glass catch the light a little longer than usual. Lunch becomes less about filling a gap and more about answering something deeper—the need to slow down, to reconnect, and to see the city from a different vantage point.

In a city that thrives on speed, Blu on the Hudson offers something rare: the reminder that luxury is not always about extravagance. Sometimes, it is simply the freedom to pause, to taste, and to see New York anew.

Blu on the Hudson is one way to see the city anew this season — but it is only the beginning. Discover more in our 15 Unforgettable September Experiences in New York City

Plan Your Visit to Blu on the Hudson

📍 Blu on the Hudson
1200 Harbor Blvd — Weehawken, NJ
🕒 Lunch Hours: Tuesday through Friday Noon – 3:30 PM | Brunch at Blu: Weekends from Noon – 3 PM |
🍸 Social Hour: 3 PM – 6 PM Monday-Friday
📞 201.636.1200
🌐 www.bluonthehudson.com
📸 Instagram: @Bluonthehudson

Reservations are recommended. You can book a table directly at OpenTable.