Station Hotel

Posted by: seddondiner | 9 January 2010, 11.07am

The steaks at the Station Hotel truly are the best I've tasted in ages! Even friends from the country and interstate have been won over and we're happy to pay the prices.
Unfortunately good food is not an umbrella for customer service (at the bar - the wait staff are outstanding by comparison, always polite and friendly)
Bar staff who just stare at you when you approach the bar to order a drink and return your change without a word or smile? Asking three times for service and then being given a withering look? Who's serving who here...?
As if that wasn't bad enough, on another occasion, ordering a $50 bottle of wine from the bar and then, after having sat down, having the bar man wave from the bar at us to attract our attention, then crook his index finger and pointing at the bottle of wine and glasses, motioning for us to come to bar and collect them... Are you kidding!
Simple really: folks dining at the bar are paying the same prices as the restaurant and should be treated to the same service.

Food:			Visit: Fri 8 January 2010 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: doogal | 12 November 2009, 11.54am

been before but four of us had another visit.we found it noisy, tucker was good but a little pricey. wife said wine list started too high. friends remarked tables too close.some more fish dishes would be good.but we all had a good time. myself ,i prefer pub grub, but my t-bone was very good.all up we will probably go back.

Food:			Visit: Sat 5 September 2009 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: xavski | 14 September 2009, 2.09pm

Top steaks! Best in Melbourne i would say for the $$$
The French onion soup is to die for
Service can be a little slow on fridays and weekends but overall its pretty good.
Recommend this to anyone craving a good steak.
Its more a Gastro pub than fine dining so dont go in expecting the full silver service.

Food:			Visit: Mon 14 September 2009
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Posted by: gb00 | 19 July 2009, 2.31pm

I can't rate this place on anything other than steak and it's the best I've had in ages. I've been here twice and have only had steak. I generally avoid steak because so many places can't get it right, but if you ask for medium here, you get medium, not medium rare or well-done. The beef is so tender and comes with a choice of sauce and accompanied with a very simple salad and beautiful hand-cut chips. The oysters were some of the best I've tasted. The hot chocolate cake dessert was also good.

A very unprepossessing exterior. The bar is too brightly lit and the layout and fitout defnitely needs improvement. The dining area is much nicer and a bit more of what you'd expect of a trendy dining establishment. Each time I've been here, there have been enough wait staff, but they must not have an efficient system or manager to manage the tables as the wait between being seated, ordering, calling for service, etc is not good. It's good when it does come, but this is a blight on an otherwise enjoyable meal. Will defiitely be back for more steak.

Food:			Visit: Fri 3 July 2009 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: Out of Towner | 21 June 2009, 8.08pm

We enjoyed a great lunch amid a bustling crowd on a wintery Melbourne Sunday afternoon.

Foregoing entrees, most of our party settled upon steaks, which is to be honest, why we were here. Two chose the shared veal tenderloin, while another who likes to chart his own course selected the wagyu sausages.

After a slightly longer wait than one might hope for, our meals arrived looking fantastic. The steaks were sensational, correctly cooked to order and the accompanying sauces - especially the pepper sauce - exquisite. The veal too was superb and from all reports, so were the sausages.

A couple of our party forged on with desserts, which again came out superbly presented and tasted terrific.

If you don't mind the bustling surrounds of a busy bistro and occasional lapses in service, this is a great place to get together with family and friends to enjoy very well executed food.

Food:			Visit: Sun 21 June 2009 Mealtime: lunch
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Posted by: Dobson73 | 27 February 2009, 9.30am

After hearing rave reviews from some friends and "don't ever go there" from others, we decided to find out for ourselves what The Station experience was like.

Corner pubs should stick with being corner pubs; trying to fit a fine dining experience into an old pub doesn't work.

What marred the evening from the start was the rudeness of one of the staff when I called to change the number from 6 down to 4. He was not impressed and conveyed that quite plainly in our conversation.

However, we were warmly greeted on arrival and initial impressions were great. The waitress looking after us was lovely and very attentive so we forgave the guy on the phone. Bread was brought (a bit dry and possibly french bread stick from Coles? And no side plates, what's with that? Not good), wine poured and orders taken.

What was then amazing was that although the waitress spent lots of time popping past and checking on us, she never once attempted to refill our glasses. Even when she saw one of the party had an empty glass, she just smiled and kept walking. Now this is supposed to be fine dining, right? That small act jarred somewhat but the atmosphere was saved by some of the most exquisite crumbed mussels I have ever eaten. Heaven!

But then came the steak. I ordered scotch fillet which was gristly and very chewy. Extremly disappointing and frankly, I've had better at home. What a letdown. My friends both ordered the wagyu and their steaks appeared to not only be from different breeds of animal but also were completly different cuts. We were assured they were both Wagyu but doubt remained.

The final jarring moment of the evening was when our waitress checked our wine bottle, saw it was empty and proclaimed, "well, all good things must come to an end" and walked off with the bottle. No offer of further drinks, nothing. We had to call her back to ask for further wine. At that stage we just wanted out.

Overall, disappointing and we agreed we won't be returning. Too inconsistent and if this restaurant wants to be fine dining, add some table cloths, some side plates, spruce up the type of bread served and spend some time training the wait staff how to "wait".

Food:			Visit: Thu 26 February 2009 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: Nicola018 | 4 February 2009, 3.52pm

We showed up late on a Sunday and even though the restaurant was closed the kind-hearted chefs and waitstaff took pity on us starving urchins and decided to feed us. Bless.
Service was great, staff materialising out of no-where with a smile then disappearing off again until you needed them.
Ordered the steak with pepper sauce & handcut chips. OMG could there have been anything more delicious? Apparently there was: the burger. But I'll just have to take his word for it (he wasn't sharing).
But back to the steak, perfectly cooked, with the most buttery and delicious pepper sauce I have ever tasted. Chips were chunky, hot, did I mention perfect? And the side salad... well don't be fooled by the simple lettuce and red onion mixture on your plate. They've done something unexplainable to the salad. Is the onion cooked? Do I taste 5-spice? I don't know.. but I do know that I'll be back.

Food:			Visit: Sun 1 February 2009 Mealtime: lunch
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Posted by: lukebondy | 30 October 2008, 2.30pm

Check this place out if you like your steak. trust me.

Food:			Visit: Thu 16 October 2008
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Posted by: LWL | 8 August 2008, 9.07am

I'd read about the Station Hotel in the Melbourne Sunday Herald Sun who raved about it as a new wave "gastropub". Yesterday was over in that area so a mate and I stopped there for lunch.

There's a small carpark at the back of the hotel or parking in the surrounding streets. Not far from the city or Docklands the street parking is un-metered with a 4hr limit.

Yesterday the restaurant was full so we retired to the bar. The hotel is open plan inside with the bar, fridges, etc in a square island, restaurant to one side and the bar to the other. All quite modern and open plan.

We were only there for a quick lunch so opted to go for the Mon-Thu lunch special. Soup + a steak sandwich @ $12.50 each. My mate went for pea & ham. I asked the guy behind the bar if I could switch to one of the other soups (listed a la carte as $10 bowl) and that should be ok. Just back from France I was keen to try their French Onion soup with Gruyure cheese.

So Darrayal and I settled down with a beer and very promptly the meals turned up. The service pre-ordering and with the drinks was great.

The soup and the steak sandwich came out on a shared plate. Both our soups were out of this world. The ham looked like it had been cut off the bone with an axe and one of the staff mentioned afterwards that the chef used a touch of brandy in the French onion soup as well as half a case of onions and a very generous amount of cheese. Honestly the soup was better than sex. In fact that would be the only way to improve this soup!

Both soups were piping hot and Gordon Ramsay would not be able to contain himself with the fare here. The steak sandwiches were open serve on half a lightly toasted baguette with 2 nicely sliced pieces of steak perhaps 5mm thick, medium rare, some tomato and greens.

Normally if lunching with a female companion I would have tried not only his soup but also some of the greens he's left untouched. But eating with a mate invokes a different approach on tasting and sharing. This boy is not bi-gastro with his mates!

So we both left very impressed here. The food is outstanding, the atmosphere good and all the windows must be doubleglazed as there is not noise from outside.

We'll both return with our partners (and make a booking) for a second go here.

Food:			Visit: Thu 7 August 2008 Mealtime: lunch
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Posted by: westernbulldogs | 28 July 2008, 11.46am

Having sat down for lunch on Sunday and looked through the menu we were very suprised that there were no chicken dishes on the menu. As a number of people in our group are not great meat / fish eaters they found it a little difficult to choose from the menu. Overall everyone thought the food was good but the soups were exceptional especially the french onion soup.

Food:			Visit: Sun 27 July 2008 Mealtime: lunch
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