Station Hotel 59 Napier Street, Footscray, Victoria 3011

"I went as part of a large group, and whilst we have heard from friends and family that Station Hotel had changed hands, we were shocked at how far the quality had dropped off. What was a good value, extremely underrated pub/restaurant with good steak options has now become not just an overpriced pub, but one of those restaurants with the playgrounds that serve average food for extremely high prices due to being "kid friendly". - steaks seemed UNDERWEIGHT from what was listed in the menu. This is actually appalling and prompted me to write the review. For context, a Bavette has always been a single chunk of 200g meat. Tonight, multiple people in my group ordered a Bavette (please refer to picture) and each person was served two thin and already cut slices of steak with no start or end to the slices. Whilst the cooked weight of steaks does shrink from the raw weight, there is no explanation that 200g = 2 thin slices of steak for each person's serve. I suspect that a 600g piece of steak (may have been a Bavette, may have not) was cooked and divided into 3 x 200g "sizes". Not a reasonable representation of a 200g steak that was then cooked. A 250g Rostbiff turned out like it had a raw weight of 200g - it had shrunken so much that that couldn't be explained by cooking. I had a scotch 300g. My piece was underweight because it was obvious that it had been TENDERIZED to give it the same visual size, and was extremely thin. As such, I believe it was underweight when raw. For comparison, a 300g Scotch fillet steak bought from the supermarket does not shrink that much when cooked. - portion sizes were much smaller and as a result (could be due to the underweight steak) I left hungry even after sharing some entree dishes. -steaks were totally underseasoned. My Scotch fillet had a lot of gristle and the texture was ruined by being tenderized. - sauces, whilst complimentary with the steaks, were diluted and especially the peppercorn sauce - watery, with hardly any peppercorns. Chips also were not "hand-cut" - they were the frozen variety, but also underseasoned as well. - service was not attentive and we repeatedly saw multiple staff at the pass talking at any given point. Whilst there have been changes in creative direction (i.e a sweet tasting chicken liver parfait with milk bread) the response to this is subjective. However, underweight steaks would be inexcusable for any restaurant, and hence why we have had an experience that I cannot refuse to write off, and feel the need to write this review."

"A lovely place for group gatherings with great food, spacious tables both indoors and outside too. In Summer it's great to be outdoors with the playground and animal petting on Sundays. And in Winter they have cute igloo set-ups with a set menu. The bar area has music but if you'd like a quiet table then the dining room area is fine for catchups and chatting."

"The place to go to for steak in the western suburbs of Melbourne. Meat was well cooked and as requested, sides tasty and of good portion, mash and onion rings top class. Service was good although a little stretched, could have done with a couple of extra heads."

"Grass fed ribeye on the bone. Cooked to perfection. $68 500g cut with chips and salad and two sauces included. Beers on tap and excellent choice of wines to match. Best steak this side of town."