THE STATION HOTEL

59 Napier St, Footscray - ph: (03) 9687 2913

www.thestationhotel.com.au

I have been hearing good things about The Station Hotel for some time. From different people. From blogs. So yes, I was pretty excited about going there for dinner.

The chef - Sean Donovan - spent a long time working at restaurants in Europe before returning to Melbourne. The Station is decorated with many pictures of menus prepared by him when he was working in the UK and France. It gives the place a nice European bistro feel.

We had made a reservation for the dining room, but were running really to make it in time for our booking. By the time we got there, we would need to eat in a hurry before the next seating (I'm always annoyed by the 2 seating times policy...). Staff were very nice about it though and quickly got us a table at the bar, where we could order the same food as in the dining room anyway...

We ordered:

White and green asparagus served with poached egg and mousseline sauce.

White and green asparagus served with poached egg and mousseline sauce

The asparagus tasted great and the egg was perfectly cooked.

I was a bit disappointed with the mousseline sauce - a very traditional French sauce that is similar to hollandaise, with the addition of whipped cream. Neither the texture nor the taste resembled the sauce served in France. I was expecting more given Donovan's long experience working in Europe...

Surely, we had to order one of their steaks - that's what the restaurant is well known for.

Hubby had the Black Angus T-bone. The meet was very tender and perfectly cooked. Great steak. Chips were done very well and the generous serve of salad pulled the trick at making us believe we had a healthy meal!

140 day grain fed Black Angus T-bone ($42)

As much as the French-style entree let me down, the steak got me excited about this place again and wanting to come back for more.

Between taking these pictures and actually writing this post, I've already been there again - for the steak only - and recommended it to a couple of friends.

Worth a try.