Station 1 - Woodside, CA

I struggled between getting this place 3 or 4 stars because I really think it's more of a 3.5 star. However, since the service was good and some of the starters were good, I'll round up the half a star even though food wise I still think its a 3.5 despite the price tag being so "well priced".

I had high expectations of this place because the bf compared it to Village Pub and researched that Station 1 was better. The Village Pub got a Michelin star so I was definitely excited for our date night at Station 1 if it was going to be better.

The house was small, intimate, romantic, and we were seated right away in a cozy corner facing the fireplace (which was not on?). The wait staff was friendly and very attentive for the most part. We brought our own wine which they happily corked for $25 and we were even poured by the owner of Station 1 who was very nice in asking us about the wine and how we'd like it decanted etc.

We ordered a soup, two appetizers and two entrees. I'm not a dessert person so I was happy with this setup. The first three dishes were smash hits. The honey corn bread with cinnamon butter, their celery root soup with caramelized onions and bacon and the brussels sprouts were all amazing. Particularly, the brussels sprouts were very well cooked, char'd perfectly and seasoned to a crisp. 

Then came the entrees. The bf got halibut, which was supposed to be medium cooked but it was pan seared and not poached so definitely was over cooked in many areas. The side that was pan seared also had a very funny sear, it was harder / more crispy on one side and less on the other. The fish was generally on the dry side and there wasn't really a sauce to go with it so it didn't take away the dryness.

The fault came with my waygu beef. The beef came on a bed of a strange vicious, almost mucus substance that was a creme fraiche of potatoes. The texture was an immediately turn off because my beef stuck to the plate and whenI pulled it off, it would leave these slimy little mucus lines... NOT appetizing! 

And they fried some green vegetable on my plate that was the same cooking style as the brussels sprouts, at this point a tad overly greasy since we had the same thing earlier for an appetizer.

And the beef. Oh the beef. I feel like any great chef understands that seasoning, or even specifically finishing salt is like... one of  the most crucial bits when cooking red meat or meat of any kind. My beef didn't have any seasoning, it just seemed like a well cooked piece of tasteless beef, it didn't even have salt. I wanted to ask for a shaker! I was really surprised since I feel like this is one of those basic things that you just don't mess up.

In the end, I walked out definitely more disappointed than I had walked in. I don't know that I will return and it will be unlikely until at least they change their menu since they seem to serve similar fare all week whether it's Sunday supper or weekday set menu.