Rating *** Kirsty Smallman and company visit a revamped restaurant in Llansantffraid.

Station Restaurant has been a popular venue for dozens of our family meals and special birthdays over the years, and despite change of ownership, it always seemed to keep its good reputation.

It can often take a few months for news to travel that an eaterie has reopened and for everyone to give their opinion. I had heard a mix of good, bad and adequate opinions from people in Oswestry about the restaurant and thought we’d take two friends for a child-free, peaceful meal to find out.

We arrived to find the Station had undergone an extremely tasteful contemporary revamp.

The large bar area was now decorated in a warm and welcoming dark purple with comfy leather sofas.

We ordered drinks at the bar and told the barmaid about our booking – she at the most acknowledged we’d spoken. After ordering our drinks we had to ask for ice to go in some of them after not being offered. Little things can make such a difference.

We took a seat on a corner suite and menus were brought over by a waitress. Once again, I can’t say she was the happiest person I’d ever met either.

Anyway, we were determined to enjoy ourselves, even if the staff weren’t.

The menu offered an extensive list of dishes but very few boasted the word “homemade” in the descriptions. I tend to feel that, if it doesn’t say it, then it isn’t.

The fish dishes took my eye but as all of the others were ordering steaks I feared I’d regret my decision when I saw theirs.

So for starters, some of us ordered the garlic mushrooms (£4.95) while another ordered cheese and onion fritters (£4.95).

We were asked to go to the table and this was when things went wrong. The tables were far too close together and it was obvious we weren’t going to be able to get in.

With the waitress (still not smiling) waiting with our starters in hand we were in fits of laughter trying to get behind the table. The poor women on the next table were forced near enough under their table as we tried to get in. Despite obvious struggles, apologies to both neighbouring tables and complaints to the waitress about how ridiculous it was, we were met with silence.

The starters were put down and off she went – she had also offered goujons which were in fact fritters.

Uncomfortable, we ate our starters, and the food was in fact enjoyable. The fritters were in a crisp, hot batter and generous in portion. The mushrooms were also tasty and served with bread.

Our plates were cleared and our mains arrived without delay. The same waitress offered a fillet steak (we had ordered two sirloins, £16.95, and two T-bones, £18.95 – quite different to a fillet!)

And when we declined and told her it was a sirloin it was put in front of one of us. The men’s T-bones also arrived but we decided halfway through that they were probably the wrong way around due to the difference in choice of cooking.

All of our steaks were tender, served with separate chips, dauphinoise potatoes and a good, plentiful selection of fresh vegetables. Everyone else’s was served with a side salad, mine had been forgotten. The chips were very tasty.

When choosing sweets we were offered a menu, also lacking “homemade”, so when asked if they were, the waitress awkwardly said no. We declined.

Nobody had a complaint about the meals but the “wow” factor just wasn’t there. The lack of welcome and professionalism by the staff, the lack of room and comfort at the table really did spoil the evening. An older woman (possibly the manager) who appeared from the kitchen late on asked if everything was alright as she went by but didn’t stop long enough for us to answer.

And when paying the bill, nearing £100, at the bar I asked the man how long it had been open and he simply answered “November”. Personality and welcome can make such a difference to a dining experience – there are lessons to be learned and I hope they are because the Station could once again be a good, thriving venue.

ADDRESS
The Station Restaurant, Llansantffraid SY22 6AD
Tel: (01691) 828478