Station Road Adelaide — Restaurant in Adelaide

Station Road boasts a charming yet understated ambiance. However, while the aesthetic is modern and clean, the dining tables and chairs themselves feel somewhat cheap, which slightly detracts from the overall experience.

Service was warm and attentive, though our experience with recommendations left something to be desired. Our waiter enthusiastically suggested cocktails with mezcal she described as “amazing,” yet when they arrived, they fell flat. Surprisingly, she later admitted she had never actually tried them—a misstep in guiding guests toward an enjoyable dining experience.

As for the food, we sampled a selection from the menu with mixed results: • Hand-picked mud crab, preserved chilli, betel leaf, blood lime – This was the undeniable highlight. Delicately balanced, fresh, and full of vibrant flavors. • Tasmanian sea urchin, omelette sandwich – Unfortunately, the mayonnaise was overpowering, completely masking the delicate sea urchin. • Point Turton octopus, sweet corn, chilli, coriander – Pleasant but not particularly memorable. • Line-caught bonito, gazpacho, miso cream – A well-executed dish, though lacking a standout element. • Mayura Wagyu tartare, Tasmanian wasabi, buckwheat – Surprisingly underwhelming, with little to no depth of flavor. • Queensland tiger prawn and ‘nduja tempura, warm tartare, lemon myrtle – An interesting combination of textures and flavors, though not entirely cohesive. • Mayura Station Wagyu 9+, sauce au poivre, pommes dauphine – The meat itself was cooked beautifully, but the sauce tasted disappointingly like a standard Diane gravy.

While there were moments of brilliance—particularly with the mud crab—the overall dining experience was inconsistent. Given the setting and service, there is potential, but refinement in execution and more thoughtful recommendations from the staff would elevate...

Food here was mostly disappointing and poorly executed or just confusing. We were on the feed me menu which included snacks, entrees, mains and dessert.

We started with gougeres with charred bay oil - these were filled with something fridge cold and felt like eating a cold pat of butter in stale pastry. Next was the yellowfin tostada with crème fraiche which tasted only of the corn tostada and,like a lot of the food for the evening, completely lacked salt.

For entrees: sourdough with chilli butter had no chilli flavour, the bluenose ceviche had good flavour but again needed salt, and the braised cabbage with sauce gribiche was the least popular dish of the night - too hard to share and flavours just didn’t match.

Mains with sides could all have done with more salt. The cook on the sirloin was great but there was no salt to finish and the jus needed more seasoning. The grilled spatchcock seemed to be cooked sous vide at a low temp before barely being kissed on the grill. As such, the skin was pale and flabby, and some people at the table wouldn’t eat more of it when they saw how pink/undercooked it was towards the bone end. The fries with furikake needed more salt and steamed bok choy needed more soy; both we ended up eating with the remaining steak jus.

Finally dessert was crème brulee which just didn’t hit at the end of the night. It hadn’t been chilled enough to be a rich but refreshing end to a weighty meal nor was it sweet enough to be an all out decadence.

Outside of the food, staff were attentive and kept wine and water topped up. The space can get quite loud when it’s crowded

Overall, could not recommend. At $80ph, the food is a bit...

Apparently Station Road’s concept had recently changed; if so, it needs more work. We were celebrating our 41st anniversary while in Australia from the US and had been told by locals that the restaurant was a good choice. We chose the “Feed Me” option and were seated at the kitchen counter, so we could watch the action. The kitchen wasn’t a well-oiled machine, the chef didn’t seem happy most of the time and scrapped a few dishes at the pass. Of everything dish we were served, including the desserts, only the bluenose crudo and the crème brûlée were successful. Everything else lacked flavor or punch and was under seasoned, particularly under-salted or the flavors were unbalanced (for example the tuna tartare on a corn chip was dominated by flavor of the chip, not the tuna). For our main, we were served a single pork chop to share - it wasn’t grilled long enough to render the fat on the edge and was served dry on a plate with a dollop of mustard, a side of unsalted roasted potatoes, and a salad of tough greens in bland sour cream dressing.

The service wasn’t much better. The sommelier was charming and served us thoughtful pairings with each course (such as they were). However, we were ignored by the rest of the staff most of the time (for example our water was refilled only once and toward the end of the meal).

It was an off night all around on several levels and we wouldn’t make a...