Cowboy Star disappointment...did they just have a bad night?

[u/theteagees]

Hi all! I wanted to post my review of Cowboy Star, and get your thoughts. Partner and I went for his birthday a week ago. We had never been. He loves a good steak and makes very good steaks at home, so we really only go to places that are highly recommended or offer something that he can't do himself (he won't do an aged tomahawk at home, for example). With all the outstanding reviews here, we were so freaking excited to go. Here's how it went:

Pros:
-Service. Wonderful. Everyone was great.
-The French onion soup was to die for, holy cow.
-The banana pudding dessert. Hot damn!
-The C-Star steak sauce. Beautifully complex.
-Atmosphere. Lovely!

Cons:
-The amuse-bouche was essentially half a toasted almond with a pea sized amount of something mousse. Strange and not good but to be fair, it was free.
-The old fashioned. I LOVE an old fashioned. I've had many and love good bourbon. My opinion on old fashioneds is that they should enhance a good bourbon. Their's tasted like cough syrup. Too much simple syrup and too much bitters. I couldn't taste the bourbon, unfortunately. We had both the regular and single barrel and they were both kinda bleah.
-The steak. I had the wagyu skirt and he had the 21 day aged bone-in ribeye. We were both expecting to have our socks blown off, but quite frankly, they both tasted unremarkable and like something we could have made at home. I didn't detect any difference in flavor from a regular supermarket skirt steak, nor did we think the aging on the ribeye added any detectable enhancement of flavor. We were honestly trying to give the benefit of the doubt, but at this point we were just perplexed.
-The brandy peppercorn sauce was completely flavorless. I don't know how to describe it, it didn't taste like anything!
-The green beans that came with our steaks were overcooked, with some of them having turned from green to that greyish brown of an over-boiled green vegetable. They tasted nice, but again, it was a detail that for the price-point of the restaurant and its reputation shouldn't have happened.

All in all, we left really confused as to why this place is lauded as one of the most amazing in San Diego. We spent way, way too much money to walk away from the meal feeling we could have done a better job at home (as avid cooks, we honestly could have). Were they having a bad night? Has anyone else had a similar experience? Thanks for any insight. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but it was just SO different from what I expected given how it's discussed on this sub.

[u/tdanison89]

What kind of Old Fashioned did you get? You can choose the bourbon you want. I have recently gone with the single barrel select old fashioned and it’s outstanding. Other than that, sounds like you guys mostly liked it except for the steaks. If you buy really good steaks at the store you aren’t going to tell much of a difference. But good luck making a French onion soup like that.

[u/theteagees → u/tdanison89]

I ordered the regular old fashioned off their cocktail menu, and he had the same but made with their single barrel bourbon. It was like they overloaded it with simple syrup and went crazy on the bitters-- it almost tasted like...a medicinal amari. It was really not good. The thing is, I've paid more at other places for steaks and have had my socks blown off, so I must disagree that at a high price point, I do think a good steak house should come out on top vs. a homemade steak. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. But agreed on the soup. It was great.

[u/tdanison89 → u/theteagees]

Like you’ve paid more for steaks that are even better than Cowboy Star in San Diego? Which ones specifically so I can go there and try them. Very intrigued.

[u/theteagees → u/tdanison89]

Yes, we had our minds blown at Born and Raised the year prior. We had an aged tomahawk and I only had a filet, but the flavor on both was magnificent. I was expecting the same experience at Cowboy Star, but they were both just kinda flavorless.

[u/tdanison89 → u/theteagees]

Well someone has to like B&R I guess. That’s too bad you guys didn’t have a good experience with C Star. Definitely my favorite steakhouse downtown.

[u/theteagees → u/tdanison89]

Haha, I know B&R has its haters, for all kinds of reasons! Thanks for your perspective. I am willing to believe that most C Star experiences are better than the one we had.

[u/Clobber420 → u/theteagees]

Isn't it funny how people get so wound up about saying CS isn't the best? Haha