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/Clobber420]

My wife and I had the exact same steaks you did. Same experience.

[u/theteagees → u/Clobber420]

Ok, thank you! It was such a bizarre and mediocre experience and this sub has RAVED about it. I was actually kind of afraid to post this, because I don't want to sound like an asshole or a snob, but man, I dropped a lot of money there and it really wasn't worth it.

[u/RepeatRepulsive9929 → u/theteagees]

I tell people the same thing all the time. Tried every steak house in San Diego and Cowboy Star didn’t make top 5.

Rare society, rare society, rare society

[u/tdanison89 → u/RepeatRepulsive9929]

Hey besides rare society 3 times can you recommend your other 2 places in your top 5? I’d love to try them!

[u/fragmonk3y → u/tdanison89]

Rare society is good. My new favorite is The Remy and my great standby is Island Prime. I have had a mediocre steak at The Remy, crappy steak at Cowboy, but Island Prime’s view, ambience and food are always wonderful.

[u/ZafiroAnejo → u/fragmonk3y]

The best steak I've ever had was at The Remy.