The Muster Station

I’m torn on what rating to give this place. I’ve been there twice for two different types of evenings… The first time I was there it was for a large party where we went for drinks and appetizers. It was excellent. We had a huge section to ourselves, the service was good and the apps. were good too.
I recently there for supper with my bf and the in-​laws. My meal was so bland and horrible. I had the ‘angry spaghetti’ and quite frankly I could have made a better pasta myself! They were out of pepperoni and spinach. My bf had the burger and he loved it. The fries were too salty.
All in all, I would go back again… for a burger and beer. But stay clear of the pasta.

I really really really want to write a glowing review for this place. I’m Dartmouth — born and raised — and I know we need some good eats around here, but I’ve had too few hits and too many misses with The Muster Station.
My boyfriend and I first went for lunch. It was busy in the bar section and we were served quickly. The waitress gave us lots of information was attentive enough. Our food arrived in a timely manner (he a stack, me a wrap) and it was quite tasty so we decided to go back.
We went for dinner the next night. The dining room was open — but empty — so we headed to the bar side again. We had a different waiter this time and he was fantastic. Knew the place in and out and was able to make great recommendations. The food was still great this time so I hadn’t ruled it out quite yet.
I had chatted up the Muster Station so much that my family — mom, dad, and two sisters — decided to go there for lunch for my sister’s birthday. BAD IDEA. We got there around 1pm and the bar side was pretty empty. It took FOREVER for a waitress to even take our drink orders and then even longer for her to bring them back. I’m not sure how difficult grabbing a few cans of coke and iced tea from the fridge is, but maybe the fridge was really really far away. ANYWAY. We ordered and my parents both go the onion soups to start. Neither were a big fan. My sisters both ordered stacks (A hawaiin and the paris) and I got the pulled pork sandwich. About an hour later our food arrived. Warm, but not hot. And disappointing. The pork had no flavour. By the time we were done I don’t think we had seen the waitress again and had to go up and ask for our bill. 2 hours later and we were neither satisfied or impressed.
But I gave it another go. Like I said, i want so badly for it to be good. This time my boyfriend and I just dropped in quickly for a few appies before heading out for the night. We got nachos and calamari and YUM! We told the waiter that we were in a rush and the food was on the table in minutes! The nachos were cheesy and there were toppings throughout it, not just on the top. And the calamari was to die for. Not chewy, not too much breading, and just the right amount of sauce.
I will probably give this place another shot. Maybe I’ll sit in the dining room next time. Maybe that’ll help things along. All I want is consistency.

I tried. I really did. I wanted to love this place. I wanted this place to be our local hang out for drinks and munchies.
That will never happen.
We have visited Muster Station three times now. The first time we went we had a nice sit down meal.
The waitress came over and said «So what are you guys eating?» No «Could I start you off with a beverage? A glass of wine?» Nope– she didn’t have a clue.
I asked if there was any rare prime rib left and she laughed at me. It was 8:30pm on a Saturday night– not a silly question if you are actually cooking and serving prime rib properly.
We ordered meals after asking to order drinks.
The prime rib is supposed to come with a salad to start. The salad never came.
The meals came and I asked about the salad.
She asked if I wanted it now. I explained that no, I wanted it as a starter as it says in the menu. Our meal was here. And I asked her to subtract that from my bill for her error.
Oh no. This was the absolute end of the world.
The waitress says «Oh no, the salad is FREE. We won’t be subtracting it. You can have it now or you don’t have it. Either way it is free»
What absolutely bull. The salad is included in the price of the entire meal. No restaurant gives something away for free if they are looking for make money. It is all within the price of the meal.
My partner ordered a stack (their version of a hamburger) he did enjoy it.
My ‘rare’ prime rib was probably a half cooker prime rib roast that they cut and then browned on both sides to your liking. Not the proper way to serve prime rib. It was also slathered in Montréal steak spice. I mean SLATHERED. It wouldn’t have been so bad had they taken the time to learn how to do it right.
Truth be told we shouldn’t have gone back.
But we did.
Again we had a clueless waitress and a bad meal.
The problem here besides the food is the fact that management isn’t training their servers. You aren’t born knowing how to serve– you are taught.
If management doesn’t step up they will go out of business.

My fiancé and I along with my best friend went here for lunch today. I had heard a lot about it, and one of my co-​workers knows people that work/​own the place. Before going, I checked the menu online and it seemed interesting. I, generally am a bit leery of the bar and grill type restaurant. Often, I find that they are trying to hard to be something they are not and the culinary staff they hire can not execute the menu as described.
My fiancé ordered the Club sandwich with fries, and my best friend and I both ordered the steak sandwich with fries. The club sandwich, was your run of the mill club sandwich. There was nothing to make it stand out from a club sandwich at any other pub in this city. All three of our entrees came with coleslaw, that in my opinion was disgusting. The cabbage in the slaw, looked like it was very old as it was grey (aka going bad). The slaw itself was very dry, and had hardly any dressing. The little bit of dressing that was there was not appealing.
The steak sandwiches had the one benefit that they used actually steak and not processed garbage. However, the additional toppings were slim, and using the foccacia I think was a poor choice. The menu indicated that the foccacia would be grilled, but mine was not and my best friend’s did not appear to be either. Also, the menu listed crispy onions as a topping and my did not include onions at all.
Finally, the fries were disgusting prefab ones. The website says that they make everything on site «with fresh and local ingredients». The fries were not horrible and on the menu it says served with «seasoned, cut fries» … which should mean they were cut in house not from a bag.
The décor was your typical Halifax area bar and grill/​sports bar décor – nothing special at all. The server we had was ok, it was not busy at all when we were there. There were times when I would have liked to speak with the server but she was no where to be found. After our meal, when she came to ask about the bills: we told her that my fiancé and I were one bill and my best friend was a separate bill. Her reply was «I should be able to handle that»… I found that comment odd. If you can not handle a table of three and only two separate bills, then perhaps being a server is not the job for you.
While, I am not eager to go back to this restaurant, we may go again to try one of their burgers.

Oh Muster Station, despite your weird name, I really wanted to like you. I tried. On three occasions. Overall? Very uneven.
My first visit was with my friend L who had eaten there before and actually raved about it. I really got my hopes up for a great new and affordable Dartmouth resto. L had tried various versions of their «stacks» or burger combinations and was in love. I perused the menu with interest — some yummy appetizer options, a whole page devoted to their stacks, and a broad selection of other entrees to choose from. I noticed a lot of affordable options. My eyes lingered over the pulled pork sandwich, but I decided to go with one of their burgers. It was a tough choice, but in the end I went for the Londoner consisting of a homemade beef patty, topped with potato crispies, crumbled Stilton, Cumberland sauce and a sweet pickle. My friend had already tried the Thai burger and loved it so much she ordered it again — it’s topped with coconut mayo, Asian slaw, fresh mango, tempura chilies and banana ketchup.
We got crab-​stuffed jumbo shrimp to start, and when it arrived we were a little confused. The crab-​stuffed shrimp were served with pita triangles and garlic butter. We awkwardly tried to wrap the pita triangles around the shrimp but they weren’t big enough. We weren’t sure how the pita fit in or if there was a trick to eating it. Or perhaps the pita was just a random thing to put on the plate? We caught our server walking by and told her we weren’t sure how to eat our appetizer. She laughed nervously, saying she gets asked that a lot. And then she walked away. For real. So we just ate the shrimp with the garlic butter, and ate the pita separately. It was delicious.
Our stacks arrived and looked great — no wimpy little burgers in sight. We upgraded to sweet potato fries, and they were quite good. My first bite of burger was disappointing — dry and lacking in flavour. But things improved after the first bite and I ended up loving the burger. The combination of flavours and textures was right on the mark and it was just the right amount of messy without being sloppy. L was not so lucky. Her burger was dry and the Asian slaw was made with completely different veggies that were not exactly slaw-​worthy, like green pepper. She was very disappointed, but ended the dinner on a high note with the mini vanilla bean cheesecake she had for dessert. Service was uneven, but mostly okay.
I’ll admit here — my memory is fuzzy on the details of my second visit as I was preoccupied with my brand new iPhone! I tried the Paris stack, made with
Brie, sweet Dijon, mushrooms, tarragon mayo, and toasted Brioche. It was fine, but I definitely preferred the Londoner. Service left a little to be desired.
On my third visit, I joined L and two of her friends to give Muster Station another chance. We ordered a few appetizers to start — pepperoni, nachos and wings. Nothing to rave about here, but they were decent. I think the wings were good though, because they were gone before I tried one. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich this time — topped with crispy onions and apple-​spiced mayo. It was very tasty, and again — not nearly as messy as it could be, thankfully. My dining companions were not so lucky with their meals. One’s order was flubbed and he ended up getting something else in the end, which was not that great. Another ordered the Jambalaya and simply stated that it was not Jambalaya.
We had some bizarre service experiences. A couple of my dining companions had tried some of the cocktails and did not have great things to say about them. The server was also constantly confused about which one was which. In one such case she was confused between a mojito and a Manhattan. Once the guys confirmed they each had the correct drink, one of them brought up an issue to the server about his «double» cocktail which arrived in a martini glass that was less than half full. Disclaimer — I think he was mainly upset that he ordered a pink drink by mistake. She told him it was right, he seemed doubtful but let it go. Moments later she returned with another server who confirmed that the guys each had been served the drink they ordered. Okay… we already knew that and none of us had any confusion to begin with over which drink was which — that was just the server’s issue. And it had already been resolved. They left, and then the bartender came over and again confirmed they each had the drink they ordered. What? He then argued with the guy over how full the glass should be. I don’t know who was right, but really? You’re going to argue in front of your other customers? Then L and I ordered mini vanilla bean cheesecakes for dessert and they were still frozen.
All in all a less than pleasant experience. Might give it some time and try again. Most of the food I ordered has been good, after all. I hope they can resolve service issues.

Would really like to see this restaurant do well as IMO Dartmouth really needs better choices in good restaurants. The place was dead when we went and that was on a Wednesday night, the service was quick however when we asked the server what he thought was good it turned into a 10 minute explanation of each item on the menu which we did not need. I asked if they supported any local beer companies and he said «yeah we have Keiths and Olands», not exactly what I would consider a local beer. When asked if their meat and produce was local our server quickly replied «oh yes, it all locally from Sysco Foods» I was honestly lost for words…
Our server praised the «stacks» up really good so we decided to give it a go, while the flavor was excellent the burger was a whole lot smaller than the server made it out to be and there were not a lot of fries.
Our Server couldn’t add and subtract to save his life, after giving us our bill we had given him the cash and told him to keep 8 bucks for a tip, he brought us back our change and I told him he had given me $ 42 too much, after he insisted 3 times that it was the right amount of change and that I was mistaken, we left. Hard to stay in business when your paying the customer to come and eat.
All in all, I think there are better places to eat on the Darkside but I will give it another chance if it sticks around long enough.

Thought about starting with a bad pun about «Mustering» up enough energy to write this review, but decided against it. I’ve written more than once about wishing there were half stars and it might be true here too, although 3 is probably good for now. This spot was the Keg for a lot of years and then Boomerang’s for another good number of years. There was also the short-​lived and initially decent Porter’s. I’m rooting for The Muster Station to make a go of it here. It is nice to have options in the neighborhood.
On the note, on to the experience. The restaurant itself is fine, nice enough, some local photographer’s photos displayed is a nice touch. The server was friendly enough, not unattentive but not attentive either for a relatively slow night (empty water glass for a good 10 minutes or more).On to the food, we ordered the Baker Street Chips, which are hand-​cut chips with tomatoes, green onions, and cheese served with a peppercorn ranch dipping sauce. I thought these were quite good for what they were and I quite liked the peppercorn ranch sauce.
A coachable moment for the server would to suggest items on the menu that are unique. I asked about them in order to find out the chips were hand-​cut and that the peppercorn ranch sauce was made fresh. She told me then it was a signature dish… lead with that!
They have a menu of special «stacks» (burgers), which is fairly unique. I went for the Londoner, which is a burger with Stilton cheese crumbled on top, a cumberland sauce (didn’t have a ton of flavour), sweet pickles. It was an okay burger, but my biggest observation is that the Stilton, which is a strong cheese was a little sparse potentially crumbling into smaller pieces so more bites get the cheese with it! The french fries were good, maybe a little seasoning (personally smoked paprika rocks).
The final dish was the pulled pork sandwich, which was okay. Not a ton of flavour either. The sauce didn’t have any kick to it. There was an apple mayo thing that was really quite good.
I’ll try another stack and I hope this makes it and picks up its game too.

Restaurants in this location seem to have a tough go of it. I’m hoping the same difficulties don’t befall the new tenants!
While it took quite some time for The Muster Station to open, it doesn’t appear as though much work was done to the interior since its last residents, Porter’s Steak House. The place is still divided into two dining areas, the Tap Room on the right and the fancier Grill on the left, and seem to have kept the same décor and furniture as what Porter’s had.
Our first visit was in the Grill. Dark wood, polished floors, new banquettes and mood lighting decorate this large dining room, divided into three sections. The staff were nice, although service was a touch slow for a quiet early dinner. I’m not sure if it’s because the place had a quiet open, doesn’t advertise well, or if it’s because people don’t normally think to consider much around Dartmouth for dining, but the place seems to be empty whenever we pass by. It’s a shame, because it’s actually a decent place.
The grill menu is varied. You have your typical appies, soup, and salad offerings, of course, but they throw in some twists to their dishes. For instance, they do have a page devoted to burgers inspired from places around the world. The Canadian burger was the one I went with, and it didn’t disappoint. Oka cheddar and smoked bacon on what appeared to be a homemade almost brioche-​style bun was a nice version of the tradtional bacon cheeseburger. Instead of fries, I went with the loaded Baker’s chips, which is a mash-​up between potato skins and kettle chips. I wasn’t a fan of the peppercorn ranch dipping sauce, but that could be because I’m not a fan of peppercorns and this one was chalk-​full of them. I might try the Londoner next time, which includes crumbled Stilton and potato crispy. They do offer a veggie burger, so I’d imagine the veggy patty would substitute well for any regular patty, particularly the Thai burger.
The mussels come in traditional white wine, or Mojito infused. Both were great, but the white wine were better. I also liked how fresh the mussels were. I also had a taste of the prime rib, which was excellent. Great marbling, very juicy, and the side of mashed potatoes were so good. I’m definitely going to splurge on this on a future visit.
Overall, it’s a nice alternative to the big box restaurants you find at the Crossing or the little pubs scattered around town. I’ll definitely go back again.