i think you might be setting your expectations a little too high. It's ikea furniture, yes the drawer bottoms sag a bit, but it's not hard to grab a hammer and put a brace in there. You get what you pay for, ikea saves money by selling you 'disposable' furniture, but unlike most companies they actually do pass the savings on to you.
And butcher-block kitchen furnishings are designed to get stained and look used and broken-in, that's the style. Please don't varnish it.
Ikea recommends that you varnish the butcher-block kitchen furnishings for sanitary reasons. Wood is very good at absorbing all sorts of contaminants that you'd rather not ingest and an absorbent wood surface is difficult if not impossible to sanitize.
I completely agree with you regarding the stained and broken-in style. That's why I got it!
And butcher-block kitchen furnishings are designed to get stained and look used and broken-in, that's the style. Please don't varnish it.