THE STAR

It’s the personal touches that make a pub into a local, and the owners of the Star have done a sterling job of turning an old Victorian (public) house into a home. The stripped-back walls are covered in vintage mirrors and eclectic taxidermy, assembled from jaunts to antique fairs and bric-a-brac shops Church candles and standard lamps create puddles of light on the wooden tables, and dangling vines make a bower of the cosy back garden. The Star even has a resident pub dog, Fred, who can often be found by the crackling open fire in the corner.

Drinkers are mainly locals from the terraced rows around Dartmouth Park Hill, who see the pub as an extension of their living rooms. Early on weekday evenings, you’ll see plenty of people tapping on laptops before settling down to a pint and a plate of devilled kidneys on the way home from work. Chef James cooks up some lip-smacking dishes using locally-sourced, seasonal ingredients, home-grown fruit, veg and herbs, and fish whirled in from Billingsgate Market. The menu is gastro but the attitude is laid-back local. Most nights, the soundtrack comes from the well-stocked jukebox (we like the way Johnny Cash rubs shoulders with the Clash), but there’s a regular programme of live music in the upstairs lounge.

Aside from the food and the neighbourly feel, the big drawcard here is the drink list. The taps feature some surprising guest ales from small English brewers - you won’t find Nethergate’s Umbel Ale, made with coriander, on many taps in the capital. Fans of that apple tang will enjoy the bottled organic ciders and vinophiles can sample some quirky English wines alongside more familiar old and new world labels. All in all, a very agreeable and progressive neighbourhood pub.