The Star Inn
North Yorkshire, Harome - Modern British - Pub & Restaurant - £££
Back on form as one of the finest hostelries in the country, the Star is somewhere to come for a slap-up restaurant-style supper or a simple bar lunch. For all its fame – the walls are plastered with awards as well as photos of chef-owner Andrew Pern with celeb-chefs and King Charles – this reborn 14th-century inn is still Harome's village watering hole with strong local credentials on the food front. On the plate, Whitby lobster and organic salmon ravioli are just as worthy of attention as maple-glazed mallard. To begin, a snack of Yorkshire custard tart laced with honey from the pub’s hives and matched for sweetness by the golden raisins embedded in its savoury cream is an unabashedly rich introduction to the unusual flavour combinations to come. Pern’s signature starter is a slice of pan-fried foie gras sandwiched between two patties of grilled black pudding; to follow, there might be herb-roasted crown of red-legged partridge with haggis and a peat-whisky br...
Back on form as one of the finest hostelries in the country, the Star is somewhere to come for a slap-up restaurant-style supper or a simple bar lunch. For all its fame – the walls are plastered with awards as well as photos of chef-owner Andrew Pern with celeb-chefs and King Charles – this reborn 14th-century inn is still Harome's village watering hole with strong local credentials on the food front. On the plate, Whitby lobster and organic salmon ravioli are just as worthy of attention as maple-glazed mallard. To begin, a snack of Yorkshire custard tart laced with honey from the pub’s hives and matched for sweetness by the golden raisins embedded in its savoury cream is an unabashedly rich introduction to the unusual flavour combinations to come. Pern’s signature starter is a slice of pan-fried foie gras sandwiched between two patties of grilled black pudding; to follow, there might be herb-roasted crown of red-legged partridge with haggis and a peat-whisky bread pudding, in which the metallic tang of the game is echoed by the iodine of the spirit. Banoffee pie, meanwhile, is successfully reinvented as a sort of chocolate gâteau flavoured with Blue Mountain coffee and Madagascan vanilla: a sugar-rush of sophistication. None of this comes cheap: the 10-course tasting menu costs £125, while three courses clock in at around £60. But the skill of the cooking is matched by the professionalism of a friendly team of Yorkshire youngsters out front, who are not only well-drilled on the finer points of the menu but are able to offer impressively knowledgeable wine advice. The surroundings are charming too, from the beamed warren of rooms filled with oak furniture crafted by Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson to the new lounge bar in the medieval eaves of the building where an engraving marks ‘The great fire of Harome’. If budget is an issue, a weekday menu offers two courses for £25: slow-roasted pumpkin soup followed by a steamed suet pudding of local venison, say. It’s served in the bar, which is where you’ll find the locals, pleased as punch to have their pub back at the centre of village life.
VENUE DETAILS
High Street
Harome
North Yorkshire
YO62 5JE
01439 770397
OTHER INFORMATION
Accommodation, Separate bar, Wheelchair access, Parking, Credit card required