The Star, Malden Rushett

We used the TIMES vouchers to visit the Star for a meal.The pub is very stylish CLEAN and smart.Lovely log fires news papers to read.Clean tidy loos.
THEY HAVE DONE A FANTASTIC JOB ON THE REFURBISHMENT.Both inside and out.Very interesting old photos on the wall.
Sadly as with most pub these days the smoking area has been placed right outside the main door.So you have to go through the stench of the smokers to get inside the pub. You are greeted by very warm and friendly bar staff,all with a smile and a pleasent dispostion.
Sadly it quickly goes down hill from here rapidly when it comes to the food.
Pub food is pub food,and we dont expect city 5* quality,but I can say with hand on heart the food put in front of me last Tuesday 24thFeb 2009 was of such a poor standard.The starter of potato skins was okay,but our main course was Chicken breast in a mushroom red wine sauce.
A SMALL !!!! Chicken breast only takes a minute or two to panfry.I have no Idea what was happening in the kitchen but it took over 35 minutes to srrive at the table.The SMALL chicken breast had been cooked to death with not a drop of moisture left in it.The mushroom sauce was just a coupl of fresh mushrooms thrown into a wine concentrated sauce that had not been diluted correctly.The sauce just stuck to the chicken and plate and did not flow as it should do.Because it had not be diluted correctly it was far to strong.The small dish of potato and veg had been steam correctly.
The waitress was a sweet polite girl.
As with all these situations we did not complain,but the Pub Manager must understand that a pub selling food lives off its reputation.I can assure you that you were the topic of conversation at the school gate,petrol station and local shop the following day! I will return for a beer but noway would I eat at the star again.Please remember how much competion you have around you.I would hate to see the STAR fail,but there is a credit crunch on,and people will choose else where to spend their money.

28 Feb 2009 15:54