The Star — Restaurant in London

Its been a very tough 8 years. Having lived in the area and been afraid to enter any of the pubs has meant a trip to Woolwich or Greenwich for a pint. This has now changed. A colleague of mine who lives in the area told me about a pub which would be re-opening very soon and promised me a different experience to the norm in the area. So on the Sunday of the opening weekend I entered a pub in SE18 for the first time. I was apprehensive at first, with the usual "old boy" crowd standing at the bar. I walked with my son to the quieter area and sat down to newly refurbs stools and tables. I was pleasantly surprised to see something other than Foster and Carlsberg on tap. Things were beginning to look positive. After ordering my first round ( Meantime PA for myself and coke for my son) I began to feel more comfortable. I went to the bar for my second round and was served by Rob. After explaining that the kitchen was not open for another 3 weeks due to gas supply issues, he produced some Crisps on the house for my son. There is a growing trend in nearby areas such as Woolwich and Greenwich to be hip. This pub is not trying to be hip. With such a location, moving too far "Hackney Wicks" will certainly be the end of it by removing local trade. However, by offering a wider range of drinks and comfortable atmosphere, I can see they are trying to pull more trade in from young professional families who are moving into the area. I would be happy to pop down on a regular weekend to enjoy a "none Fosters" beer and hopefully a meal...

Extremely Disappointing Experience – Avoid at All Costs

As regular customers of The Star, we were really looking forward to our belated Mother’s Day roast. However, this visit was by far the worst roast we've ever had there. I ordered the chicken roast, but by the time I finished cutting up my son’s chicken, my meal was already cold, only heated by the gravy. By the time I cut into a roast potato, the entire meal was freezing cold. I informed the staff, and they returned the same plate of food, which had clearly been reheated in a microwave. The chicken breast, which was already dry, was now even worse.

A bad meal is something that can be forgiven and forgotten, but the real issue came when I requested a refund. The manager’s response was shocking. They mentioned they had checked the CCTV footage and timed how long it took me to send the food back—completely missing the point. I can tolerate lukewarm food, but freezing cold and dry chicken is unacceptable.

The lack of empathy and poor customer service was beyond disappointing to be spoken to I such a patronising way was disgusting. It seems there’s either a new chef or manager, but either way, the quality has certainly declined. This used to be one of our favorite spots, especially being new to the area, but we won’t be returning. If you're considering going here for a roast, I would recommend saving your money. Such a shame to see this place...

We booked a table on Wednesday for the following day as we were interested in participating in their pub quiz. As we were making the reservation on the phone, there had been an exchange of back and forth information about their kitchen missing a chef and not being able to serve food. However we kept the booking and the following day did a follow up call to double check if we would get served food - it was confirmed that the kitchen would be open and able to serve. Although the pub confirmed to us food would be available, when we got to the venue we were informed the kitchen had to shut down and food wasn't available. As it was a special family evening we had planned, being able to understand the situation, we were left disappointed as no kind gesture was offered to us know their behalf for apologising for the inconvenience caused...