The Star, Dartmouth Park, N19

Facebook page of The Star - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of The Star - www.facebook.com

A single roomed corner pub as described below, It was quite busy on a Sunday lunchtime, music was playing quite loudly, but good music so it didn't bother me.One pump clip was turned leaving me with a choice of T.T Landlord and Hammerton N1, the latter being in good shape, there were also keg offerings from Camden, Meantime and Lagunitas. Its ok here but a bit out on a limb.

The Star is a corner pub that is on a side street off Dartmouth Park Hill. Once inside there is a decent sized single room which is bare boarded,the bar faces on entry. The seating is normal tables and chairs. Menus were on the tables but the pub was empty on my Friday dinner visit. There were four real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Hogs Back TEA,which was not on top form,the other real ales were St Austell Tribute,Taylor Landlord and Doom Bar. Background music was playing which helped while sat in an empty room. Pub visited 2/6/2017

Built in 1896 as The Totnes Castle, this pub is as described below: large, opened-out, some columns, a corner fireplace, still in use, to the corner and a bar to the rear. The ceiling is festooned with paper Chinese lanterns. A plus is that there's no obvious TV - customers here tend to be quite well off. The barmaid was very friendly. On offer were Meantime craft beers; real ale came in the form of Truman's Swift (£2.05 a half) well served, Hammerton's Brewery's N1, Timothy Taylor's Landlord and another pump, clip reversed. I'd certainly come here again if in the area - this is probably the best pub in N19 - but I wouldn't go out of my way to pay a visit.

This pub doesn't seem to have changed much since the previous reviewers' visits, although they do seem to have lost the stuffed animal heads, which I guess is a good thing. It's no longer the backstreet boozer it clearly once was, although the old brewery tiling on the exterior has been retained, and there's also some original tiling inside on the left. Judging by the positioning of the internal tiling it's clear that the bar counter has been re-sited at some stage. At some stage it's also been given a fairly savage makeover. There's a fair bit of exposed brickwork around the place, which seems to be a modern affectation; the wall panelling that remains hes been painted a dull pastel colour; and the unusually wood panelled ceiling is painted red. Furnishings are mainly recycled dining room tables, combined with a mish mash assortment of normal chairs, and with a couple of sofas at the back on the right. All of the tables had a little sprig of flowers on them, and decor consists of paper 'planes (fairies?!) hanging from the ceiling, and some original artwork on the walls that appeared to be for sale. A piano was plonked by the corner door. There were a couple of ales on - Timothy Taylor Landlord (£2 a half); Hamerton N1 Pale Ale; with a third pump having a reversed clip. There was a chalkboard on one of the walls advertising a bar menu, with a cheeseburger & chips at 10.5 (£10.50?), and beer battered haddock & chips at 12.75. This is a gastropub with little of the traditional pub feel remaining, but on the plus side at least it's still here as a going concern apparently, giving locals somewhere to enjoy a decent pint.