The Star, Newmarket

Official site of The Star - www.lidgatestar.com

Official site of The Star - www.lidgatestar.com

The Star Inn is a quintessential grade II listed 16th Century English pub with large brick log fireplaces, wooden floors and carved oak beams throughout. It is famous locally by being bought from the Greedy King Empire in October 2011 by a consortium of seven local residents when GK tried to shut it down. It is now a free house but, like a lot of these remote village pubs, it focusses on dry sales and the majority of the pub is laid for dining and most people visit for the available Spanish cuisine with a Tapas menu being available. I’ve visited a couple of times since 2011 as it now trades as a Free House and three ales are usually available. I’ve never eaten here and for that you are best looking at Trip Advisor where the Spanish offerings seem to polarise opinion. But on the beer front, I’ve always found it reliable with Woodforde’s Wherry a permanent fixture and then two further guest ales available. For my last visit decent pints of TT Landlord and Nethergate Growler Bitter were available. This place has too much of a restaurant feel for my traditional preference, but if that is what it takes for wonderful countryside Inns like this one to keep functioning, then so be it.