The Star, Bristol

From the outside this looks a fantastic olde worlde tudor type building and to some extent this is continued inside with a great beamed ceiling and some original brickwork. To a large extent though this is spoilt by much newer woodwork such as the bar and modern partitions which really jar with the old stuff. A smooth shiny wood pillar turned on a lathe attached to one of the rough old ceiling beams just doesn't go. That together with the brightly illuminated backdrop to the modern bar, the bank of fruit/quiz/cash machines opposite the bar and the garish purple signs around the place really spoil what must have once been a great pub. It's clearly part of a large corporate chain geared towards cheap food. There was a prominent sign outside advertising “two meals, all day, every day for £9” and the bar staff were wearing t-shirts sporting “Christmas bookings now being taken” slogans. Needless to say I didn't try the food as this really isn't my sort of thing, but it must be popular as the large car park was packed when we arrived although there were very few people in the front bar so they must have all been in the cavernous restaurant area at the rear. This really is a gigantic pub with three separate bars at the front in addition to the restaurant and conservatory at the rear. The left hand bar has a pool table and darts board, and there's a plasma on the wall in the middle bar, although this wasn't on when we visited. On the way to the gents I noticed what I can only describe as a selection of games like you would expect in an amusement arcade or at a fairground, such as one of those remote controlled grabbing hands where you can will a small cuddly toy. Most bizarre, and not at all what I expect to find in any pub, never mind an old country inn like this. Presumably it's designed to appeal to the masses of kids that no doubt turn up with their parents for the cheap food. On the plus side the barman was friendly enough and suggested an alternative to the requested bottle of Becks as it hadn't been in the ‘fridge long and was hence a little warm. It's not often you get service like that. The only beer offering was Butcombe. There was a pump for Greene King IPA but this appeared to be off. The solitary cider was a very un-local Strongbow unfortunately.