Awards & Reviews

Paddy Burt review in the Saturday Telegraph

Justin, Lesley's son, is the chef. What he has produced is extremely good and original. I've never been offered savoury bread-and-butter pudding before; it's delicious.

My husband is particularly impressed with the risotto. It is shaped like a small tin of baked beans and it has been roasted in the oven. The leg of guinea fowl has been confit-cooked so that it is beautifully flavoured and falls off the bone.

"Just think," says my husband, "there are people in London queuing up to be humiliated by restaurant 'greeters', then served food not as good as this before being charged an outrageous amount then hustled out."  Paddy Burt is impressed by the originality of the dinner menu and the delightful breakfast.  Read her full report on her website

Saturday Times May 2008 10 Top Alfresco Restaurants

"There's a pretty courtyard-style garden and views over the village cricket green out back.  "

Saturday Times March 2008 10 Top Gastropubs

"This remodelled country inn with rooms has instant appeal, with its pretty courtyard-style garden at the front and views over the village cricket green at the back.  Inside, there are leather sofas, tub chairs, beams and log-burners.  Lunch is alight affair, while the modern British evening menu is driven by local seasonal produce and assured skill.  Expect roasted pork tenderloin, served with sage polenta, savoy cabbage and a haricot bean, smoked bacon and vegetable casserole, and to finish, perhaps a panettone bread and butter pudding with apricot coulis"

Hampshire View Magazine

Really good food is all about the quality of the ingredients. It also has something to do with a cracking good chef who knows his craft. Put the right ingredients in front of Justin Newitt and his crew and what you get out of the Star Inn’s kitchens is something extremely good. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that this is some of the best food I’ve ever eaten, and certainly the best in an establishment that has the word ‘Inn’ in its name.  Hampshire View Magazine review