The Star Inn is Britain's top gastropub

By Jo Bruce

- Last updated on GMT

The Star Inn was also named Best Gastropub in the 2008 awards
The Star Inn was also named Best Gastropub in the 2008 awards
The Star Inn at Harome, North Yorkshire, has been named as the number one gastropub in the UK at the “Old Speckled Hen” Top 50 Gastropubs 2010 awards, organised by BigHospitality's sister title, The Morning Advertiser

The Star Inn at Harome, North Yorkshire, has been named as the number one gastropub in the UK at the “Old Speckled Hen” Top 50 Gastropubs 2010 awards, organised by BigHospitality's sister title, The Morning Advertiser.

An industry poll of more than 700 food writers, celebrity and top hospitality industry chefs, pub guide editors, industry chiefs and food operators voted for The Star Inn, run by Andrew and Jacquie Pern, following a rigorous judging process.

The Hand & Flowers in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, was named as runner up and the Hardwick in Abergavenny, South Wales, third.

Morning Advertiser editor The PMA Team said: “The Star Inn is an outstanding gastropub and richly deserves to be voted the best in the UK.

“It offers its customers food of the very highest standard in the warm atmosphere of the pub and plays an important part in the community.”

The Star Inn

Andrew and Jacquie acquired the Star Inn in 1996. The pub, under head chef Andrew, was one of the first pubs in England to be awarded a Michelin star, which it has continued to hold since 2002.

Last October the pub was hit by an outbreak of the norovirus,​ which closed the business for almost two weeks. The couple have since recovered from the incident and continue to trade well.

The couple put great emphasis on using local, seasonal ingredients, including those from their own kitchen garden.

Among the dishes on offer are Local Wood Pigeon Breast with a Salad of Pickled Girolles and Pancetta, Roast Hazlenut Pesto; Pan-fried Leckebys-reared Rump Steak with Chunky Chips, Shallot Butter and Salad of Blue Wensleydale; and Baked Ginger Parkin with Rhubarb Ripple Ice-Cream, Spiced Syrup and Pimms Jelly with Peppermint Sherbet and Lavender Shortbread.

There were also three individual awards - the Lord Nelson Pub & Kitchen in Burton Joyce, Nottinghamshire, won the Business Innovation award; Marcus Bennett of the Bay Horse in Hurworth-on-Tees, County Durham, was named Gastropub Chef of the Year and the Cary Arms in Babbacombe, Devon was named Newcomer of the Year.

Top 50 Gastropubs:

1. Star Inn, Harome, North Yorkshire

2. Hand & Flowers, Marlow, Buckinghamshire

3. The Hardwick, Abergavenny, Wales

4. Harwood Arms, Fulham, London

5. Pipe & Glass, East Beverley, Yorkshire

6. Olive Branch, Clipsham, Rutland

7. Hinds Head, Bray, Berkshire

8. Royal Oak, Paley Street, Berksire

9. Anchor & Hope, Waterloo, London

10. Bay Horse, Hurworth on Tees, Darlington, Durham

11. Gurnards Head, Zennor, Cornwall

12. Sportsman, Seasalter, Kent

13. Three Fishes, Mitton, Lancashire

14. Punch Bowl Inn, Crosthwaite, Cumbria

15, Freemasons, Wiswell, Lancashire

16. Eagle, Farringdon, London

17. Angel at Hetton, Yorkshire

18. Stagg, Titley, Herefordshire

19. Sands End, Fulham, London

20. Masons Arms, Cartmell Fell, Cumbria

21. Y Polen, Carmanthshire, Wales

22. Hoste Arms, Burnham Market, Norfolk

23. Ye Olde Sun In, Colton, North Yorkshire

24. Drunken Duck Inn, Barngates, Ambleside, Cumbria

25. Highwayman, Nether Burrow, Lancashire

26. Nut Tree, Murcott, Oxfordshire

27. Blue Lion, East Witton, North Yorkshire

28. Felin Fach Griffin, Brecon, Wales

29. Wellington Arms, Baughurst, Hampshire

30. Inn, Whitewall, Lancashire

31. The Garrison, Bermondsey, London

32. Crooked Billet, Stoke Row, Oxfordshire

33. Albion, Clifton, Bristol

34. Anglesea Arms, Hammersmith, London

35. Griffin Inn, Fletching, East Sussex

36. St Kew Inn, Cornwall

37. Potting Shed, East Crudwell, Wiltshire

38. Kingham Plough, Kingham, Oxfordshire

39. Red Lion, East Chisenbury, Wiltshire

40. Thomas Cubbitt, Belgravia, London

41. Thomas Lord, West Meon, Hampshire

42. Albion, Islington, London

43. General Tarleton, Ferrensby, North Yorkshire

44. Cricket Inn, Sheffield

45. Yew Tree, Burghclere, Berkshire

46. Pheasant, Keyston, Cambridgeshire

47. Bakers Arms, Droxford, Hampshire

48. Wheatsheaf, Coombe Hay

49. Earl of March, Lavant, West Sussex

50. Canton Arms, Stockwell

Jo Bruce is Pub Chef editor at BigHospitality's sister publication, The Morning Advertiser​.

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