please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Popped in on a Tuesday night while I had 30 minutes wait for my train.
The Star can be described as follows :-
Full of blokes…1 female bar staff, 1 female punter
Intimidating
Rough
Devoid of character
Noisy
Pool table
1 ale which was London Pride and was completely undrinkable
To sum this place up….it’s horrible and I vow never to return
1/10 and that’s me being generous!!
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I noticed this place is cask marquee registered – god knows how ! When I was there, there were three handpumps in a neglected corner of the bar, but only one was in use, serving Sharps Atlantic. And I was served by someone who had obviously never seen a handpump before in their life ! Having said that, the beer was actually in reasonable condition. There was also rubbish music being played loudly to an almost empty pub. Big screen TVs were showing sports. At least it was the cricket, but even here my luck was out, as after watching for 3 balls, they came off for the tea interval !
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Now simply called the Star. The interior has been modernised and appears to have lost any character it once had. 4 handpulls are available. But only 2 ales were on - Hogsback Tea & Fullers London Pride. Felt a bit more edgy than the Old Red Lion. But this pub is the nearest to Staines station. Not sure I'd go back.
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Met my brother-in-law here as it was close to the station and I was planning on heading back home to London after a couple of drinks. I'm always a bit dubious about pubs next to stations as they tend to be a bit opportunistic and rather bleak. The North Star is a refreshing change. The bar staff friendly, the food reasonably priced and they take their time when pouring a Guinness - always a good thing.
It's been a while since I went to a pub and ended the night chatting to a group of people who didn't know each other when they arrived - this was down to the friendly nature of the new owners. Hopefully 'gay' Rene made his flight in the morning and Spencer had a good birthday night with his "we're just friends" girlfriend ;)
Will definitely call in next time I'm in Staines.
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Ended up in the Star last night and had a good laugh. They had a mad band on called skasouls who did a brilliant gig. Place was packed and I didn't smell the chips either :-) Had a good night in the hob and the star but the Town Hall is not up to it.
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I used to drink in the Garibaldi but now its closed I have been drinking
in the north star its home from home with all the guys from the
garibaldi in their they even have the old bar staff the beer was beter
in the garibaldi .The other thing is when you are watching a big match
at the north star is the smell of chip fat comin from the kitchen and your clothes
stink of it .but its good to catch up with the old crew in fact the north star
would be empty but for the folks from the garibaldi
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I have been using this pub for quite a while now and really like it. Good beer, great people working there and decent customers. I popped in the Three Tuns to meet a mate last week and saw half the pikey lot that used to go into the Garibaldi so at least I know where to avoid from now on. North Star is a great pub these days.
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Probably our new local. It seems to have got back to the good old days and the atmosphere is nice. The food is exceptional and the beer is good. A couple of lovely lively girls behind the bar make it a bit of fun and we went down and saw a fantastic band a few weeks back. I like this place a lot these days and feel that for me (us) it is probably the best of the lot.
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In fairness it should be said that the review below is written by my dad, I have logged on using his account. Fair play to him for giving good reviews to the pub and others but as I am the landlord of the North Star I should suggest people come in and make their own minds up. Cheers Dad!!
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This is my best pub in staines. The beers is nice and I like a pint of best so its good. My wife comes in every now and then and we sometimes have a dinner. Had a curry once and was lovely but nearly me socks off the wife had fish and chips and she ate it all up. the guys that run the place nowdays are alright and always seem to have time for a chat and also they got joe there that used to work in the garibaldi and he is a decent man and a good man to hav behind the pub bar.
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This pub, at least I can call it a pub, is great. The beer is cold, the staff are friendly and if you can catch the landlord, he's good to have a bit of a banter with and quick off the mark so make sure you have a fast tongue. There is new managers in, a northern couple with plenty of pub experience. Its a good pub to watch sport in as wherever you sit you can see a nice big HD TV, even outside! I will be visiting this pub very often, as I live so close and you don't need to venture into town to have a good night. I only have one gripe, and that's the bottled soft drinks, bring back the draught soft drinks as you can tell its bottled straight away unless you're lucky enough to be first out of the bottle, nonetheless I recommend this pub highly.
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Have to disagree BJbrummie as I have started going in here and find their beers to pretty damned good mate. This place used to be an avoid for Ale drinkers like me but the new guys seem to have really made the difference. For me its nice to see a decent Ale pub up and running in Staines and I hope they carry it on. Whilst I am not a fan of Courage best you can give me a Ruddles, Doombar or Bombadier any day of the week and I don't mind the occasional pride every now and then. I wonder did you mention it to the bar staff as I have seen them only taking pride in their ales and I reckon they might have been concerned about it.
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A big sign outside says Under new management so poped in.
6 hand pumps Courage Best (x2) Sharps Doombar, Ruddles County,London Pride
and Wells Bombidere which I had and it was very average and cost �3.10 a pint
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Proper pub nowadays. Like others on here I stopped coming to the Star because the last landlord let it go but its a decent boozer these days. First thing I noticed was that the pub is nice and bright, its clean and no longer stinks. I went to watch the first England game last week and have been in a couple of times now. I would say this pub is better than it has been for years now. My only complaint is that the England scores were a bit of a let down but you can't have it all I suppose :-)
longy - 20 Jun 2010 14:41 |
Avoided this pub for a while now but heard/read it is under new ownership. What a change they have made. The pub is totally different. Its clean, good atmosphere with none of the dodgy pikey lot that used to use or work in the pub. We work in an office down the road and are coming back to the Star in future. The guys behind the bar are excellent and the beer is good. Can't wait for the food to happen as if its anything like the rest of the improvements then happy days.
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Had a lovely Sunday lunch in there yesterday. The beer was a bit too nice as I stopped in there and had a few whilst watching the football. Good crowd and a decent garden. I think I will be down for lunch next weekend as well.
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I would like to point out that the comments made by thenewlandlord and honeywell are just bitter and pointless comments made by idiotic people with nothing better to do with their lives. I am the leaseholder of the North Star in Staines and I can confirm that there are no Nazi Skinhead meetings going on here and the comments made about the previous landlord are just utter rubbish. They are not really worthy of any other comment but I will simply say that when he left the last landlord and his family were all helpful and acted correctly and properly making the change of ownership that much smoother and easier. I simply hope that the people who have made these comments and others relating to dishonesty and so on can give up as it is all a bit pointless and totally unbelievable.
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Great boozer. Went in there last night on the way out into Staines, met a couple of mates off the train there and we ended up staying up all night. Busy pub with great beer, got a bit hammered on Ruddles and Doombar. Spoke to the bloke behind the bar and he said they are getting live bands in in a few weeks time, I am definitely going back and recommend the North Star.
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This is my 2nd message for the North Star. I heard the last landlord had left so I decided to go back in there for a pint but ended up staying for a few. The two guys behind the bar were great and chatty and seemed to be keeping the punters going but more importantly for me the beer was brilliant. Ended up having 3 doombars today and will be back for more next week. We stopped coming here because the pub was terrible but don't take my word for it, all I will say is take a visit and see what you think as I will definitely be back.
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This is hilarious. Let me give you my take on things. I am currently at the pub sitting here enjoying a nice glass of Pinot whilst waiting for the train. I heard a couple of what I assume are locals talking about comments made on the internet and how pathetic they were so I have logged in to find out what it is all about. All I can say is that the last time I came into this pub it was dirty depressing and very unpleasant. I have come in today because a couple of the guys at work popped in and found that the pub has changed a great deal. I thought I would take a look and it is so different. The pub is clean and the bar staff are very polite and actually seem interested in their job. I cannot comment on Nazi's and fights although it sounds a bit like sour grapes to me but I can say that the pub is a different place now and the wine is great.
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Quite clearly the clown posting as thenwelandlord is not the new landlord rather an acquaintance of the old landlord, one who does not realise that the old landlord had to leave because he owed so much money to everyone including the real new landlord. Sadly it is reactive small minded people like this that do not take the time to actually understand the reality of certain situations. Let me explain in brief, the former landlord sadly met a great deal of financial difficulties and then asked the new lease holder for money as a loan. Unfortunately the old landlord forgot to mention that he owed almost �70,000 to a variety of people and companies. This all came to light of course and it was established that the new lease holder would take on the lease in a way to make the money that was borrowed back. Additionally the brewery were in the middle of proceedings to remove the old landlord for his huge debts. Added to that the electricity provider were making the old landlord bankrupt for non payment and worse of all HMRC were after him for non payment of VAT. Let us never forget that if you do not pay your VAT it is considered theft and more often than not the non payer will end up in prison! The obvious choice was the former landlord to go into bankruptcy which would clear his debts which was in his best interests. It was also made sure that he had a fair few quid in cash when he left the pub. Now I wonder if the writer actually knows any of these facts? My advice is the writer contacts the new lease holder to discuss the matter in full as they will no doubt be very surprised as to the staggering events that took place. This is a particularly sad way for people to conduct themselves and pretty much points to one or two people. Sadly they will never actually have the guts to come on here and apologise but that again is an indictment of who they are. For their information the matter has been reported and the IP address of the writer will be disclosed to the authorities who we will of course insist on following this matter up. I look forward to your the writers response and version of events in advance.
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The local nazi skinhead and racists use this pub to meet up and arrange attacks on none white people in the local area there are fights every night where some bad injurys happen the beer is bad if thay have got any thay run out most days no mixers but coke not a place to go for a date unless you are armed
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Well, it's handy for the train but there still seem to be some unsavoury types lurking, especially when the football's on. Something to bear in mind.
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Had a Thai dinner just before Xmas. I must say it was very good, reasonably priced with nice service.
The beer is variable, with usually one real ale drinkable. The London Pride was passable.
The meal was, er, enhanced by a large bloke in a green bomber jacket talking very loudly about a recent fight he'd had with "pikeys in Windsor", including intricate descriptions of various gashes, wounds and bruises. Just the thing to go with a Red Jungle Curry.
Bon appetit.
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I agree with Graham (Oct 2009). This is the real deal, nothing plastic or chavvy about it. Incidentally I happened to be in the pub the last time the local, so called 'Nazi Skinheads' were there, all I can say is that they kept the Jukebox going all night with great tunes!! They are mostly too old to be the surly troublemakers one may expect...
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Not to sure where the few negative comments have come from. Personally I do not go in for labeling people in anyway let alone in such an overtly generalist way.
I have visited this pub on a fair few occasions and have only ever received great service and friendly chat. The banter in this pub is great and the bar staff and landlord/manager treat you as a regular and keep you involved if you wish to be.
This pub has Thai food service that I have enjoyed on a few occasions and they also cater for take aways as well.
The beer is good, the pub is clean and easily accessible.
If you go into Staines you are greeted with the usual Witherspoons, been to one been to them all and still cannot understand a word the ever changing bar staff say. You will also find the plastic coated cash cow pubs that have done all they can to kill off any atmosphere that these places used to have. Alternatively there are other pubs that have the local scoundrels in them and could really do with a deep clean or perhaps simply starting again.
I highly recommend the North star for its friendly atmosphere, great service, great beer and fantastic food. It is a real pub, it looks like a real pub and feels like a real pub, great beer garden as well. If you want to watch the sport you can as they have three large televisions which is a great improvement on the tiny ones they had 18 months back!! The landlord/manager has been there for a year or so and I personally hope he stays for a long long time.
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The local nazi skinheads meet up in here on the first Saturday of each month. Why not pop along and say hello.
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new manager, beer good, garden nice, could be better if they had sky footy
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This pub has lost its character
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Been going in this pub for last couple of months, and i am not a "chav" thank you! The pub is friendly and has 3 screens for footballs which is great, does great roast dinners on a sunday as well for a very good price. The garden is great for the kids as it's enclosed and safe from the main road. Great theme nights most recent being the school disco and motown night.
This pub has a community atmoshere which is lacking from most pubs nowadays, proberley due to it being a family run business.
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Yet another new manager. Clientele a mixture of commuters by day and chavs by night. That said they were doing decent Adnams Broadside & Deuchars (good). The crazy karaoke we had to endure from a caravan-dwellers knees-up was an unexpected surprise. No fights and relatively good-humoured though definitely not to everyones taste's. Played a game of pool with one of the locals - seemed friendly enough. The landlord looks like he could do with a good feed.
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Hadn't been is this pub for ages, but is now under new ownership, the staff are friendly and the landlord is great. Has live band on a friday night and karaoke on a saturday night. Would recommend to everyone nice family atmosphere.
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Simply put, this pub has gone down the drain.... You're better off in the Old Red Lion. Beer crap, staff crap.
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Used this pub in the past - handy for the station - therefore put up with the quirks ... stumbled in last week and it was dreadful.
Service poor.
Clientele rough.
Beer expensive.
Won't be rushing back; it's stay on the platform, the Red Lion or the Beehive next time...
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Used to love this pub but is seems to have suffered post smoking days. The music now is ear shattering rubbish which is already attracting the hoody chavs. Thanks but no thanks.
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Good pub for that after work waiting for my train drink.
Gets nicely busy around six as office workers, builders, car salesmen plus others all refresh after a long hard day.
Also has live music most Saturdays and the odd Friday with a band called The Normals playing there once a month as the resident band.
Good lively friendly nights.
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My group descended upon this pub after coming back from the London Irish v Ulster rugby match at Reading. We only intended staying for a few drinks to wait for the rest of our group to catch up, however we ended up staying all night! Our fancy dress Ulster hats ended up being worn by the staff and two excellent guitarists. Very friendly, relaxed atmosphere and we were treated as regulars. We all hope to visit again soon!
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Beer still too cold.
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Very good pub.
The proximity to the station makes it very handy when your train is late.
Also, it has a good selection of beer.
I have not tried to food but the menu is very limited and generic.
Interior is nice and extremely well kept. Someone takes pride in this pub.
Not sure what the Ikea reference is all about.
Call me a newbie but I have never seen wine on tap and may try some just to find out.
A pub I would go to even if I was not waiting for a train.
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Nice pub by the station, three reasonably-priced ales in great condition yesterday (spitfire, 6X, Deuchars IPA) and a decent crowd and a nice sized beer garden.
Also contains a fabulous career barmaid who appears to do a lot of pub chores with a ciggie hanging out of her mouth. The refit is a little too IKEA for my liking though, but otherwise very good for Staines.
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Looks a treat with its posh new decor. In my humble opinion best 'normal' pub in Staines. Good mixed crowd.
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Still a good pub with pleasant staff and regulars. A few decent sized TV's wouldn't go amiss though.
chimp - 17 Nov 2005 19:37 |
Nice pint of Guiness. Friendly staff. Good beer garden.
chimp - 29 May 2005 11:39 |
Great Pub, Great Food, Great Beer and a warm place to wait for a train. No kids, no bouncers and no trouble.
anonymous - 16 May 2005 18:26 |
Agree about Mutts Nuts,
Handy for station.
Prices a bit high but food is good
anonymous - 1 Apr 2005 13:00 |
Walk in here and you expect to be warned off by Brian Glover.
Guinness book of records should visit here to check out the TV's, have to be the smallest ever.
Good beer garden for Summer drinking and as long as you avoid a Full Moon evening the beer is ok too.
Is_it - 31 Jan 2005 13:51 |
Great starting pub, good lager, always busy (well Friday/Saturday nights).
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Not really sure what the H. G. Wells fan meant about the pub.
It�s great, the beer is good and so is the food.
The friendly staff make this a great �locals� pub in the evening and during the day the quick service provides for the busy lunch time trade.
It�s not �plastic fantastic� like the newer pubs in Staines and as for the other established pubs the North Star out shines them all (great pun).
This makes for Staines�s best pub, now that the Hob Goblin under went metamorphosis from a funky spit and saw dust to a real ugly �Wine Bar. I miss my Dogs Bollocks (that�s a real ale by the way).
All the best
Paul
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If your train is late, then a great great for a swift half. Good pub grub during the day.
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Difficult to categorise this pub. Nice garden for the summer but the usual clientele means that its like the island of Dr Moreau inside.
Si - 7 Sep 2004 12:39 |
