The Star Inn The City Review

Opened in 2013, The Star Inn The City in central York is a venue that must be doing something right to still be thriving thirteen years later. It had been over six years since my last visit, but the restaurant has successfully retained awards from both Michelin and the AA during that time period. I was therefore pretty optimistic about seeing some decent cooking on show, as I visited for lunch as part of a group of ten (six adults and four children), on a sunny late March Sunday, to celebrate my Dad's birthday.

Booking via OpenTable had been painless, aided by the fact I was able to book a table for ten online which is fairly unusual for most restaurants at this level (usually a table above five or six people requires some additional contact with the restaurant). There's no dedicated parking here, but as per our previous visit we parked at the Marygate car park which is a pleasant stroll away alongside the River Ouse.

The welcome on arrival was perfectly friendly and we were shown to a very large and spacious round table in one of the ground floor restaurant areas. I still like the feel of the restaurant; it has a smart clean vibe with high ceilings and plenty of light. The was a bustling atmosphere throughout our visit and the place felt pretty much fully booked which was great to see.

On offer at lunch is a relatively concise three course Sunday lunch menu and there's a three course children's menu as well which is always appreciated. Drinks wise there's a fairly substantial wine list and a good variety of other drinks too including a range of non-alcoholic cocktails; a few of our party enjoyed the English Garden mocktail.

Lunch began for me with the oak smoked salmon mousse, served on a sourdough crumpet, with a cucumber and roasted pepper relish. Despite picking it from the menu I didn't have huge hopes for this dish (salmon mousse is often too firm, or too grainy, or both) but I really enjoyed it, the mousse was absolutely delicious with a great flavour and lovely smooth texture. Other starters around the table were all enjoyed too, including a giant Yorkshire pudding and the ploughman's ham terrine.

The mains did take quite a long time to arrive, but when you're in a party of ten chatting away, it's not really a problem. I'd far rather wait longer and see all ten of us served at the same time (which we were) than have the dishes come out in dribs and drabs.

I'm not really a massive Sunday roast fan, so for my main I went for the burger, served with onion rings and skinny fries. I've got to be honest here, this wasn't a great burger. The patty itself was OK albeit cooked a fair bit more than I would have liked, but the Crowdie cheese atop the burger just didn't work for me. I love all types of cheese normally, but this wasn't pleasant and massively overpowered all other flavours in the burger which was a shame. The accompanying chips were nice though.

My daughter had the burger too and didn't enjoy it for the same reason, but other plates around the table were appreciated far more including the roast chicken, the roast beef and the vegetarian option of spiced carrot and marmalade wellington. My mum is both vegetarian and coeliac so there wasn't a main on the standard menu she could have, but I'd let the restaurant know in advance and they were able to provide a vegetable roast for her main course which she did enjoy.

I will say another positive here is the portion sizes are substantial so we were all pretty stuffed after two courses, but naturally I pushed on and ordered dessert, as did a few of our party. I went for the chocolate orange choux bun, which was another sizeable portion with a lot of chocolate cream sat in-between two halves of a choux bun, and some chocolate ice cream on the side for good measure. It was another tasty dish which I enjoyed.

My wife and daughter weren't quite as impressed with the rhubarb Eton mess; it wasn't unpleasant but there was a huge amount of cream and not a lot of rhubarb, although the lemon sorbet on the side was enjoyable and helped balance out the dish somewhat. As a final flourish, my Dad was presented with a complimentary birthday plate with chocolate cake and cream which was a really appreciated touch.

And so, after collecting our bill (complete with 12.5% service charge), our really enjoyable lunch came to an end. Overall, as a group we thoroughly enjoyed our visit here. The food was actually a little bit better than I'd been expecting, and the service throughout was excellent too, we were well attended to by all the different staff. The young gentleman who principally looked after us was great and he mentioned at the end of the meal he's been at the restaurant for over six years, which I think is a really positive reflection on what the owners have created here as well.

It was great to see the restaurant full and it's a restaurant for me that fully warrants that demand; I wish all involved all the best for the future, and would have no objection whatsoever to eating here in future.