Popular Vale of Glamorgan Pub, The Star Inn, Wick, has launched a new handmade burger night, which is proving to be anything but ordinary.
It’s been causing a bit of a stir locally so the Taste at 55 team thought we’d pop down and check it out – and it’s a good job we booked because by 5pm on a Wednesday the pub was already fully booked for the evening and we managed to get the last table on the basis we’d eat early – and we were so glad lovely Beth squeezed us in, because this was a real treat.
While all pubs are now doing more exciting things with burgers, no other pub does them quite like this. It starts with a really exciting menu:
So what’s so special?
For a start, there’s none of the ‘buy it in and tart it up’ approach that’s so common in chain pubs nowadays. These aren’t the multiple-frozen-patty-with-a-bit-of-sauce’ affairs we are used to seeing, but thick, chunky hand made burgers, freshly crafted from local ingredients by chefs Kristian and Amy with a selection of carefully selected toppings that work together beautifully.
Then there’s the fries – and OMG, the filthy fries really were next level and complemented the burgers beautifully.
If the menu choice isn’t wide enough, there’s also a special every week, which this week was Handmade Lamb Burger topped with Doner Kebab Meat – and my husband had to try it! (Needless to say, it went down very well…and very fast, the advantage of our relationship is that my appetite is tiny and his is generous, so he always finishes mine!)
I, on the other hand, went for the Star Royale, a delicious chunky beef burger topped with french brie, crispy streaky bacon, onion chutney, baby gem lettuce and beef tomato. All burgers are accompanied by Kristian’s own coleslaw, nothing like any other coleslaw I have tasted (and usually scraped onto my husband’s plate), I wasn’t sharing, at least until my big burger beat me!
If you have room afterwards, Amy’s home made desserts looked really tempting!
You know you are in a good restaurant when you are sat there hearing oohs and ahhs from other diners, and asking each other ‘what’s that? It looks lovely!’ and it’s always like that in the Star. Wick is a friendly, welcoming village anyway but there was definitely even more of a buzz than normal last night!
Frankly, there’s a reason this award-winning pub does so well, it has a fabulous, friendly landlady, great waiting staff and two talented chefs who believe passionately in real food, and deliver it, night after night to an appreciative clientele. Price wise, these gourmet burgers are on a par with chain pubs and yet, they are worlds apart…. which is probably why this rural pub is full most nights.
So, would we recommend the new burger night? Hell yes! But we’ll have to remember to book a little earlier next time, because as word spreads, we suspect it may be even harder to get in here next time!