The Star, Eynsham

Friday 21 September

Our friends Priscilla, John, and Sofia live in the village of Eynsham outside Oxford. It has several claims to being "quaint," including a thatched-roof house, a winding high street, and Morris dancing at Christmastime. It also has several pubs, and one, the Star, has upgraded recently to claims of gastro-pubdom. It's always good to encourage local businesses, equally good to walk to a place where you're going to have a drink - and far better to walk back from where you've had one. So Star was our destination of choice on the night of arrival.

We had had a late lunch at the Oxford Retreat that afternoon, so we proceeded directly to main courses (accompanied, of course, by local ales and bitters). One was three pretty good lambchops on a bed of roasted courgettes and aubergines. The other was a nice crispy-skinned sea bass (the fish of choice, as we saw it in many of the better pubs in these parts) served on a bed of kale, and napped in a (rather bland) sweet red pepper sauce. It was all perfectly fine, and Star should have a good career in front of it.