Camping Adventures ..... 2 kids, 2 adults .... The Star @ Cotton - pub (a review)

The Star at Cotton was our local pub to the campsite (ok it was the only pub within walking distance).  They are a family-friendly, traditional 16th century pub and restaurant with a contemporary twist situated near Alton Towers and on the very edge of the Peak District. you could tell it has been recently re-furbished to a very high standard and looked lovely and welcoming both inside and out.   The service we received was friendly and quick and the toilet facilities lovely and clean.




Menu

Both the adult and kids menu had a lovely selection to choose from and none of us were disappointed with our choices both from a taste and presentation perspective.




I went for the Whole tail Scampi which cost £9.45.  This came with hand cut chips, salad, lemon wedge & tartare sauce.  Unfortunately like many pubs the salad was covered in dressing meaning I couldn't eat it
(don't like the taste).  Other than that i couldn't fault the food.

Hubby opted for the Gammon which I am advised melted in his mouth.  This cost £10.95 and came with a perfectly cooked free range egg, hand cut chips & garnish (again dressed salad).






Noah was over the moon that he could have Pasta Bolognaise (he's a little obsessed with it at the moment)
and ate every little bit.  This cost £5.25

Ben, who's life mission it is (I think) to try chicken nuggets in every place possible went for them.  According to the menu they are served with hand cut chips & salad.  In reality the salad is actually just slices of cucumber.  Not a problem tho as this is his favourite bit.  Again this was £5.25 and again the plate was enpty at the end.



The only problem we had was that a couple of hubby's chips were still raw but if this is all you have to complain about then it can't be bad and there was plenty of meal so it wasn't an issue.

The desert menu looked delicious, as did those we see come out the kitchen but unfortunately the budget couldn't stretch that far (at around £5 each).

Drinks came in at around £10 for the 4 of us - 2 J2O's, a coke and a beer which again is average pricing for a non-chain pub.

The full lunch and evening menu's are available on their website.

The Star?  Ye Olde Star Inn?
You would be forgiven for being confused over the name of this pub, as I was.  The campsite refer to it as Ye Olde Star Inn and yes the sign on the pub also calls it by that name.  However the new website, facebook and trip advisor page all refer to it as "The Star".  Please don't go looking for 2 pubs, I am pretty sure there is only the 1.




Free Wi-fi
If you can get a signal the pub does offer free Wi-fi for its customers.





Verdict
At £40 for meal and drinks for 4 people it was at the top end of our budget, however the taste lived up to this and it is no more expensive than other out of city pubs.   They do offer a discount but only to camping and caravanning club members which I thought a little unfair and could be extended to anyone staying there (on production of a booking reference).  We would probably eat here again if staying at The Star campsite purely due to it's convenient location.

From our point of view if would have been amazing if the pub could have offered a simple breakfast menu (say 7-9am) as we would certainly have gone and I am sure others would have made use of it, not just from the campsite but people on the route through to Alton Towers.

Disclaimer: These are all my own views or that of my families, this post has not been sponsored.