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CONFIDENTLY billing itself as Southampton's premier gastro-pub, the award-winning White Star Tavern already has something of a reputation to live up to.

The only establishment in the city to feature in the Which? Good Food Guide, the White Star Tavern prides itself on classic English cuisine, cooked to a high quality.

So it was with some excitement and high expectations that I walked through the Oxford Street establishment's doors to see if their promises stood up.

When my partner and I arrived at 6.30pm, the bar area was busy with groups of young - and not so young - professionals enjoying a drink after work, but, despite being a weekday evening, by 7pm the dining area was starting to fill up with bookings.

It's a busy place - and as I found out, there was good reason for that.

Faced with a simple but mouth-watering menu, my partner and I umm-ed and ah-ed about meal choices as if it was a life or death decision.

Eventually I settled on seared scallops with aubergine puree to start, followed by a 10oz sirloin steak with homemade chunky chips and watercress salad as a main.

My partner opted for the goat's cheese spring roll, followed by fishcake, poached egg and fries.

Service was excellent and the starters were before us in no time.

Both were an immediate hit - the notoriously difficult to cook scallops were done to perfection, and the spring roll was delicious too.

Not long later, we were staring wide eyed at our mains, which carried on the trend of brilliance.

The steak - cooked rare, as all steak should be - was succulent, and the fish cake topped with a runny poached egg was simplicity at its most brilliant.

The winner for me was not the simplicity of the food but the degree of quality to which it was cooked, served and presented.

And starters, mains and two drinks each came to a fairly reasonable £55.

It appears their marketing is true - the White Star Tavern is definitely up there with the best Southampton has to offer.

White Star Tavern, Oxford Street, Southampton. Tel. 023 8082 1990

4:04pm Friday 22nd February 2008

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