We review 'Glasgow's cheapest three-course pub lunch' at the Star Bar

The set menu was started by previous owners Jim Brogan and Denis Connachan. It has continued with Paul Marletta and his sister Giovanna.

The traditional lounge was busy during the lunchtime I visited.

"Some people come here seven days a week" Andrea Purdie explains. She started working in the lounge of the bar in 1979. We chat as she passes orders to the chef, Ally, working in a tiny kitchen just off the dining room. She is constantly in motion, shuttling plates to tables, talking to customers, continuing conversations from a few moments ago or a few weeks ago.

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I start with a bowl of homemade vegetable soup, a traditional hearty broth that has sustained generations of Glaswegians, warming and restorative, ideal for the autumn weather. If it was on draught behind the bar, I'd order a pint.

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Watching the procession of dishes from the kitchen, it's clear that sausage hot pot, roast beef and macaroni cheese are popular, served with chips or boiled potatoes and gravy. I order the Scotch pie which arrives with chips, a light gravy and marrowfat peas, the type my granda would have with his dinner. It's an entirely satisfying lunch, each part demolished in quick succession. Almost every plate that returns to the kitchen is cleared.

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For dessert, it's a straight choice between creamed rice and ice cream. Andrea recommends their homemade rice pudding which is topped with some mixed fruit. It's not much to look at but is an understated, joyfully nostalgic comfort food. My bill comes to £4 for three courses with a large mug of tea for a pound.

There's a particular type of Glasgow hospitality, people-focused, eccentric and warm, rooted in a sense of place and belonging that has faded into the background, almost into folklore. The Star Bar is somewhere that can only evolve over time, it can't be manufactured. Shielded from the outside world, a pub that's immune from passing trends while still being responsive to the demands of the modern world.

It's weathered the changing tastes and fortunes of the city, the loss of the printing industry in the area that used to produce queues outside at lunchtime, factory closures and the relocation of a railway hub. People come here because they enjoy the social interaction, they also rely on the pub for an affordable hot meal at lunchtime.

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Owner Paul says: "We do try to provide a service for more mature customers, it's cheaper for them to get a meal in here than cooking or buying things, especially with the way prices are going. We've been doing it for a long time, it's quite successful. We don't really make money out of the food side of things but we are hoping people will come back and then of course we have the karaoke in the evening, people come from far and wide for that."

The Star Bar revels in its traditional place in the community. "Don't you think local pubs are disappearing fast?" Paul says. "It's all becoming the same thing. I like the fact this bar represents the past and the present in Glasgow." He gestures towards the wall, "that's a wedding picture from a couple, they met in here as the man used to cut through the pub to get to his bus in the evenings, so years later they came back here for the wedding reception. Lots of people meet here and it becomes important to them. That's the real story of a local bar." The company offered here and the lunches will be important to regulars over the winter. Food prices will continue to rise. "Some places they can pass on the increases to customers, but we can't do that. We had to put up the price from £3 to £4 eventually after two years of the pandemic.

"Tinned fruit has gone up from £25 a case to £42 a case. Marrowfat peas from £17 a bag to £27 a bag. Just to give you two examples. It's becoming very difficult. We are working with suppliers and our staff will look to add specials. We provide what we can and we will welcome everyone over the winter." Paul makes his way over to talk to some regulars at the bar, the lunchtime crowd are finishing up their meals.

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Andrea has the last word as I make my way out the door: "The folk here love the food. Everybody knows everybody and even strangers that come in for the first time can get to know us. This is my home, has been for 43 years, so if you come here, you will be treated like family. I think that's one of the reasons people keep coming back. We have the type of conversations you won't find in other places."