Bar missing the starter, serving meals in full (8,4)
I believe the answer is:
watering hole
'bar' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'missing the starter serving meals in full' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found within the answer.
'starter' could be 'l' (as in a learner driver with L-plates on their car) and 'l' is found in the answer.
'in' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for watering hole that I've seen before include "where to get a drink" , "Public house (found in a desert?)" , "pub" , "Pool" , "Employer of barmaid" .)