Restaurant: The Refinery, London

The boyfriend and I went to The Refinery on the weekend for an impromptu dinner out after going to the Tate (I'm being very cultural in my last few London weeks!). The two things that struck me about this place were the décor and the menu - both very important as far as I'm concerned. The décor was stylishly rustic with a touch of quirky thrown in, such as the old claw-foot bath filled with fresh vegetables and tucked into a corner. There were nice touches everywhere, with deckchairs and funky orange stools outside, and candlesticks and flowers decorating the tables inside. The menu was one of those rare beauties whose offerings were almost all meals that made my mouth water just reading it. 

I had a bit of struggle deciding what to have, tossing up between the crispy duck and marinated noodle salad, chicken breast stuffed with mascarpone and wild mushrooms and wrapped in crispy pancetta, and the pea and goat's cheese risotto (my mouth is watering again just writing that...), but settled for the fish pie for something different. I was also very tempted to try one of the flatbread boards but neither of us had the appetite to warrant a starter. The pie was very cheesy - but that's never something I see as a problem - and the fish was flavoursome. The pie came on its own and I think it really needed a green salad with it just to balance out the heaviness a bit. Boyfriend had the beefburger which came with beer battered onion rings that looked good but tasted bad. Luckily he also had chips on the side and those tasted as good as they looked, although they were an extra £2.95 which seems a bit steep.
 

Service started off really well but wasn't so good at the end. It took about 15 minutes for the waiter to collect our plates, and that only happened after I'd asked for the bill and - after another wait - he'd returned to swipe my card. Prices were reasonable, the 12.5 per cent service charge was not so reasonable, especially after the wait we'd just had. Despite a not so good end to the meal, the food was good and the experience enjoyable overall.


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