The Refinery, Southwark Street - London

THE Special offer

Can you see the photo above? Yes! That made me trek out of my town in Surrey onto Southwark on a Sunday afternoon after church!

Sunday afternoons are times to cook warm cosy dishes and chill out watching rubbish TV while desperately wishing that tomorrow wasn’t Monday  (I HATE MODAYS!)

So, as you know two weeks ago I went to the squaremeal event and it is there that I pickup up this leaflet for steak, half lobster, chips and bubbly all for £15.00.


The back entrance

So two friends and I, having reluctantly agreed to meet up and try this offer /this restaurant, we all agreed that the offer indeed would have been a waste not to have been tried it.

I  of course arrived late… Finally finding The Refinery at 110 Southwark street,  Looking from the outside, it seem like the restaurant was empty… weird. As I pulled the door I was thinking “oh my gosh, am I going to eat seafood and mad cow in a restaurant that is empty?”... I had entered by the back door. LOL

The empty side

Luckily, as I entered, it appears that only on side of the restaurant was being used. The Drunchers*, about 40 or 50 of them seem very hip and between 20-45 years old… I really like the look of the customers here. As for the décor of the restaurant, about 90% of the tables and chairs were bear wood, simply decorated with a candle and an actual pot of living herbs at the centre of the table. All around the room, were darted bunches and baskets of fresh fruits & vegetables which created a certain reassurance that all meals prepared were freshly sourced.

I am not a big fan of meat especially in the UK… In France, British meat is referred to as “Vache folle” which means mad cow… Diseased cows. So I have developed this thing in my mind imagining that most red meats carry these gremlins still growing. The only way I have learnt to eat meat in this country it to cook it to deaf in order to kill the gremlins too. The only thing is, cooking beef to deaf means chewy AND I am a very lazy chewer and have therefore kind of parked meats generally.


My food

Having seen this place, I felt reassured that their reputation was important enough not to want to poison me. I then proceeded to order my steak medium rare as part of the above deal with as side some house sundried tomatoes.
What you can see here is what my plate looked like when it was delivered… yes! It as tasted as delicious as it looked! The service was excellent and I ended up spending £25.00.

The only down side to the meal was that the lobster came full of water and nearly drowned the rest of my meal. I suspect the lobsters must have been frozen as the claws were as soft as fish cheekbones… that was minor…

the ladies

Having had to use my finger quite a bit, I needed to get rid of the fishy smells off my hands to avoid the “looks” on the tube, so I visited the ladies… All I can say is that I could have just pulled up a chair and have my food serve there if there was more light! I think that is the first beautiful loos I have encountered so far…

I really recommend The Refinery if ever you find your feet dragging you around Southwark or Blackfriars. I am sure that, even without the special offer you can end up with a feast at your table including drinks!

The refinery provides a great environment for a group of friends and family. There was a baby there when I visited, which was very refreshing to see as it seems the British society likes having children but they are barely accepted or seen in public/convivial spaces as part of the society...
The Refinery get 4.5 out of 5 from me!

Do let me know what you think after your visit!

Ciao!

The Reviewer.