The Refinery

Litro_K

More refined than most 22nd May 2009

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It's near the Tate Modern, it's in a landmark building that's part of a funky glass and steel development, it has a pétanque lawn and a roll top bath out front, plus a mini croquet lawn...how pretentious, you may think.

And yes, I can imagine that this place opened and suffered as a result of all its grand ideas. I believe you, DanWilkinson, that it was only average in the beginning. I'm sure that the service was beyond slow; we had a long wait to get served at the bar and the staff seemed united by a common air of being really, really stoned. I have to say the prices weren't unreasonable: drinks were average, burgers at the £6-£7 mark and they had a wide menu with most choices coming in at under £8.

Our food took a good 20 minutes to arrive, which is fairly unusual for just burgers and light bites. The hopeless staff were sweet, but couldn't offer up much more than 'the kitchen is really overloaded today' - not usually a good sign. The food (I had the grilled chicken club, my fellow diners had burgers, mussels, prawns and onion rings) was absolutely fine, but we didn't sample anything life-changing.

Still, something about The Refinery really won me over. Maybe it's the design and the concept of the whole place - industrial, airy, lots of wood and loads of room. Maybe it was the fact that they had a good DJ spinning and the music was determinedly above average. Maybe it was the crowd – a rather eye-pleasing mix of office suits and quirky design/ interiors types. Or maybe it was the fact that it wasn't packed to the rafters, and there was space to look around, hear your friends' voices, and take it all in.

The Refinery is trying hard to tick many boxes all at once, and probably won't succeed in all areas. But once they’ve worked out what they’re best at, and concentrate their efforts, I think more people will realise what a thoroughly nice space it is. I’ll certainly be returning…

DanWilkinson

Determinedly average 24th November 2008

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I work not far from the Blue Fin building, and welcome any and every extra lunch or after-work option, so I was fairly excited to see another bar open in the area. First visit was for lunch, where a decent menu was let down by amateurish service (pleasant, but inept - this might get better with time).

Second visit was for drinks, and although it wasn't an entirely negative experience, three things stood out:

1. It's eye-wateringly expensive. Don't they know there's a recession on?

2. Ok so it's brand new, but for all the expensive decor (see point 1 above), the place has no atmosphere whatsoever.

3. It's about the only bar within a two-block radius (more or less), so it's stupidly crowded by about 6pm. This means that locals have sensibly started booking most of the bar up well in advance, but it does mean that if you've not booked you'll be standing outside. This also means it takes about 20 minutes to get a round in.

Make what you will of that. I will be going back, but only because it's there. There are other bars in the area (Boot & Flogger being one) which I'd encourage people to make a journey for; this is not one.