Refuel Bar & Restaurant

Weeboo

All style, no substance 28th August 2008

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If you are looking for a place to "see and be seen", then Refuel in Firmdale's Soho Hotel is the spot.

As with all Firmdale properties, Refuel is beautifully designed...or painfully trendy depending on how you look at it. Its a perfect fit for its Soho surroundings and a regular haunt of the local media companies. The hotel itself sits on the doorstep of a couple of high profile film studios, and thus the restaurant and bar is an ideal perch from which to star-spot.

The food? Well, the food is okay. Quite edible, very expensive (to suit the surroundings), and instantly forgettable. Refuel was one of three restaurants I lunched at last week and for the life of me I can't remember what I had for main course...and that's on only one glass of wine. This should be at least a 4 star restaurant (with a 5 star interior) but I can only muster 3 stars on account of its menu.

andyroberts

Never ever again!! 21st April 2008

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I went with a group of 12 friends to the Refuel restaurant, which is the restaurant at the Soho Hotel, just off Wardour Street/Dean Street in Soho.

We arrived early for our 3pm booking and decided to have drinks in the bar area, which has a rather contemporary feel to it, although not overly comfortable seats. It took at least fifteen minutes before any member of staff asked us if we would like a drink, then when we ordered it, it took at least another twenty minutes to arrive - we weren't in a hurry, but this is just to emphasise the general poor service of the place.

Finally at 3.10 we were seated in the restaurant area and given our menus. Whether they gave us more time because there were 12 of us I do not know, but they didn't take our food orders for at least another half an hour. I ordered chilli crab cakes with aioli, which was quite tasty, although the breadcrumbs were soggy rather than crispy. My partner ordered Shaved fennel, feta, bacon and chive salad, which he said was limp and absolutely tasteless, which you wouldn't imagine, given the ingredients, but somehow they managed to make it very bland.

Ah well we thought, the main course should be fine, as we both ordered the mixed grill. This is a £20 plate and doesn't come with anything else, so should be quite substantial. When you think of mixed grill, you think quite a lot of meat. Well, when it turned up, all that was on the plate was 3 TINY bits of meat (tiny lamb chop, small piece of steak and a tiny bit of pork chop) - no garnish, very disappointing. Oh, and the meat was lukewarm at best. In fact, my crab cake starter was more substantial than the mains we had. I ordered a portion of hand cut chips with mine, just to bulk out the plate. The chips cost £4.50 and when they came, I counted the chips. Six - yes six chips folks. Admittedly, they were biggish chips, but I would have liked a proper size portion. I also asked for some mayonnaise or aioli to go with the six chips, and they said they would bring some, but didn't bother.

I wasn't even offered a dessert menu, but it didn't matter as I'd had enough of the place by then. The bill came and including drinks, it was £80 per person, which would have been good value if the standard of the food, quantity of the food and service had been anything other than poor, which it all was.

I've eaten out in top London restaurants, sadly this place is NOTHING like any of those. My advice to anyone who's in this area for lunch is AVOID this place like the plague, and go somewhere civilised (like the Ivy) where the service and food are excellent.

harryairborne

harryairborne 23rd November 2007

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Since posting my review,I complained to the manager and was offered a complimenary meal for 2.This was good customer service and worth acknowledging.

harryairborne

Pricey for what one ate and especially drunk 24th October 2007

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I had dinner with an old friend from Italy staying at the hotel. We both had smoked salmon blini, cote de boeuf and mini desserts. A glass of uninspired Gewurztraminer was £9 but by searching around the wine list a Margaret River red at £28 better value.My cote de boeuf at £30 was disappointing and lacking in tenderness.Total bill for two was £156. A noisy group of diners made conversation difficult. In short a place long on coolness but short on gastronomy for the prices charged

ProfMagellan at 24/10/07

The £9 glass of wine is quite unacceptable.
For this sort of bill, there are many better options

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johnbc

Breakfast at Refuel 12th September 2007

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This is a "Medjia" venue. I had understood particularly so for the visiting US film industry, tho' this has not been in evidence when I have had breakfast or lunch there. It is undoubtedly pricey but the staff are charming as they elegantly propose the top end of their bar and menue offerings (viz Prof Magellan's comment). The menue is varied enough to suit most tastes and despite (or maybe be'cos of) the music and buzz when the place gets busy, the tables are far enough apart to be able to keep your table's discussions private. As a Breakfast venue its good and, it seems, a lot less noisy than the evening ...

Have yet to try the evenings but its Soho location and trendy decor would suggest that Ivailo's experience is a nightly affair.

ProfMagellan

good Soho luncheon venue 4th September 2007

2 found this helpful

Located on the ground floor of the Soho Hotel,
this restaurant offers modern cuisine in a comfortable setting. My prosciutto and melon starter was a little on the mean side; but my main course (a penne pasta) was of generous proportions. My guests said that they were happy with their veal. Three niggles:
firstly the canned muic was far too loud.
Perhaps the Government can follow the no-smoking ban with ban on canned music. It too is horrid, anti-social and unnecessary.Secondly, the waiter pulled the "Voss Water" trick. Don't fall for it. Voss is more expensive than other mineral waters and is no better. Here they charged £5 as opposed to £3.75 for a nice bottle of Hilden. Finally,
I selected a couple of glasses of Chablis
and was astonished to see a charge of £11.00
a glass on my bill. This was rank profiteering.
If wines are offered by the glass, the wine waiter should alert you to the cost or go through the options with you. Overall, the service was pleasant, the setting modern and comfortable and I can recommend it.

ivailo

Refuel bar - Soho hotel 2nd May 2007

4 found this helpful

The Refuel bar is a great trendy bar with a buzzing atmosphere.
The bar area could get quite busy sometimes and make it hard to get a drink, but if you are lucky enough to get a table you are in for a great evening, though sitting at the bar watching the barmen mix cocktails can be entertaining too.

Every time I have been there the service has always been friendly, fast, accurate and efficient.

There is also a quieter room with nice comfortable couches in the hotel, which are great for catching up with friends over cocktails if you are looking for a less noisy atmosphere.

The bar and the restaurant are not very far from each other and if you are dining when it is quieter you will still benefit from the vibrant bar area.

I would highly recommend this venue and I would suggest booking in advance to avoid disappointment.

simongresswell

28th April 2007

1 found this helpful

a people-watching perfect place - drinks and food incidental