The Refinery

Went to The Refinery for dinner last night as Kelly and Josh were home for the weekend with Danielle, Matt and Hannah. I went to The Refinery years ago with Holly when we got the pre-theatre deal which they still do now.

They were fully booked till 7pm which actually worked well for me as I ended doing some extra work filming and finished in time to meet up with them. It was pretty busy when we got there. We ordered our drinks - Josh had a nightmare as he wanted draft and they said it would be a 20 minute so went for a bottle and said they didn't have any so third time lucky he eventually went for a whiskey sour. He could have waited the 20 minutes for the draft as they completely forgot about our drinks and our food came before it. We had to ask where our drinks were. Food service is good in there which was the same as when I went last time.

I went for the Lemon & Ginger Pan-fried Seabass, Crushed New Potatoes, Spring Onion, Choy Sum, Soy and Sesame Dressing - £15.95

Didn't expect to get a whole fish with 2 pieces as you usually only get the 1. It was nice but was quite salty like when I went to Bloom a few weeks ago - the salt wasn't mixed in evenly. I did prefer this to what I had in Bloom. 

Danielle and Matt got Roasted Turmeric Cauliflower, Burnt Onion Purée, Crispy Kale, Salsa Verde Dressing (ve) - £4.95

I tried it and it was just soggy over done cauliflower on a plate with some crispy kale with no purée. It was like when we went to Yum Cha and got the broccoli in garlic and chilli. Fully gloried on the menu and a rip off.

The Refinery is nice for dinner with good portion sizes. Just need to work on the drinks service for those sat having dinner. After we went across the road to the Philharmonic Pub for a drink. I've never been before and there is a lot of hype over the men's toilets as they're grade 1 listed. Me and Kelly went and had a look at them after getting Josh to check it was clear and safe to do so. I didn't really know what I was meant to be appreciating but they did look fancier than the ladies... The pub is nice and cosy especially in the winter and has different rooms you can sit in to have a good catch up.

I guess it's one of them things if you go to the pub you have to visit the men's toilets. You can ask a member of staff to check the toilets are safe to go in if you don't have any guys with you to do that for you. 

It was nice to have dinner in town which is not what I do often as I couldn't tell you the last time I had dinner in time I tend to stay local and go out for brunch/lunch. The Quarter was the first choice but they were fully booked so that will be an option again for next time.

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The Refinery

Last night I went to The Refinery - Kitchen, Bar with Holly. It's on the corner of Hope Street & Myrtle Street in town opposite the Philharmonic Hall. A nice little place that serves food, cocktails & live music. They do breakfast, lunch & dinner. They're part of Bistro Jacques, The Hub Alehouse & Kitchen on Hanover Street & others around the city. People were dressed both casual & dressed up for a night out. It was nice & cosy since we were in there for hours.

I haven't seen Holly since my belated birthday meal at the end of August, as she's left me for Nottingham again. It was really lovely to catch up as I probably won't see her now till next month when we finally see Bastille!

We got the pre-theatre offer - 1 small plate & 1 big plate £13.50

I got the Beef short rib, fennel seed BBQ sauce & crispy onion rings. 

Superfood salad: Baby spinach, edamame beans, cherry vine tomatoes, tendertem broccoli, avocado, toasted pumpkin seeds, lemon & olive dressing with teriyaki salmon.

The rib meat was really nice & soft, the sauce was also good. Wasn't really a fan of the onion rings, didn't taste like onions. The salad I enjoyed but didn't my salmon was gonna look like that. I thought it was gonna be chunks of salmon, the reason I chose to go here was after seeing their instagram of the teriyaki salmon salad. This photo here doesn't look like that...

Holly got the Soup of the day which was tomato & basil with artisan bread.

She also got the Superfood salad that I got but with grilled chicken.

Food was good but it came so quick. I know the soup is already there but as soon as she took our order it was already at our table! Same with the salad not much cooking or preparation but that came straight after they'd taken our plates from our starters! If we didn't stay to talk & have a drink we would've been out of there within half an hour we got our food so quick! I've never been anywhere where the service has been that quick. 

I must look like I go out for these meals I blog about on my own as I always forget to take photos of myself & whoever I'm with. Priority is to take a photo of the food before anyone put their cutlery in it! But I promise you I was with Holly last night who might've been a little tipsy as she got a large glass of red wine & was on the Bailey's while I was designated driver so was on the orange juice.

I'd recommend The Refinery but maybe tell them your want a break after your starter so your main doesn't come flying out straight after it!

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