Restaurant review: The Refinery (Drake & Morgan) – Reef, Beef and Bubbles deal

Location: 110 Southwark Street

Good deals in London are a dime a dozen, with websites such as Groupon and Time Out offering everything from half-price steak dinners to 30% off high tea. For this month’s business lunch, I decided to take advantage of a deal I had seen on hot-dinners.com. Lobster, steak and bubbly for £15? It seemed almost too good to be true, but I read a few good reviews and decided to take a chance.

When we arrived, the place was buzzing and our very friendly waitress showed us to our table. The décor was quite artsy, but nice – it still had a bit of a factory feel to it, yet was well presented. As we had specified when reserving that we were here for the ‘reef, beef and bubbles’ deal, the only thing we were asked was how we would like our steak cooked before we were presented with a bottle of Prosecco, which was expertly popped and poured. It was delicious, and a nice atmospheric way to start our lunch. The food arrived in about 15-20 minutes, beautifully presented on a wooden board. As promised, there was half a queen lobster, a 4 oz steak, and a flowerpot (?) filled with hand cut chips.

Unfortunately, the taste did not match the presentation. My steak was rather chewy, despite being cooked to medium, and the lobster, while tasty, was cold upon arrival. However, the chips were possibly some of the best I’ve ever had, and the garlic butter I asked for on the side (at an extra cost) was absolutely divine. And the dessert, a flourless chocolate brownie with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, was incredible. The only complaint I have about it was that it was too large to finish!

I would like to come back to this place and have something from the a la carte menu, particularly because the brownie was so excellent. But I wouldn’t recommend going for the deal, as the low price does not justify the chewiness of the steak.

Verdict:

Service, presentation and atmosphere: 4/5 (nice, but quite loud)

Food: 3/5