Refuge MCR

Review summary

1. H

   Helen

   Manchester

   8 reviews

   4.0

   8 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   I can't fault the quality of the food or service, but I was disappointed that as a gluten intolerant vegetarian, there wasn't much choice in comparison to when I've been previously. Though the Yorkshire rhubarb meringue dessert was divine and almost made up for the lack of choice.
   

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2. B

   Bkrab1

   Surrey

   8 reviews

   4.0

   8 reviews

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   The refuge is a lovely place to visit- we had the small plates which were ok but not nearly as good as the last time we came. The prawns were mushy and tasteless, the salad nicoise had undercooked potatoes and the chicken was a bit bland and not crispy enough - to be honest, the best thing was the sourdough bread! Such a shame as it was a treat visiting family for a treat.
   

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3. LF

   LeonFrenchy

   London

   3 reviews

   2.0

   3 reviews

   Dined 5 days ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 5

   The venue is lovely, however we had to wait 20 minutes for our table as it was not set up even though the dining area was very quiet. The service was terrible we had to keep getting up to get the wait staffs attention to order. The food was ok but wasn’t very warm and felt overpriced for what it was.
   

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4. S

   Sarah

   Inverness

   5 reviews

   5.0

   5 reviews

   Dined 5 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   Lovely Sunday roast. With jazz playing in the background.
   

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5. D

   Daniel

   Lancashire

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 6 days ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 3

   What was supposed to be a celebration for my new job promotion that my boyfriend surprised me with, lead to quite an underwhelming experience. Service was awful, we where placed on a table next to a couple leaning over to our seats, this was ignored by the less than attentive staff. After waiting 25 minutes, I then went back to the greeter staff to inform them that we had not yet been asked for our drinks/food order. We received no table water, and then we where told that due to a big booking, our food may take even longer. The table next to us also had the same experience and pre-warned us as we sat down, to justify this experience this just emphasised the lack of service and attentiveness. Overall this was really a poor experience, had we had known prior that this would impact our experience we could have easily made reservations else where.
   

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6. G

   Gearoid

   London

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 6 days ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 3

   Having dined at Kimpton Edinburgh and Kimpton London before, I had high hopes for here. Sadly these hopes were never realised. It was awful. They may say that the Refuge is a venue in an 5* hotel, however it still is the primary bar and restaurant in the hotel and should have some standards to reflect that. Arrived into a bar with 4 staff serving behind the bar and over 50 patrons in a queuing system. A queuing system in a bar in a 5* hotel is simply not acceptable. We decided to skip and see if we could get our dinner table early. We were greeted by a surly host and no welcome whatsoever. Told we were early but we said we couldn’t get a drink at the bar and then shown to our table and made feel like an inconvenience. The food was vile to say the least, I had the Rib Eye Steak and my girlfriend had the lamb pie. The lamb pie that was obviously bought in and my steak came out blue and unseasoned instead of medium-rare. Our triple cooked chips were frozen from a bag and still undercooked inside. We sent back the steak and both sides of chips. At no point did anyone come to discuss the fact the food was not satisfactory and by the time my steak came back her lamb pie was cold. Rather than just send that back we ate up. When our food was cleared the waiter saw the chips weren’t eaten and he asked if we had the same problem again to which we said yes, however no resolution was offered. When the bill was presented we saw that the chips were still on the bill and service charge was applied. There was no interest in doing anything to put this right for us. So I just paid and left disgusted. If this is the best a 5* hotel can do for a bar and restaurant, then they should be ashamed of themselves. Kimpton Hotels + Restaurants is the name of the chain and to put the Restaurant on the title of the chain, you would think IHG would be confident in their product being good. Let me tell you, it’s not, in fact it’s terrible. I’d get better in a Holiday Inn Express. I won’t be back!
   

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7. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   London

   2 reviews

   2.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 6 days ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 1

   Impersonal, lacking atmosphere, poor customer service
   

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8. t

   tracy

   Bath

   13 reviews

   5.0

   13 reviews

   Dined 7 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Great niche restaurant set in the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel. Absolutely stunning building with so much character. Host was welcoming and good was well presented.
   

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9. A

   Andrea

   Manchester

   4 reviews

   5.0

   4 reviews

   Dined on February 26, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Really lovely food. Beautiful venue. Efficient service.
   

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10. S

    Samantha

    Yorkshire

    2 reviews

    5.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on February 23, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 3
    4. Ambience 4

    The best roast we’ve had out in forever 🙌🏼 will definitely be back. X
    

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