Upon arrival at 6:30 we were promptly seated. Our server for the evening appeared almost immediately with our menus and returned in a timely manner with water, and our drink orders. The waitstaff were attentive throughout our entire stay without being overbearing.
For beverages our daughter and son-in-law shared a bottle of French red of unknown origin. My bride and I decided on beer. For her, a bottle of Belgium Saison, a light ale. I chose the heavier Red Seal. The wine was judged as "not bad" and the two beers were very tasty. The menus we were presented with were simple sheets of paper with the offerings for the week of September 9 through 14. The menu changes every Thursday and is composed of the best of whatever "the Farmers" have to offer. The menu we received was divided into four catagories: Small Plates, More Than A Small Plate, Craig's List, and Desserts.
From Small Plates my bride chose the White Bean Salad with Cauliflower which she described as good, not spectacular. I requested three of the Small Plates: the Berkshire Pork Belly, the Beef Tongue Salad, and the Fried Pig Ear. I love trying new things and I had heard that beef tongue has a taste and texture similar to the best pot roast you ever put in your mouth...and, it did. The roast pork belly wasn't bad, maybe a bit under done. The Fried Pig Ear was interesting. It was chewy to say the least and if it weren't for the horseradish aioli, it wouldn't have had much taste. Between a couple of beers and the three small plates in addition to helping my spouse finish off her roast chicken, I was satiated.
Enough about me. Two of my dining partners had ordered the half Garlic Roasted Chicken and our son-in-law ordered the Flat Iron Steak which he declared to be excellent. Our daughter said that the breast of her chicken was overcooked and dry. My bride didn't complain because she actually prefers overcooked chicken breast. Go figure! As I mentioned before, I polished off the dark meat from my wife's order which was properly cooked. On the roast chicken, the general consensus was that it was, well...a roast chicken.
The Refinery is an interesting concept in dining, but there were two issues that management might consider addressing. With a nice crowd and with hard walls, floor, ceilings and nothing to damper the noise level, which at times verged on painful, conversation was rendered difficult to impossible. Between the time that the Small Plates were delivered to the table and the time the steak and chicken dishes were served approximately 45 minutes had passed. This made for a rather awkward dining situation since all I had ordered were Small Plates. I was pretty much through by the time the others were served. Had I been advised of this delay, I would have requested that my plates be served when everyone else was served.
The bill for two of us came to just under $90 with the tip.
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