Refuge MCR

Rhea was amazing as soon as we walked in! She welcomed us and also our dog! Great service all round and food was amazing! Ralph gave it 10/10 😂

Family bday meal had the Roast Plater and all I can say is wow the meat on there was amazing and the side dish of cauliflower cheese was delicious and the staff was amazing 👏

Really beautiful building. The layout and set up is absolutely spot on. Simple but great menu. There were two of us and I would say that 5 to 6 tapas style pieces is enough. That includes selecting from the starters. Definable would have the crispy mushrooms again. Everyone serving was excellent and happy Highly recommend

Really cool and chilled place... No much noise not much movement but the food is amazing.. well at least the risotto and the wine and the staff were really nice and also chilled! Really enjoyed it!

We have a new favourite restaurant for Sunday lunch, I think! Set in a huge converted insurance hall which oozes character, The Refuge has plenty of space for diners to relax and enjoy their meals. And enjoy it we did. We ordered the Sunday Roast platter for two which had thick slices of tender and tasty beef and pork and a half chicken. Plentiful roasties (though we ordered some extra as well), veggies, cauliflower cheese and a lovely gravy rounded it off. By the end we were glad we skipped the starters. Very highly recommended and we will definitely be back.

If you want an outstanding Sunday lunch then look no further than The Refuge. Amazing experience and the food was outstanding. The Sunday roast is one of the best we have ever had. The ambience and stunning dining room makes the whole experience outstanding. A massive call out to Denisa who gave us amazing service.

Delightful relaxed but upmarket eatery. Limited vegetarian choice but the dishes we had were delicious and we left replete without the deserts. Special thanks to the bar team who whisked us up Brandy Alexanders even though they aren't on either the cocktail or dessert menus. 😁🍸

I come for the Sunday roast and it won't let you down. The grill pork and chicken are incredible, beef quite raw and chewy but its still fine. Love the cabbage with the gravy. The vibe also nice. We are ao impressed dining in this kind of historical building. The winter garden is a part of the restaurant. Not so sure the dining time is limited or not but we finish within 2hour. We made a reservation and arrived earlier a bit, the staff told us back at the right time, sure we can enjoy the drink at the lobby before entering.

The building is huge. Whilst it was quieter on a Sunday evening, there was still a great atmosphere. We took a table of 6 for their roast menu. The 5 carnivores were beaten by the huge platter of roast meats, cauliflower cheese and roast potatoes. The meat was excellent, the food was delicious. Our vegetation guest had the veggie alternative which was also good plus the potatoes, cauliflower cheese and more. The restaurant had a good selection of wines and beers. The service was prompt and friendly.

Really nice place to eat, this was a business meal with a colleague. Waiting staff where amazing and the building was fantastic with a great atmosphere. Although the main has some crazy options for my pallet (cactus tacos or octopus tentacles) I would have like to see a couple more meat options for choice.

Exceptional dinner experience at The Refuge, highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for great food and drinks, amazing ambience and friendly service! We asked our lovely server for her recommendations and everything turned out absolutely amazing! Sourdough with black garlic butter was moreish, as were the Semolina Crusted Oyster Mushrooms! Chilli lime chicken wings and Blackened tenderstem broccoli were equally stunning! Our food and drinks took a very long time to be served unfortunately. However, the staff were apologetic and kind enough to offer us desserts on the house without us even asking for anything. Loved the ambience and the whole experience overall. I will definitely be coming back here and sampling the rest of the menu!

I took my son here for a nice meal before we went over to the palace theatre. Service was good and Vaishnavi couldn’t do enough for us. My son had the chicken and chips children’s meal and I had the steak. Steak was very nice and chips seasoned at the right level. We would have stayed for dessert but had to go to watch the production. Looking forward to coming back to bring my wife before we visit the Palace Theatre again later on this year.

A big round of applause to The Refuge restaurant! Love the time there, was here for lunch a week ago. I am serving justice to leave a great review for the great hospitality and everything else there. The place is gorgeous, the food is fabulous, we ordered quite a lot of mains, side dishes and desserts, that's how much we love it there. The Refuge is absolutely fantastic for special occasions, saw couple tables of customers celebrating birthdays, April birthday Stars, I am sure everyone at the restaurant enjoy the splendid experience there.

This afternoon had the most amazing Sunday Lunch at the Refuge. We had the roast beef, just incredible. To follow I had the best Irish Coffee which brought back many happy memories of childhood Christmases in Dublin. Thank you. I will defo be returning

The Refuge regularly appears on lists of Manchester's best Sunday Roasts and after visiting for the first time yesterday it's difficult for me to disagree with that. Great quality roast dinner - particular highlights were the porchetta and the perfect Yorkshire pudding. Portion sizes are very generous but a side dish of cauliflower cheese and an additional portion of gravy were also welcome additions. Only minor criticism was that the roast potatoes were a little too crispy but I forgive that considering how many of these the kitchen have to turn out on a busy Sunday! Desserts too were of very good quality - the trifle had a nice flavour of sherry to it. Service was excellent - just the right pace - and of course great ambience from eating in such a lovely historic building. Highly recommended and I'll be returning soon!

We had a superb time at Refuge and the food was delicious. We went for the theatre menu, which was shared between two + stake/ale pie for another diner. Special praise should go to the staff and their excellent work. I'm a wheelchair user and the team ensured everything was accessible ahead of my visit, plus called me to let me know. The route in via the Kimpton Hotel is a little convoluted but easy to follow. Our waiter Saukhyad was friendly and attentive.. and top rate. An ideal start to an evening at the theatre.

Fantastic evening and great food from the small plates. Great table in one of the booths. Great atmosphere with the music from the bar being at the right level to allow conversation. Big shout out to Fran and Peter for looking after us. Absolute gents. Will be back next time we're in Manchester.

We went here to enjoy a cocktail and look at the gorgeous architecture. It was a beautiful place to sit and have a drink. Even though it was extremely busy at the bar, the staff was kind. We loved sitting in the cozy chairs and chatting over tasty drinks.

Dined in the Winter Garden at the Refuge prior to seeing a show across the road from at the Palace Theatre. The Winter Garden itself is stunning, especially when the fairy light and candles went once it went dark. The food was amazing - best pork belly I've ever eaten !! A bit on the pricey side but well worth it. It was a very relaxing evening. The staff were friendly and efficient but didn't rush you. We overstayed our two hour table slot but they gave no suggestion of being keen for us to leave. It's literally across from the theatre and only 2 minutes from Oxford Road station. Will definitely visit again.

Great find in Manchester; lovely atmosphere and a grown up dining experience that also included a great kids menu. Dog friendly too and blanket and drinking bowl provided for canine friends! Varied menu, reasonably priced and lovely wine list. Will definitely be back!

Lovely pub with absolutely gorgeous decor and amazing service. The food however, is not it. We only enjoyed our small plates and snacks, and the vegetarian options. The other plates were not very interesting for the price. I also ordered the steak done medium rare, and it was clearly rare (still pink on the outside). Will definitely go back for the drinks though, the cocktails are lovely and the vibes are immaculate.

The food at refuge is always fantastic and this time was no different, shout out to the hispi cabbage with miso and duck fat crumble, it was unbelievable, also the beef cheek nugget soo very good. The service was ok but considering how quiet the restaurant was we had to wait quite a while to order food, once ordered it came quickly they also did not add all we had ordered so there was a few things missing but to be honest we would have orders too much if we had got it all. We orders cocktails at the end of the meal which were pretty disappointing, that’s the second time in a row where that has been the case now and expected it to be a blip last time. It’s such a shame as we have always loved going here for cocktails. It won’t stop us going for food as there are other drinks obviously but not sure we would order a cocktail again.

Me and my boyfriend went for our anniversary and got the roast for 2 which was £69 (HAHAH) It was so good! The pork was especially good with the crispy skin, the gravy was thick and the cauliflower cheese was crispy and super cheesy. Dessert were amazing too, I recommend the caramel tart or the pudding with PROPER custard.

We ordered the croquettes, which were delicious and full of cheesy goodness, definitely recommend if you are looking for a starter. For our mains we ordered the mix Sunday roast, which meant you get a bit of everything. The pork had crispy skin and tasted extremely tender, the beef was soft and not overcooked, just pink how I like it. I was also surprised the chicken wasn’t dry, was very succulent and juicy. The only thing that let it down was the food wasn’t warm enough, the potatoes felt a bit cold for our liking, otherwise everything else was good. Love the ambience of the restaurant and friendly staff.

Lovely Place right next to the Kimpton .. NCP car parking just down the road .. Evening Meal was lovely but there's a but .. why serve a Main Dish in a Cereal Bowl ? Wasn't worthy of a foody shot of a limp salmon in a bowl (not impressed) Dessert however was something to behold would highly recommend your trifle nom nom .. Booking Highly Advisable in Advance as we noticed a few Walk In Customers being turned away 😳 yikes I thought .. you've just sent away Potential £££'s ? Our meal x 4 incl Drinks £310.00 .. lovely place and a stunningly architectural wonder .. will probably go back but there's more eateries to explore 👐👋😬

Staff were really friendly and great. Our waitress helped us with the menu. Love the Winter Garden, was surprise there were no afternoon tea sets. Feel like it's a missed opportunity. We had the: - Grilled squid, vizcaina sauce, Spanish black pudding (small portions but decent, not a wow though) - Buttermilk-fried chicken, chip shop curry sauce, mushroom ketchup (this was surprisingly very nice) - Mojo rojo pork belly, miso aubergine, yoghurt (So delicious and highly recommend) - Slow-cooked beef cheek, butterscotch celeriac, remoulade (Nice as well and very soft) - Beef fat mashed potatoes, overnight onions, beef gravy (yummy mash)

Few drinks with friends on a Saturday evening, the service was good but a little slow due to cocktails being made. This is expected as a good cocktail takes time to blend A DJ was playing some great tunes, but not so loud you couldn't talk. The bar area is nice, and the staff do a good job of keeping ignoring tidy. Toilets are clean. Overall, nice place for a few drinks, slightly pricey compared to some places but worth it for the atmosphere. Didn't eat here, we only had drinks

8 of us for a roast dinner here. Started off really well with service. We were there for 2 hours ordering cocktails , wine desserts etc . Service started well but really dwindled by the end to point where most drinks empty and we were having to hail waitresses. Would go back but a note for the restauarant to be consistent with service - with the prices you expect bit better! Food brill decor great

This place restaurant is special to my partner and I. It’s been the restaurant of choice for a few momentous occasions, we love the architecture, the vibe and the food. We had family in town and decided to share our ‘happy spot’. We were shown to our table straight away and settled in. The menu has changed but it’s still a collection of small and large plates good for sharing or as a main with a side dish. Sadly I don’t think our waitress was ‘in the mood’ to work that evening… We had a few allergies within our group that needed some discussion, she clearly didn’t know the menu and seemed to be busy in her head with other things than the job at hand… We wanted to venture down the wine list but again there was no advice or knowledge. The food was delicious and side dishes abundant as usual but the lack of service continued, we had to find and even cajole our server every time we wanted to order additional items. We shared a few desserts and quickly left after begrudgingly paying service charge for no service! Working in the industry We hate to remove the service charge as the team need to tips…. Funny though, she was quick enough to write her name on the £250 bill when it arrived. We did e mail the hotel to give some feedback but sadly a month later still no reply. We love this place and the hospitality industry is a tough place to be right now. We take the time to feedback because we care. Thank you

It was empty when we turned up at 5.00pm, but we're told they could not fit 2 of us in till 6.00pm as at that time, they could not guarantee our food would arrive in time for us to make the theatre 2 mins walk away for 7.00pm??, but they could if we came back at 6.00pm. Go figure? We did as told & then saw the 6.00pm menu was very limited & a lot dearer than the earlier menu. We just walked out. Totally trying to rip you off. Best off having a drink & going somewhere else for food.

When we arrived, at the time of reservation, we were told they needed some minutes to set the table (although we were on time and the restaurant was almost empty). We were invited to have some drinks at the bar (which were not on the house but we paid). After 15 minutes we were accompanied to a table in the winter garden. It was a Saturday night and the music coming from the bar was very loud. The tealight candle on the table wen out and was not lit again, lights were very dim and when the plates arrived we could not see what we were eating. Calling the mains on the menu "BIGGER PLATES" is misleading because the portions are very very small. I had to asked twice for some bread (sourdough bread) which was brought at the end of the dinner. I specifically asked not to bring flatbread but they brought it anywas. Bread was good but was not on the menu and was charged 6,70 pounds (+3 pound flatbread that I did not order). Water was from tap and tasted awful. Food was very good and the building/interiors are stunning, but I definetely felt like we were overcharged for the experience we had. Prices are comparable to a fine dining restaurant but service is not. I would recommend having a few drinks at the bar or going for a set menu, not going for dinner à la carte on a Saturday like we did.

I really wanted to love The Refuge because the setting is absolutely beautiful and the food itself was actually very nice. Unfortunately, the experience was let down by the environment and service. It was freezing inside the restaurant, which made it hard to relax and enjoy the meal. To make matters worse, the service was incredibly slow and inattentive; we felt quite forgotten about throughout the night. Manchester has too many amazing restaurants to settle for being cold and ignored. Sadly, I won't be returning

Really disappointed. I thought it would be more like it was years ago - refined. Instead it's like two 90s ravers took over and decided to blast club music. The table layout is cramped, people trying to talk over the music makes the restaurant even more loud. Service was absolutely fine. Food was in parts overly salted (chicken, pigs in blankets). But the beef and chicken was incredibly moist and succulent. Gravy -10/10 Cauliflower cheese - 9/10 Red cabbage - 10/10 Roast potatoes - 8/10 Great value for money.

1st time here. Had meal in the Wintergarden, small portions large price. It took 25 mins to be served a very small portion of icecrean.. 2 tiny blobs.. And I really mean tiny as I finished them in three spoonfuls, at least I could eat the wafer cup it came in. The loud DJ music comming from the bar was annoying and we couldn't enjoy our chat as we had to shout to be heard.. Which isn't the thing when your are having a meal with a friend or anyone. Overall this venue is not worth the £120 price tag for the 2 of us. The only positive is that the place is aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

I like eating out and exploring new places. Great mid-week vibe at the bar, an impressive entrance. However, our evening at the Refuge was disappointing, our table was booked for 7pm and was made up for one place setting only. I had to ask for a plate and cutlery. We were both hungry, starters were very small, but the main course plates followed the same theme. The smallest steak I have ever seen, at £45 for a ribeye, I was hoping to be impressed. Rock hard veggies were inedible. Very few chips. Really poor food. My only regret is not booking somewhere else. A disappointing experience.

Food was average. Service was pretty much none existent. We ordered food and that was our last interaction. No check back on our food, we waited 45 minutes between the first meal and the last meal on our table. No second drinks offered and had to head to the bar to ask someone for our bill. However, the venue is beautiful and great location. Definitely better places to eat in Manchester. I would avoid this place.

17 of us went to The Refuge for our works Christmas Do. The architecture of the bar/restaurant is amazing but sadly let down by the service. The queues at the bar before dinner were huge, took 15 minutes to get a drink. The service of drinks at the table was slow and it was hard to get staff to come to the table to take an order. The staff are lovely but didn't seem to understand you make sure that the cutlery and crockery are on the table before bringing the food. We were on the Christmas sharing menu but they didn't explain how many people each plate served. They didn't bring out enough bread for everyone until we asked them. They didn't bring one of our vegan meals at all. The waitress thought being vegan was an allergy that we hadn't mentioned! The one dessert on the sharing menu was sherry trifle but seemed to have lumps of Christmas pudding/dried fruit in it, very strange dessert! It could have been an amazing evening but when you pay £57 you expect good food with excellent service. Sadly we didn't experience that and it's unlikely I'd ever eat there again.

I expected a lot from The Refuge given it’s prices and reputation with The Kimpton, but I was sadly left very disappointed. First of all the restaurant staff appear to be incredibly stressed, overworked and miserable, which unfortunately made for a poor experience service wise. I understand that Christmas is an intense time of year for those working in hospitality, but the way in which we were spoken to at times was abrupt, rude and passive aggressive. And given the 10% service charge, this kind of treatment is just completely unacceptable. The food was nice, but nothing special that warrants it’s high asking price. It was also quite cold when served, and the portion sizes left a lot to be desired. Loud, jarring music blasting from the bar area next door throughout the evening also made for an uncomfortable atmosphere. For a regular establishment one would usually show more forbearance, but to be charged such extortionate prices for a promised fine dining experience, that was so badly undelivered feels like an insult. There are plenty of other establishments in Manchester that I would recommend going to ahead of this one for Christmas dining. Please do better.

Absolutely terrible. We visited on a Thursday and genuinely enjoyed it, so we decided to book a table for Saturday as well. That turned out to be a big mistake. When we arrived, we waited at the bar for around 25 minutes just to get drinks. The barman was serving people on both sides of us and completely ignored us. Only after another member of staff pointed it out did we finally get served. We then went to reception at 19:18 for our 19:30 booking. We noticed the garden was fairly empty, as was the front table, which we were eventually seated at. Despite this, the hostess said the table was not ready and mentioned someone called Nippa, asking us to come back in ten minutes. We went elsewhere to finish our drinks and returned, only to be given the exact same empty table we had seen earlier. Overall, the staff appeared poorly trained and disorganised. Very disappointing and not recommended. As you can see they are not even bothered to respond to their negative reviews. Spend your money somewhere else.

Wanted a special valentine's meal. When booking they said the earliest time they could seat us was 9.45pm. We arrived on time, were seated then a waitress came over and said the kitchen closed in about a minute but she could probably squeeze our order in. We complained about how ridiculous it was to book us when the kitchen was due to close and left to eat elsewhere. Shocking service from a supposedly higher end hotel. Wishing we weren't now staying the night there.