We recently visited a local Loch Fyne restaurant. It was our wedding anniversary and a very busy weekend meant we weren't able to do a whole lot more than that but as we'd had never been before we thought we'd give it a try.
I'd always meant to visit a Loch Fyne before but never made it. As I get older I seem to like seafood more and more so the menu was very appealing to me. Mr M is slightly more fussy so it's harder to please him in a restaurant like this but I was confident of being able to find something he'd like (I generally help choose his meals!).
First impressions of the restaurant were good - busy with quite a buzzy atmosphere even if the majority of customers were upwards of 60. Interior was quite nice, style of tables made me feel like I could be sitting near the sea somewhere, however being positioned next to the coffee machines was not entirely pleasant. Every time a member of staff walked past they kicked the back of Mr M's chair. It started to grate after the 3rd time and also what is it with those coffee machines that they have to bang and whack the hell out of?! Someone please explain! It certainly destroys the ambiance somewhat.
Service was pretty good. We were shown to our table quickly and talked through the specials. Unfortunately our waiter wasn't English and it was very hard to understand him so he probably received a few blank looks from us! Our drinks arrived promptly as did the food throughout the night.
So, what did we have? To start with Mr M ordered the Thai fishcakes with sweet chilli and coriander dressing (£4.95) and I had the chilli and garlic prawns with crusty bread (£6.25). Whilst both of these were tasty it was not a good indication of things to come. The portions were tiny, I in fact had 5 prawns on my plate and we're not talking the big mahoosive prawns you get, we're talking the prawns that supermarkets like to call king prawns, about the size of a £2 coin. Okay, I accept it's only a starter but for £6.25 I expect a little more. Main course for me was the Loch Fyne moules marinieres with chips and crusty bread (£9.45). Value-wise this wasn't too bad, they literally present you with a bucket full of mussels but let's face it, there's not a whole lot in a mussel! The portion of chips was a good size although the two small pieces of crusty bread were a bit disappointing. Mr M opted for the marinated king prawns served with chips and lemon mayo (£13.95). Looking back now I'm not sure why we didn't send this back. These were the large king prawns, all 4 of them. Bearing in mind once you've removed the shell, head and tail there's not a lot left I felt that was incredibly poor for the cost. Also considering I got a decent size bowl of chips with my meal, it seemed a bit odd that Mr M got literally 10-12 skinny fries with his. Of course I did the nice thing and let him have half of mine.
We decided to skip dessert as we were already feeling a bit hard done by and the whole meal including a couple of drinks came to £48.10. Not unreasonable, I've paid more for dinner but I've never paid that much money and left a restaurant hungry!
Would I go back? Not on your nelly. There are far better value restaurants of equal or better quality which give you far more reasonable portions for your money.
Have you ever eat at a Loch Fyne restaurant? Do share your views with me!
love & kisses
Mrs M x
I'd always meant to visit a Loch Fyne before but never made it. As I get older I seem to like seafood more and more so the menu was very appealing to me. Mr M is slightly more fussy so it's harder to please him in a restaurant like this but I was confident of being able to find something he'd like (I generally help choose his meals!).
First impressions of the restaurant were good - busy with quite a buzzy atmosphere even if the majority of customers were upwards of 60. Interior was quite nice, style of tables made me feel like I could be sitting near the sea somewhere, however being positioned next to the coffee machines was not entirely pleasant. Every time a member of staff walked past they kicked the back of Mr M's chair. It started to grate after the 3rd time and also what is it with those coffee machines that they have to bang and whack the hell out of?! Someone please explain! It certainly destroys the ambiance somewhat.
Service was pretty good. We were shown to our table quickly and talked through the specials. Unfortunately our waiter wasn't English and it was very hard to understand him so he probably received a few blank looks from us! Our drinks arrived promptly as did the food throughout the night.
So, what did we have? To start with Mr M ordered the Thai fishcakes with sweet chilli and coriander dressing (£4.95) and I had the chilli and garlic prawns with crusty bread (£6.25). Whilst both of these were tasty it was not a good indication of things to come. The portions were tiny, I in fact had 5 prawns on my plate and we're not talking the big mahoosive prawns you get, we're talking the prawns that supermarkets like to call king prawns, about the size of a £2 coin. Okay, I accept it's only a starter but for £6.25 I expect a little more. Main course for me was the Loch Fyne moules marinieres with chips and crusty bread (£9.45). Value-wise this wasn't too bad, they literally present you with a bucket full of mussels but let's face it, there's not a whole lot in a mussel! The portion of chips was a good size although the two small pieces of crusty bread were a bit disappointing. Mr M opted for the marinated king prawns served with chips and lemon mayo (£13.95). Looking back now I'm not sure why we didn't send this back. These were the large king prawns, all 4 of them. Bearing in mind once you've removed the shell, head and tail there's not a lot left I felt that was incredibly poor for the cost. Also considering I got a decent size bowl of chips with my meal, it seemed a bit odd that Mr M got literally 10-12 skinny fries with his. Of course I did the nice thing and let him have half of mine.
We decided to skip dessert as we were already feeling a bit hard done by and the whole meal including a couple of drinks came to £48.10. Not unreasonable, I've paid more for dinner but I've never paid that much money and left a restaurant hungry!
Would I go back? Not on your nelly. There are far better value restaurants of equal or better quality which give you far more reasonable portions for your money.
Have you ever eat at a Loch Fyne restaurant? Do share your views with me!
love & kisses
Mrs M x
Oh how disappointing :(
ReplyDeleteWhich Loch Fyne did you eat at? I've had dinner at Loch Fyne Covent Garden and must admit I wasn't disappointed. While it was nothing amazing it was exactly what I expected of the meal, not too much. It's the same with all of these franchises. You just need to eat at one on a bad day and that's it you'll never eat at another even if it's on the other side of the country.
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