Loch Fyne

Fatty food weekend — Part 4 — Loch Fyne– Mother’s Day Lunch
Now this is my fourth meal out in 4 days and I was getting a tad full, so I welcomed this visit as I didn’t consider it to be too filling (what with being seafood and all!)
We’d never been to Loch Fyne before so we were not sure what to expect. I actually found the plaice quite sole-​less (fish puns intended) — a bit like All Bar One but with a faint fish odour! Our waiting staff were good and attentive, they gave us the right amount of time to look at menu’s etc. We all had starters, the tempura squid that 3 others had was described as nice but not amazing. My garlic and chilli prawns were very good, could have just done with a few more but it came with nice brown bread (promptly stolen by my small child and mangled, but still eatable) for mopping up the garlic/​chilli oil afterwards.
My parents ordered fish & chips, not that imaginative but they aren’t big eaters. Unfortunately for them they were served a huge piece of battered fish the size of my forearm. That was actually quite surprising, as usually you get lots of chips for a small piece of fish. I watched them desperately try to get through it all as we all hate wasted food. My husband went for the burger, he said it was ‘meh’; not really that tasty and for someone who craves Solita’s burgers everyday, I was bemused by his choice. I had the chorizo and monkfish risotto — it was nice and quite filling, although it had something on top that could only be described as straw. I was baffled as to what this was — was it shredded fried onion? I still ate it.
My toddler got fish goujons, chips and beans (Gillian McKeith eat your heart out) and it was the largest child’s portion of food I have ever seen. I mean, it came on an oval plate… usually reserved for massive mixed grills in most places. The goujons were quite greasy, but once I’d mashed them up, mixed them with beans and garnished it with ketchup, it didn’t matter as he ate it anyway. Kudos on the large portions Loch Fyne, however you may want to dry them off more next time.
Only 2 of us had puds, which was crème brûlée — really not that interesting, its only saving grace was the scrummy little biscuit that came with but that was it.
Its a shame really as I had high hopes for this restaurant, I thought it was fairly pricey for what it was and food quality needed to be that little bit better.

we dined here and had a deluxe platter. Mussels were tiny and had a lot of mussle ‘hair’ in the shells, prawns dry, Langoustines most mushy. Small half lobster. crab was a made to a paste in the shell, I don’t know what made me think it would be chunks of crab meat which is my preference. (perhaps the wording ‘whole crab’ on the menu? my error).
No bread with expensive meal, you have to buy it separately which is ridiculous when you are paying £50 for a meal.
Oysters seemed fine. Friend had steak and chips which was nice but seemed small portions.
Not many non fish options if you happen to go with a non fish lover. It is a fish restaurant after all though so what do you expect? Location ok but you have to park down the road in a pay and display Carpark and walk back up to the restaurant. Situated on a small Ye Olde looking high street road, looks nice but not good for parking. 2 stars for pleasant waitress.

We’d been looking forward to coming here for so long, we both love seafood, and though the menu is a bit pricey (well, Knutsford and Seafood, what did you expect?) we were eventually tempted in by the free bottle of wine with two main courses before 7pm.
What a disappointment!
I don’t mean it was bad, it was quite acceptable, but our expectations had been so much higher.
The atmosphere is very pleasant, up market, interestingly lit, good music but not intrusive. We had a seat in the window where we could look down on King St and watch the shallow flash characters in their posh cars. Don’t bother bringing the Porsche into Knutsford, they’re ten a penny here mate
Sorry bout that — the service was civilised but not engaging. The free wine was a lot better than I’d expected, a Vin de Pays D’Oc which they said was a chardonnay, but I have my doubts. It was very light and pale and quite dry — a good choice to accompany the meal. The waiter didn’t volunteer the fact that we could order a free bottle of wine, which I thought was a bit shabby of him. When I raised it he said, yes, we could have a free bottle of house white, but no, we couldn’t ‘upgrade’ to a better wine and pay the difference. That seemed odd, but the way he declined was as if he was surprised that we had the cheek to enquire!
The menu isn’t extensive, but it’s adequate. There are meat choices for those who can’t face seafood.
A basket of breads arrived, slices rough cut from loaves. Nice touch, but not particularly interesting bread. I ordered smoked haddock chowder to start, a bit concerned that it might be too much, as a good chowder can be so filling. It arrived very heavy with a dense creamy texture, a few pieces of fish and plenty of fresh leaves, which may have been fresh coriander and parsley. Yep, OK, not too much, but you wouldn’t want any more, it’s so rich.
My partner ordered smoked mackerel pâté, which arrived in a rammikin dish with a couple of slices of thick cut white bread toasted. She decided it was excellent, but I tried it and found it a bit bland.
Then it was moules mariniere for me, a big favourite of mine, I’ve had it in many parts of the world and like to see it as a benchmark dish for anyone who professes to be a seafood establishment. It was presented in a black pan with a lid, which doubled as your shells bin — handy. But oh dear. the pan was half full of the smallest grey/​brown mussels I have ever seen. OK, I thought, maybe not the biggest or the most attractive mussels I’ve ever seen, but maybe they’re the best. My place setting had a photo of the fisherman who grows and harvests the mussels in Loch Fyne — yes the restaurant sells seafood from the loch in its outlets — so I’d been anticipating these mussels for maybe half an hour when they arrived. And again, yes, OK. Not bad if I’d been served them in a pub or something, I just expected some ‘wow factor’ from a seafood restaurant that was sadly lacking. A bit too much cream and not enough wine I think.
Madam had a fish pie which was a small portion, looked like it had spent a minute too long under the grill, and yes, it was quite good.
So — nice place, smart and classy atmos, acceptable food, and the whole thing was just £31, so can’t really complain at that.
I was just hoping that it was going to be awesome and I was going to be so happy I had a great seafood restaurant so close to home and I was going to spend the next year or two working my way through the menu and loving every minute of it.
But no — might come back in the summer, have the special seafood platter with lobster for two (£44) and a decent bottle of wine, but won’t be getting to know the staff by name any time soon