Loch Fyne fishy fineness

Rating - Overall: 4  Food: 4  Service: 3  Ambience: 4

Deano
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Apr 09
Rating: 0

1 Jan 2011

A repeat visit to Loch Fyne based on the excellent dinner of a few weeks previous.

Our party of three were sat right by the fish counter and we had a great view of the meals being prepared. The seafood platter in particular looked tempting and will be the subject of a future visit. From where we were sat the kitchen and food preparation areas looked very clean and it's always reassuring to visit a restaurant where they aren't scared of hiding their kitchens away out of public sight.

From the start, it was evident the front-of-house restaurant was under-staffed and this was with a few empty tables, but we weren't in a rush and happy to watch the world go by as we looked over the menus which have more than enough choice plus there were a couple of special dishes. The staff were doing their best to keep things moving and gave their apologies on two occasions as it did take a while to get our order taken and then for the dishes to arrive.

The wait was worth it and the starters and mains were of good quality as was the Pinot Noir. A minor minus was the amount of potato (i.e. padding) in the curry but the flavour couldn't be faulted. Presentation was excellent too.

We like Loch Fyne and will be back again for that platter!

Visited: December 30, 2010
What I ate: Starters = mussels, fishcake, garlic prawns. Mains = prawns, fis

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Disappointing Drop in Standard

Rating - Overall: 1  Food: 1  Service: 1  Ambience: 4

Lambzeebeep
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Oct 10
Rating: 0

13 Oct 2010

We have been to Loch Fyne on several occasions, this visit was shockingly disappointing. The service was very poor, we waited over an hour for our starters, no bread came and our drinks order was slow.

The overall standard of the food was terrible, fishcakes were dry and chewy, my 'scampi' could easily have been bought frozen from Tesco, it was tasteless and the accompanying chips were definately reheated from lunch time. Nothing was fresh.

We had a chat with the girl waiting our table and she told us they had no head chef and none of the kitchen staff were qualified. I am outraged that they can continue to charge larges sums of money for their dishes when someone who has walked in from the streets is preparing the food!

We would have been happier going to a Hungry Horse, we'd have got the same standard of food and paid half the price!

We won't be going back to Loch Fyne again.

Visited: October 12, 2010
What I ate: Langoustine and Chips

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Fresh and delicious

Rating - Overall: 5  Food: 5  Service: 5  Ambience: 4

dandelion
Foodie
Member since Jan 09
Rating: 2

31 Jan 2009

Really impressed by quality of the food - we went for the mixed seafood platter which was gorgeous and fun to get stuck into. The waitress was excellent and it has a really pleasant relaxed atmosphere. Definitely will return.

Visited: January 30, 2009
What I ate: Mixede seafood platter with crab

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Excellent Place

Rating - Overall: 3  Food: 3  Service: 3  Ambience: 4

ashwin
Foodie
Member since Dec 08
Rating: 1

17 Dec 2008

Excellent place. Had Christmas part last year and we have voted for the same place this year. Give it a try. One more thing which was impressive is its location. Nice place to spend in the evening.

Visited: December 1, 2007
What I ate: Christmas party

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Fish is fab

Rating - Overall: 5  Food: 5  Service: 4  Ambience: 5

dlewis
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Dec 08
Rating: 0

16 Dec 2008

I have been to this restaurant twice. The decor is lovely. The service is relaxed and helpful. The food is fab, reasonably priced and delicious. If you like seafood this is to be recommended. I will definately be returning.

Visited: November 23, 2008
What I ate: Smpked Salmon. Bream.

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Fantastic fish for 14 quid

Rating - Overall: 4  Food: 4  Service: 3  Ambience: 4

BettyRubble
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Oct 08
Rating: 0

28 Oct 2008

Beautiful building, fabulous fish, service satisfactory.

I went with two others to celebrate a friend's birthdays and we had a great evening. The restaurant is very well done, with funky fishing pictures and good lighting.

The food was very reasonably priced - we had two courses, a side order and a glass of wine for just £14. We all enjoyed our various choices and the bread we were given to munch on while we were choosing was delicious.

I would hearily recommend it and would definitely go back myself.

Visited: October 23, 2008
What I ate: Mussels, whole rainbow trout with honey and almonds

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Fantastic as always!

Rating - Overall: 5  Food: 5  Service: 5  Ambience: 5

lou08
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Sep 08
Rating: 0

27 Oct 2008

We visited Loch Fyne for a late Saturday lunch. We had not booked but we were found a lovely quiet table near the back. The waitress was friendly and efficient. She talked us through the specials but also brought our attention to the set lunch menu - 2 courses and glass of house wine for £11 which we decided upon. A great value meal for a special lunchtime treat! We had a large bowl of mussels to start which were delicious and served with lots of bread and butter. As we come to Loch Fyne for special occasions and usually tuck in to oysters and fish platters, we decided to try the steak for a change and were not disappointed. It was really tender and served with crisp, dry chips - delicious! We shared a dessert and were pleased that the sticky toffee pudding was big enough to share! A fantastic restaurant for a lunchtime treat or an extra-special evening meal.

Visited: October 18, 2008
What I ate: mussels, steak and chips, sticky toffee pudding

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Great seafood but very noisy.

Rating - Overall: 4  Food: 4  Service: 4  Ambience: 2

krbristol
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Oct 08
Rating: 0

25 Oct 2008

I drop in occasionally and prefer it at lunchtime. Their oysters are excellent but having no soft furnshings means that it can be incredibly noisy when busy.

Visited: October 14, 2008
What I ate: Place, Oysters

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Loch Fyne - Portsmouth

Rating - Overall: 5  Food: 5  Service: 5  Ambience: 5

ljones
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Oct 08
Rating: 0

1 Oct 2008

We were in Portsmouth for a couple of days. Had heard about Loch Fyne and found that this restaurant was absolutely brilliant, can't wait to try the Bristol branch.

My first time with Oysters, you could 'taste Loch Fyne'! Seafood soup, followed by a wonderful seafood platter.

Visited: September 11, 2008
What I ate: Oysters, seafood soup, seafood platter.

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wonderful

Rating - Overall: 4  Food: 4  Service: 5  Ambience: 3

michellem
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Oct 08
Rating: 0

1 Oct 2008

Took my mum for lunch for her birthday it was very nice. The food was good - we had the seafood platter, which was very nice and the puddings were also very nice but a bit overpriced. I would go back, but due to price, only on special occations

Visited: April 2, 2008
What I ate: fish plater ,

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slipping standards.....

Rating - Overall: 2  Food: 1  Service: 3  Ambience: 2

benr
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Oct 08
Rating: 0

1 Oct 2008

I have been a big fan of Loch Fyne in the past due to my love of seafood.........however, this experience was not great. The service was good and the waitress smiley and polite, but the food was tasteless and unmemorable. The fish soup was bland and watery, and the plaice was bland......even the chips were overcooked and greasy.

On the bright side, the oysters were absolutely fab....top notch as usual, im just hoping the rest was a one off bad experience.

Visited: September 21, 2008
What I ate: Fish soup, plaice, oysters

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Not up to normal standard!

Rating - Overall: 3  Food: 3  Service: 2  Ambience: 4

Obtuse
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Sep 08
Rating: 0

30 Sep 2008

Have visited Loch Fyne several times before and had a great time, which makes our experience tonight all the more disappointing.

I've no doubt the quality of the ingredients was fine but the execution frequently let it down: fish pie with more mash than fish, barely-warm food, undressed salad, and small bits of crab shell in the dressed crab. Puddings fared little better, my crumble tasted fine but had several large bits of badly cut up fruit and there was no crunch to the crumble, it was just soggy.

Service was also a problem. Our waitress was pleasant enough, but each course took about 45 minutes to arrive. When the mains arrived some of the sides were missing. One drink was served in a glass with a large lipstick stain. Tea for one was served in a pot so large the flavour of the tea never really had a chance.

We'll give them another go as we're hoping this was just an off-night!

Visited: September 30, 2008
What I ate: Smoked salmon, dressed crab, pear and rhubarb crumble.

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Serious seafood

Rating - Overall: 4  Food: 4  Service: 4  Ambience: 4

sinky
Foodie
Member since Sep 08
Rating: 2

21 Sep 2008

Excellent food, well prepared shellfish, good service, what more can you ask? Well a more than decent week evening deal for two courses and a drink for £11, that's what! A smoked salmon starter and seatrout for main, delicious. Can't wait for the next visit. On a previous special occasion, my husband and I treated ourselves to the three tier seafood extravaganza of oysters, lobster, crab, mussels, clams, langoustines....WOW!!!

Visited: July 2, 2008
What I ate: Smoked salmon and sea trout

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Great Fish Cakes

Rating - Overall: 4  Food: 4  Service: 5  Ambience: 3

ralex
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Jul 08
Rating: 0

15 Jul 2008

Had the lunchtime special menu. Very tasty and good value. Staff very helpful as we were accompanied by our baby granddaughter.

Visited: August 22, 2007

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A nice plaice to go!

Rating - Overall: 4  Food: 3  Service: 4  Ambience: 5

dprclem
Rookie Reviewer
Member since May 08
Rating: 1

24 May 2008

Although a national chain, Loch Fyne in Bristol has an individual feel about it. The fish is superb and the seafood platter is well worth the money. With some great bars located around the restaurant, this is a great place to start your evening.

Visited: June 14, 2007

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