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Milton Keynes has a number of restaurants offering lots
of cuisines, yet there are few who specialise in seafood. Loch
Fyne originally started out as a roadside stall on the banks of
Loch Fyne and has since rolled out a number of successful
seafood eateries around the UK, including here at The Hub in
Central Milton Keynes. I took a good friend of mine, a personal
trainer, to the restaurant to sample their food on a Thursday
evening.
Atmosphere
We arrived at around 7:30pm to find the restaurant half
full but within thirty minutes it packed to the rafters. Many of
the diners were smartly dressed and well groomed. The restaurant
certainly attracts people who like quality in life. My guest and
I were probably the most casually dressed but we still felt
completely comfortable in our round necked t-shirts and jeans.
The restaurant was buzzing all evening with joyous people. Loch
Fyne is certainly a enjoyable place to eat.
Décor
Like all Loch Fyne restaurants the décor is airy, fresh
and super clean cut. The room features lots of chunky wood
throughout, including panelled walls and sturdy tables. The
surroundings display large pictures of sea life. There is a
counter on one side of the restaurant where we could see the
chefs preparing the large seafood platters and smashing the
shell fish. You can use this counter purchase fresh seafood to
take home - what a great idea! We were seated next to the
counter for our meal and enjoyed watching the food being
prepared by the highly-skilled chefs.
Service
The staff at Loch Fyne are extremely welcoming. Our
waitress firstly took our drinks order and promptly went through
the specials located on the ever changing chalkboards. My guest
and I looked at each other to say “what did she say?” because
she was hard to understand through her European accent and tiny
voice. Nevertheless we took a good look at the specials and
decided that on this occasion, they were not for us. Strange as
it may seem when the waitress returned she spoke louder and more
clearly. Maybe she was nervous? From hereon in, the evening the
service was spot on. Our food arrived in timely fashion, drinks
on time and there was always eye contact.
Food
After looking at the menu for a long while my guest
finally went for the Loch Fyne Smoked Salmon Ashet which is
three varieties of salmon including the Bradan Rost kiln roasted
salmon fillet which was powerful, the Kinglas fillet (sashimi
style) which is much like sushi and finally, the classic smoked
salmon. The assistant manager advised to eat these in a certain
order as one salmon in particular was smoked and strong tasting.
This dish was amazingly fresh and full of flavour. My personal
trainer had chosen a healthy dish that packed a punch.
I selected the six plump and juicy oysters which arrived
on a huge plate of ice. The chilli and lemon teamed up well to
flavour these marvellous treats. The great part about starting
with oysters is that they are not too filling. My guest had
never tried oysters before - what a place to start! He'd heard
they were popular and that they had a uniquely strange texture -
he mustered up the courage and chewed away. Surprisingly he
enjoyed it. The texture was mussel like were his comments and
definitely salty. I love oysters and these were fantastic!
For mains my guest ordered the large bucket of Loch Fyne
mussels in an onion sauce. The bucket was huge and my guest was
almost out of view! He loved these so much that he forgot to
offer any.
I was in a fancy mood and homed in on the half lobster
with garlic butter and chips. The lobster took over my plate and
was packed with tender, juicy meat including the enormous claws
that sealed some splendid meat. I had fun with my claw breaker
and the garlic butter was yummy too. The chips still had the
skin on them, which I love - rustic and well cooked.
Desserts
My guest polished off his bowl which once had a sticky toffee
pudding. He did offer me some but it was very obvious he was
only being polite. He said this was the best he'd ever eaten.
“All that you want” he said, “sticky, fluffy, gooey and
filling.”
We had a really nice evening at Loch Fyne and looking at
the other restaurants in the hub on this occasion so did many
others; this was by far the busiest restaurant. There are a
number of meat options on the menu so if you or your partner are
not a lover of fish, do not let that put you off what is a very
enjoyable dining experience. |
