Shropshire Magazine

The restaurant frontage in Market Street, Shrewsbury.

Neil Thomas explores the potential at a newcomer to the Shrewsbury dining scene. Pictures: Mike Hayward

Moules marinières.

An exciting new job, my boyhood football team Stoke City promoted to the Premier League, the under-13s side I coach winning their championship, and then an invitation from one of Britain’s top dining chains to a preview night of their new seafood restaurant in Shropshire. All within the space of five days. I very nearly went out and bought a National Lottery ticket.

For your average beta male this, of course, constitutes a near damn perfect week, and I’m realistic enough to accept that it’s likely to be pretty much downhill from here.

With that in mind, I revisted Loch Fyne in Shrewsbury – this time as an objective paying critic rather than an obligated freeloader – with a certain foreboding. Surely, it couldn’t match the enjoyment of the first time? Two visits in a fortnight tests, if nothing else, a restaurant’s level of consistency. Maintaining high standards is paramount to success, particularly in the case of a sizeable operation like Loch Fyne.

Shrewsbury is the 40th addition to the 10 year-old Loch Fyne chain and, until now, the nearest has been at Sutton Coldfield. The people of Shropshire are, at last, getting the chance to sample what diners in Covent Garden, Bath, Oxford, Harrogate and many other parts of the country have been enjoying for some time.

Spectacular

Loch Fyne has converted rather grand-looking former bank chambers next to the Music Hall into a fairly spectacular restaurant. This is a trend which should be encouraged. Since the majority of us now invest the bulk of our earnings at fuel stations and supermarkets, banks have somewhat lost their relevance, particularly since they’ve started getting sniffy about who they lend money to.

Bradan Rost . . . kiln-roasted salmon, chargrilled with shellfish, mushroom and whisky sauce.

Also, with everyone from politicians and top financiers to half-cut wallies propping up the bar predicting economic Armageddon, why not eat, drink and be merry? There’s probably no better place to do that in our county than Loch Fyne. The food is superb, the drink pretty good and the atmosphere lively and convivial. It’s cavernous, colourful and noisy and a great place to people-watch. If you crave peace and quiet or want soft lights, music and a romantic alcove to pop the question, there are more suitable restaurants. If you fancy a couple of lively hours, to see and be seen, Loch Fyne’s your spot.

My wife Vanessa and I hadn’t been there 10 minutes when we spotted acquaintances from Welshpool. Then, halfway through our meal, we were spied – every passing pedestrian gawps in through the massive picture windows – by a couple of friends on their way to the pub and they popped in for a chat.

None of which should detract from the excellence of the food, which is is at the core of Loch Fyne’s reputation.

My smoked haddock chowder would have been the perfect winter warming dish but also raised the spirits on a spring evening. There’s something mildly intoxicating about smoked fish, which leads me to think I could happily stick my head in a smokery for half an hour. Small pieces of undyed fish and a mix of vegetables gave the perfectly-seasoned creamy soup real body and texture. Excellent.

Vanessa’s Bradan Orach traditional strongly smoked salmon – one of a choice of four smoked salmon starters – was supremely tasty and melted in the mouth.

Other starters available included salt and pepper Cornish squid with chilli and coriander dressing, peppered south coast mackerel pâté with toasted brioche and shallot marmalade, spiced crab and mussel soup, herring fillets with four marinades and a salad of smoked duck with pancetta and rocket.

Oysters and mussels are something of a speciality, as are shellfish platters with crab or lobster.

My main course of bream was superb. The pan fried fillets – crisped on top, white, fresh and wholesome beneath – came with rocket pesto and roasted garlic mash. A simple piece of fish turned, with a minumum of fuss, into a great meal.

Fresh fruit jelly and lemon sorbet.

Vanessa, who is a seafood enthusiast – you might say an a-fish-iando – is particularly partial to scallops. On both our visits she couldn’t resist the plump king scallops sautéed simply in garlic butter.

Other mains on the menu included Scottish lobster served cold with truffle mayonnaise, pan-fried garlic butter king prawns, traditional Goan fish curry, lemon sole with grilled baby capers and parsley butter, smoked fish pie and seared line-caught yellowfin tuna carpaccio with mint and caper salsa. If you fancy cooking top-notch seafood at home, many of the ingredients are available at the restaurant’s deli.

For those not enamoured of seafood (presumably you are in the company of someone who is, or what on earth are you doing there?), there is a Glen Fyne prime Highland eight-ounce sirloin steak, dry-aged for 28 days, pork-and-herb sausages or a lentil-and-chickpea casserole.

Reasonable

On the face of it, the prices are reasonable. However, most people would expect to have either vegetables or salad as well as perhaps chips or mash with their meal, and these constitute side dishes costing either £2.50 or £3.50 extra. My bream was, for instance, £13. However, vegetables and chips on top of that would have bumped it up to £18.

Though seafood is Loch Fyne’s speciality, the desserts are excellent. My chocolate tart was rich and buttery while Vanessa opted for a fresh fruit platter.

Our compliments to Portuguese head chef José Gomez – who has worked in the Loch Fyne chain for more than four years – and his team.

The interior of Loch Fyne restaurant, Shrewsbury.

A slight bone of contention is the mark up on the wine. While 2006 was a decent year for Chablis, this was an ordinary, if enjoyable, bottle and £28 seemed a mite steep.

There are, I guess, bound to be a few teething troubles in a new 94-seater restaurant that is breaking in several trainee staff at once. We visited on the busiest evening since the launch, 110 covers, and inexperienced waiters and waitresses occasionally looked flummoxed with meals taken to the wrong tables.

However, these kind of hitches are invariably ironed out, particularly at a place with such lofty ideals. All staff smiled and gave the impression they were pleased to see you, and that goes a long way.

To add to the feelgood factor, Loch Fyne announces on its menu that “this company is dedicated to the protection of our seas, our maritime communities and all forms of marine life. We do not source fish from deep-sea trawlers. We do not fish endangered stocks.” Where species, like salmon, are farmed it is to the “highest RSPCA Freedom Food standards”.

Wow, you can enjoy a fantastic meal and skip home safe in the knowledge that no creature suffered anything worse than death and you’ve not hastened the destruction of the planet.

• Loch Fyne Restaurant, Talbot House, Market Street, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY1 1LG. Telephone: (01743) 277140. Website: www.lochfyne.com Email: shrewsbury@lochfyne.net