I used to live in Bristol and one of my favourite restaurants there is Loch Fyne.  It serves predominantly seafood but is also a grill and has lots of veggie options.  The moules-frites was my favourite treat and during one visit my husband ate the best salmon he’d ever tasted.  We’re fairly new to Edinburgh and feeling we’d exhausted our current eating haunts, I thought I’d have a look online to see if there is a Loch Fyne in Edinburgh.  I was excited to find that there is one in Leith, so I booked a table.

The chain’s website tells visitors that the business began as a small oyster bar on the banks of Loch Fyne and has expanded to more than forty restaurants.  We’d only been to one Loch Fyne restaurant before, so we were really looking forward to finding out what a second one had to offer.  It’s in a picturesque location at Newhaven Habour and is one of a number of restaurants sitting alongside the water.

Walking into the restaurant, I was struck by how big it is.  In front of the main doors is a smart fishmonger, which was closed by the time of our 7.30pm booking.  To the left of the entrance is a small desk holding the bookings register.  I scoured the restaurant to see if there was anybody available to show us to our table, but couldn’t see any waiting staff.  We stood there for about five minutes feeling increasingly uncomfortable, until a chef from the open kitchen area (probably sensing our impatience) told us to sit wherever we fancied and handed us some menus.

As we waited to place our order, we were again struck by the lack of waiting staff.  There were just two waiters and although the restaurant wasn’t very busy, they appeared to be run off their feet.  We sat for about ten minutes and then the Restaurant Manager came to our table to introduce herself and to take our drinks order; she was very friendly.  About half an hour after arriving at the restaurant, a waiter came to take our food order.  He apologised for the long wait and made some suggestions about which food choices would compliment each other.  When my husband ordered a glass of the house red, he recommended another wine for just 20 pence per glass extra which – I’m told – turned out to be a very good choice.  He was clearly trying to provide the best service but seemed to be thoroughly tired out.

After the very long wait to order, our potted mackerel starter arrived surprisingly quickly.  This consisted of a small pot of mackerel of a much thicker consistency than a pâté with two small pieces of toasted baguette.  The mackerel was absolutely delicious and I thought a couple of extra pieces of bread would help to make the most of it.  Once again though, I couldn’t find our waiter.  From my seat I could see into the area next to the bar, where he was frantically pulling clean glasses from a dishwasher leaving the restaurant without a single member of waiting staff.  I’m sure this wasn’t his fault; the restaurant was simply severely understaffed.  Eventually he came back to the restaurant area, by which time my husband had finished his starter.  I asked if I could have one or two extra slices of bread to accompany my mackerel, which he agreed to.  When the Restaurant Manager brought over a whole box of bread containing ten or more slices, I asked if it was possible to have just a couple. She said the bread was on the house, so not to worry.

Our waiter seemed a little bit disappointed that we were both ordering fish and chips and I can’t say I blame him.  In my opinion, the menu is superb.  Along with the regular à la carte options diners can also choose from a wide selection of pan-fried, grilled or steamed fish fillets.  It was a tough choice, but when you fancy fish and chips it’s very difficult to resist!  I ordered haddock with regular batter, french fries and mushy peas and my husband ordered cod with tempura batter and twice-cooked chips.  The meals looked entirely underwhelming when they arrived; I came to the conclusion that it was because the plates were too big.  I’m a big fan of minted mushy peas and I would have preferred a bigger portion of these.  But as expected, the haddock melted in my mouth.  It was fantastic.

The desserts looked similarly disappointing on the plate, but were delicious.  I opted for the crème brûlée and although I tried, I just couldn’t finish the helping.  There was more there than there appeared to be!

Loch Fyne in Edinburgh has the potential to be a really special restaurant.  The food is really very good, but it isn’t presented well.  It was a real struggle to get served right from the outset and to put it bluntly, the hunt for a waiter was a hassle throughout the whole meal.  With a bit of fine tuning, this could be an excellent venue for a special occasion or celebration. Perhaps the overhead spotlight lighting could be dimmed a little to add a bit of atmosphere.  Loch Fyne regularly offers deals via websites such as vouchercloud.com and to customers on its email mailing list.  Using one of these vouchers, we saved 25% from our food bill.  We were also given a membership card to become a ‘friend’ of Loch Fyne, benefits of which include special offers on food and wine, discounts on meals and fish purchased from their fishmonger and entry into a monthly prize draw.  I want to be a ‘friend’ of Loch Fyne but having arrived with high expectations I left feeling a little bit disappointed.  The food is its saviour and I hope to return if I can stomach the long wait to eat it.

3/5