jemson Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 Interesting review pete jim. The only thing I`d say is that I`d hope that they don`t `buy in` many of their fish. I`ll give it another go at some stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 We've been 3 times, 2 dinner & 1 lunch, each time has been v good. We went on the first week, and there was a lot of other management from other stores who were training the local staff. Having a business of our own we chatted to the training manager whom was exceptionally professional and happy to divulge the training agenda for new restaurants. The food has always been v.good and we'll return again & again. My personal faves are the oysters....yum yum....oh and the wine list doesnt let them down either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claret Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 We went last night largely as a result of being encouraged by 'jackdanny' to give it time to settle down and that I shouldn't knock 'chain eateries'. It was OK. The food and menu were as I thought they would be requiring only a modicum of culinary skill from the kitchen staff. No complicated cooking techniques or sauces, no exciting veg dishes. The only area that requires skill is in the cooking of the main ingredient, the fish. All three main courses were that bit too much overcooked, not enough to render it inedible but not moist pearly flakes of fish falling off the knife and fork. The veg was dissappointing. The service was interesting, well at least it was to me. The waitress was excellent but the overall atmosphere that I picked up was of an establishment on a bit of knife edge, an underlying air of tension. Having worked in many restaurants and particularly enjoyed the food service side of the work I am always interested in the dynamics of a dining room. I maintain my position that chain restaurants make their money by using the lowest skill levels they can in the kitchen, buying in a lot of the items and using standard recipes to ensure some level of consistency. I dislike a lot chain restaurants for this reason, average is average is average. Last night was £80(exc tip) for 3 starters, 3 mains, 2 sides, I wine and 1 water. I also went to Loch Fyne last night - in a party of about 25. Had drinks at the bar before hand and then sat for the meal from about 7 until they kicked us out at about midnight. Really enjoyed it. Food was good - I had oysters to start and tuna carpaccio - the tuna was fantastic. Service was slow but I actually like slowish service anway and all the waiters were attentive. Everyone was happy with their food and considering it was such a big party, i think they did very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaikokujin Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 Went last night for my birthday to try it out. We went in and asked if we could have a drink outside first as it was a pleasant evening. The waitress said it was fine and she would bring some menus outside, these never turned up. The place itself is quite a light and vibrant place and quite upmarket. We ordered 2 rounds of drinks at the table which again never turned up. We were seated at 8.00 p.m. and the starters arrived at 8.30 p.m. (6 oysters at £1.50 each) which were very nice. We then had an hours wait for our main course because i think they lost the order, we were sat with angry faces and the waiting staff did their best to ignore us. At the end of the meal i complained to the manager about the poor service and long wait who quite rightly apologised and said that it had been unexpextedly busy for a Wednesday and they had been turning people away. He agreed to let us have the drinks on the house(£17) as he went off to get the bill. On returning we realised it was actually another tables bill which was cheaper than ours so we paid and left. To summarise, the food itself is very nice and the place itself has been well decorated and it does have an upmarket feel to it. The service however on our night was shambolic although it may have been busier than normal. The starters are also quite expensive and the portions are small. I also went there that Wednesday evening and would concur that although the food was nice the service was very very slow. We arrived about 10 minutes early for our 8pm booking so were advised by the woman working the front of house to take a seat at the bar and she would bring some menus over. After about 25 minutes and no menus she finally came over and showed us to a table, and after taking our drinks orders she promptly disappeared never to be seen again. It was another 15 minutes after that before the waitress came over to talk us through the specials/apologise and take our wine order (again), meaning it was almost 45 minutes after we arrived before our drinks were even served. This trend continued throughout the evening and although the waitress was perfectly pleasant and took every opportunity to apologise for all of the delays it did take a little bit of the shine off what would have been an otherwise excellent evening. As long as the wait was the food just about made up for it (the "Bradan rost" salmon main dish in particular was superb) with the exception of the side dishes - £2.50 for "seasonal vegetables" which constituted 1 piece of brocolli and a couple of tablespoons of peas was a total rip off. In their defence the place did look to be pretty busy - not a single empty table when we first walked in - but that could've been solved quite simply by employing more staff: the waitress who served us appeared to be the only person actually taking orders/serving food and in the end it was the barmaid who had to interrupt serving people at the bar and bring our bottle of wine over. I would still probably go back there as I enjoyed the food more than the delays annoyed me, but I would hope that they sort out those service problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boutiquechoc Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 I've been and the food was fabulous! The service wasn't great tho as I think they get far too understaffed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesogt Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Threads merged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DippyDore Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Not been to the Sheffield one but have eaten on a couple of occasions at Loch Fyne elsewhere. They've had one in Nottingham for about 10 years now for example. Still, better late than never for Sheffield eh? (Unless we are talking about an airport). Anyhow, Loch Fyne, yes... it's ok. As some have already said, it's a chain restaurant - which doesn't make it all bad by any means, but neither does it make it particularly remarkable either. Halibut was nice - I'd recommend that. Would I go again? yes. Maybe for a light lunch or something, but I wouldn't make it the focus of a night out. Anyhow, those of you who remember Hanrahan's from when it first opened back in 1980 dot, will know that the food has always been secondary to the scenery. I expect it will remain so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colmanspig Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 We ate there the other day. We all started with the plater 8 quid for very little was a bit steep. but i loved the oyster though. nice but great VFM Mains roasted salmon tasted great . I my sole was cooked well, but it was over seasoned. toffee pudding was out of this world. nice coffee and brandy. a bit over priced but nice, service was very good indeed. but will be trying bluf in or go back to the med before going back then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 Oh dear. The BBC is reporting that Loch Fyne pays its staff less than the minimum wage. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7524021.stm Loch Fyne wages 'below minimum' Loch Fyne operates a chain of restaurants across the UK The "ethical" fish restaurant group, Loch Fyne, pays staff salaries below the minimum wage, the BBC has learned. It relies on customer tips to boost total pay to a lawful level, along with a growing number of restaurants. Loch Fyne champions marine conservation, and proclaims a corporate philosophy of "an enterprise with respect for animals, people and ecology." The Unite union called the company's behaviour "appalling", and said all restaurant staff should be on a minimum wage salary, as well as getting a fair share of tips. Staff at Loch Fyne Restaurants say they are on a salary of £5.05 an hour , compared with the legal minimum wage of £5.52. One waitress, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she asked about the pay rate at her interview. "Jokingly , I asked, it's not the minimum wage is it? They said well actually it is; eventually you get paid minimum wage, because it gets made up in tips", she said. It's legal, just, but hardly in line with their claims of high ethics and doesn't give confidence about other parts of their business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEKRO138 Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 I won't be going then. Why can't large chains share the wealth a little? Pure greed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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