While on our way to Inveraray and its famous castle, we decided to stop at the original Loch Fyne Oyster Bar and Deli on Loch Fyne.
It’s a famous stop for locals – an elegant seafood restaurant and oyster bar worth traveling for.
At least that what we had heard and hoped for. Instead our experience was not fully up to par.
I started with an order of Mussels. We are at the home place of the place known for shell fish. The garlic butter sauce was good. It was almost a soup. It issue was… they tasted… off. I don’t eat enough Mussels to know exactly what was off… and I did not get ill during or at any point after. They just tasted different than those I’ve had at other locations around the globe. I actually emailed a friend who owns a restaurant at home to say that the ones he serves were better. The beer shown was very good – it is brewed just down the road at the end of the Loch.
For my main course I had the Hand Dived Scallops. I love scallops. I love how their taste accepts other flavors so well. In this case, it was a curried veloute. But if there is one thing that can make things go bad is if you don’t fully rinse the scallops. Very well. I am not adverse to a bit of grit… but it should be rare. These were quite gritty. Almost worried about chipping a tooth gritty. And like a fish bone throws off my experience as I start looking for the next one… a bit more than a little grit gets me going the same way. Disappointing.
Jackie had the Haddock Filet. My DW had a run of less than great fish and chip experiences before this… mostly either a lower quality fish or the dreaded (for Jackie) skin on the fish. 🙂 So she stepped up to the Haddock Filet. The fish was mushy… she did not enjoy it. Another swing and a miss for Jackie.
We both had the same dessert. Good – but has anyone truly ever had really bad ice cream? 🙂
To wrap this up – we’d go back. I know that cooks, servers, and places can just have bad days. I know I have bad days. This was just not a good one. And it has earned a reputation that means it is worth a stop.
Postscript: When we checked into our lodging in Edinburgh the owner was talking about breakfast, and mentioned without prompting that he used to get things from Loch Fyne but has sourced another option since he thought the consistency of product had dropped… perhaps just a coincidence.