Loch Fyne restaurant Covent Garden
2-4 Catherine Street
London
WC2B 5JS

Reviewed Wednesday 8 April lunch time.

The Loch Fyne is a chain restaurant specialised in oysters and seafood. The one located in Catherine Street is next to Covent Garden, very close from the Transport museum. The setting is quite pleasant. It was a work lunch for four people. I ordered their moules marinières (£11) with a glass of house red. About the wine: it was awful, pretty vinegary, and should not be sold as wine. The mussels had potential, they were better sized than you often get in the UK. However I am not completely convinced by their freshness. They were not well cleaned (too many beards), and there were quite a few only partially open shells… The sauce was decently creamed but too salty so I didn’t use it as a soup at the end. The mussels were not well mixed with the sauce so it was only at the bottom of the bowl I could reach it.

Moules marinières

Cost and conclusion: the total cost (without including the service) was £69.50 for a large bottle of still water (£3), a large bottle of sparkling water (£3), a pair of kippers (£7 – they were very big), some prawns king (£12), some chips (£2), a menu including sardines, a plaice with vegetable and a glass of white wine (£13), a whole grilled seabass (£15), my mussels (£11) and my glass of red wine (£3.50). If you go to their website, the prices at this day were not up to date: the moules marinières cost £11 instead of £10, the £12 fixed menu cost in fact £13, the seabass cost £15 instead of £14, the praws cost £12 instead of £11… The kippers cost £7 as written on their site. In conclusion it is OK for a chain. No real nasty surprises.