I am somewhat fond of the Loch Fyne Restuarant in Nottingham, even though it is part of a small nationwide chain, the food is still well sourced and usually of good quality. I have only been to the one in Nottingham so cannot compare it to any of the others, and I have been to Loch Fyne itself, the Loch that is not the original resturant location, and so feel some affinity, or was that a shiver from a half remembered dip into the icy waters of that loch during a summer trip?

On occasion we will push the boat out in this establishment and order off the a la carte menu, but more often than not we will settle for the two courses for £9.95 option as it usually contains something that I fancy anyway. That was to be the case on this visit, as it looked good value and there were things there that I was keen to try, all to be washed down with an accidental glass of Chardonnay.

For a starter I went against my usual tradition in this resturant of getting the “Smoked Ashet” and instead I opted for the “Loch Fyne Charcuterie Plate”. This turned out to be a slate plate covered in a ‘pile’ of Prosciutto, cured wild boar, salami Perugino, covered in a zesty micro green salad. This came with a small pot of olives and some small slices of brown bloomer bread. Personally when I get a charcuterie platter or any type of platter, I like the items to be seperate so that I can see what I am getting, which items are which, and then I have the chance to enjoy individually or together as I choose. I also like some explanation of the platter so that I actually know what is on it. So I expect what I am actually saying here is that I was not so happy to just get everything piled up into some sort of meat salad, even if it did look quite pretty. It was still tasty and the dressing was quite tangy and flavourful. I would however have liked to taste the wild boar on its own unadulterated as I would with the other meats. Instead I had to deconstruct my plate so that I could enjoy it better.

As it was a lunchtime I opted for a “Crayfish and Mango sandwich” as a somewhat lighter second course. This also came on a piece of slate, either they must have run out of plates or this is the way of things to come. I think that the slate idea is good when you want to show off the food with a nice dark background to contrast it visually.  You don’t really need it all the time though. This was a good sandwich, I am particularly fond of crayfish and this one was mixed nicely with a light mango mayonaisse dressing and some water cress all housed within some nice soft brown sliced bread. It came with some twice cooked chips, which, well they were interesting. Twice cooked potato skins with powdery potato filling would be a better description, but perhaps less inviting. They were OK though although I wouldd have really liked some mayonaisse to dip them into though, although as I was in a Scottish themed resturant as opposed to a Belgian one, I expect that I was pushing my hopes somewhat. Still looking back maybe I should have just asked for some.

Reading back through my descriptions of each course, one might be led to think that I did not like my meal, to the contrary I did enjoy my lunch. I am just getting over descriptive and making the odd suggestion. I think that I should have stuck to my usual choices of the rather excellent smoked fish that you can get here. In particular the “Loch Fyne Smoked Ashet” (which I briefly mentioned earlier), this is a ‘Platter of Bradan Rost (kiln roasted salmon fillet), Kinglas Fillet (sashimi style), and Loch Fyne Smoked Salmon’. Sometimes I can get carried away and have another smoked fish for the next course as well. At the moment though there are a couple of other options on the menu that look good; the “Seared King Scallops & Black Pudding” with minted pea puree and baby leeks, or the “Poached Loch Fyne Smoked Haddock” which comes with Colcannon mash, mustard and creme fraiche sauce, and a soft poached egg. Both sound really good.

Loch Fyne in Nottingham is just up from the Market Square and is nearest to the Old Market Square NET stop and the Royal Centre NET Stop