Loch Fyne - Oxford

The Loch Fyne Restaurant notion was a child of the crisis that struck the food supply industry towards the end of the 1990s, when seafood presented itself as a healthy and readily available alternative to other forms of food that were under pressure at the time. Starting from a small roadside shop, today the business has thirty-eight outlets across Britain, including some in listed buildings, as well as the original site at Cairndow, Argyll.

Whilst the restaurants share a common background, there is a welcome degree of individuality encouraged throughout the group, which makes for customer interest. What each outlet retains is the same warm and friendly ambience, and fabulous food served with a smile. If you like wholesome, fresh and reliable seafood caught and reared under carefully controlled conditions, well presented in unfussy surroundings, and you enjoy being well looked after by pleasant staff, Loch Fyne is for you.

There is an increasing awareness of other forms of food as safety in such matters tightens, but it is the staple fare upon which their success was created that prevails. Loch Fyne kippers, a fine bouillabaisse, Braden Orach, a traditional strongly smoked salmon, and the toothsome oysters, sometime with chilli and coriander, all are to be found throughout the various restaurants, as well as good Scottish prime sirloin steaks and delicacies such as homemade crab cakes with chargrilled vegetable ratatouille.  There is invariably a well-travelled wine list, sensible, both in content and prices.

Loch Fyne's greatest achievement has been to prove to a sceptical populace that chains or conglomerates can be made to work in the eating public's interest, as well as ensure a decent profit for those who carry the responsibilities. If imitation is one of the most telling forms of success, Loch Fyne is doing very well.