It’s that time of year! Where are you going for your Christmas ‘do’? Maybe some of the boom has gone out of the City of London, and it might not be caviar and champagne this year but there’s still beautiful Loch Fyne oysters – sweeter and plumper because they thrive in spring water that tumbles down from the Scottish mountains washed down with fine Italian Follador prosecco.
We visited a Loch Fyne Seafood & Grill set in the magnificent gem of Leadenhall Market London where the restaurant and bar are bright with honey yellow woods, chequer board tiles, a high-stacked bar and a fish counter for catch of the day and fresh take away oysters at 95p a pop.
Loch Fyne Seafood and Grill at Leadenhall London
We had a sample of the Christmas menu and it’s is a great choice if you want to steer clear of tinsel and turkey. Loch Fyne are well-known for sustainably sourced fresh and seafood with 41 locations throughout the UK.
The Christmas Party menu starts at £26.95 and here’s a quick run through of it.
For starters, the seafood tempura of farmed Scottish salmon fillet, king prawn and squid with a chilli & sesame dressing – looks and smells great with fresh chopped spring onions and red chilli. The batter is light and the dressing has a surprising and pleasing splash of orange – which is about right for festive flavour and perfect for a non-traditional Christmas starter.
Seafood Tempura
The Potted Bradan Rost is kiln-roasted Scottish salmon fillet with horseradish and whisky in a cute glass pot served with granary – what I call grown up bread, and is lip-smackingly good. Smoky and moist like I’d imagine a Scottish peat bog with a strong flavour and fleshy flakes of fish under a butter crown.
The mains of Pan-Fried Scottish Salmon Fillet with braised red cabbage, sautéed potatoes, toasted hazelnuts and a horseradish cream was another inventive dish – looking very attractive on the plate and a little unusual on the palate with it’s surprise raisins.
Scottish Salmon Fillet with braised red cabbage
The farmed Gilt-Head bream fillet was fresh and seared perfectly, served on pak choi, glowing luminous fennel, sautéed potatoes and a chilli & coriander butter. The fish got a bit drowned by the sauce but we’re told the Scots like their butter.
Farmed Gilt-Head Bream Fillet
For the three course Christmas Party menu you can finish with Christmas Pudding with brandy butter, Rum & Chocolate Crème Brulée with shortbread, Warm Pear Frangipane Tart with crème anglaise or Chocolate Brownie with cherries and white chocolate ice cream.
Great value and very tasty for £26.95.
We were ready for cheese but as there hadn’t been a delivery the day we went, we missed out on the traditional Scottish cheeseboard of Old Loch Nagar, Lanark Blue and Cambus O’May with spiced plum chutney and rough oatcakes – we had the oatcakes, though, and they were rough – but in a good way.
So at this point we veered off to the a la carte puddings and ecstatic we did.
Walk in The Glen at Loch Fyne £6.95
Our lovely guide/ Loch Fyne manager Aaron toured us through this great dessert – Walk In The Glen. Starting off on the Scottish dark soil strewn with fresh raspberries, pretty borage flowers from which rose a mountain of glossy chocolate and whisky panacotta with cascades of meringue snow and ice (cream). It was a triumph. All’s that was missing was a piper band and we’d be across ye banks and braes in a brave heart beat.
A majority (60 per cent) of UK consumers believe restaurants should offer sustainable seafood options, according to a survey by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).
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