Loch Fyne, Chelmsford: Review

I decided to go out to lunch the other day, by myself. Why? I like the peace and quiet, the chance to enjoy some food without having to deal with somebody's inane chit-chat.

I went to Loch Fyne as I love seafood and fish, have a partner is not a fan of the sea and I am not confident enough to cook my own fish. I do not trust the freshness of the fare on the fish counters at our supermarkets. We have some fish stalls at the market, but again, I'm not sure about them. I think the combination of fish of dubious freshness, combined with me not really knowing hoe to cook it is a recipe for illness.

Anyway, back to the meal. I took advantage of the '2 courses + glass of wine' offer. As I've said before, £11.50 isn't bad. I opted to start with the mussels with chilli and coriander. They arrived looking plump and perfectly cooked. There was a pleasant heat to the chilli, but was disappointed that there was not much of a fresh chilli and coriander flavour. The coriander and chilli were added at the beginning, so much of their aroma had been lost during the cooking process. It would have been better to sprinkle a little chilli and coriander just before the dish was served.

There was a really good choice on the lunch menu, 5 options for each course! For the main course I had whiting in parsley sauce on sauteed new potatoes. I remember the days when people were horrified that many fish fingers contained whiting rather than cod. If it doesn't say cod, it ain't cod! I'm not sure what their beef is with whiting, as it is perfectly nice. Ok, cod is meatier, has bigger flakes and doesn't have the slightly off-putting pink veiny bits, but cod is expensive and running out! We Brits need to wean ourselves off cod and look further afield.

Anyhow, the whiting was well seasoned and covered in a thick parsely sauce. Interestingly, the potatoes has been cooked in garlic butter. Whilst this was delicious, it did overpower the parsley somewhat. I'm surprised the garlic wasn't mentioned on the menu- there are a lot of people who detest garlic. Served with mixed veg, it was a very filling dish.

It's such a shame that there is hardly anyone in there, and places like Pizza Express are bursting at the seams!