The Traditional English Restaurants of London

In 1977, the late Johnny Noble, the owner of Loch Fyne’s Ardkinglas Estate, created Loch Fyne Oysters (LFO) with his colleague Andy Lane – a fish farmer and biologist. Both were oyster enthusiasts, and their first step was the cultivation of oysters in the Loch for sale to restaurants across the UK.

Ten years later, further developments included a traditional smokehouse and their own seafood restaurant, oyster bar and shop in a former cow shed on the banks of Loch Fyne at Cairndow. Highly acclaimed, the restaurant has featured in the Good Food Guide since 1989.

As Loch Fyne Oysters’ reputation grew, tourists from all over the UK commented on how popular the restaurant concept would be ‘back home’. So Johnny and Andy decided to experiment south of the border and opened a couple of restaurants in England to introduce Loch Fyne products to a wider audience.

The company can now boast three restaurants in London, and other outlets throughout Britain; all are run by Loch Fyne Restaurants Ltd (LFR), a sister company to LFO, founded in 1998 and specifically set up to roll-out the proven restaurant concept.

The company’s philosophy is to serve top quality fish and shellfish in relaxed and friendly surroundings. The menu is based largely on fresh seafood - much of which comes from Loch Fyne – prepared simply but with style, to allow the delicate flavours of the natural produce to take centre stage.

The ambience of the restaurants is warm and inviting. LFR actively seek out unusual and historic buildings, which are sympathetically restored with extensive use of natural wood in the floors, panelling and furniture. Visitors can also enjoy a variety of art, photography and artefacts with a ‘sea’ theme in each of the venues, hand picked by Virginia Sumsion of Loch Fyne Oysters. More details are available on their Website.

The restaurants are open all day, starting with a breakfast menu featuring the famous Loch Fyne Kippers; guests are also welcomed for lunch, dinner and all times in between.

Oysters, shellfish and smoked fish for the restaurants are supplied by sister company Loch Fyne Oysters Limited. This allows LFR to have a reliable, high quality source of supply and present consistent menu prices.

For instance, the restaurants’ salmon comes from The Sustainable Salmon Company at Loch Duart. This fishery is based on the far north-west coast of Scotland, where the cold, clear Atlantic waters offer a self-generating, pollution-free environment providing the perfect conditions for rearing salmon of exceptional quality. The salmon is then smoked at the Loch Fyne Smoke House using traditional methods.

The water of Loch Fyne remains in its natural state, pure and unpolluted. In 1978 it was restocked with seed oysters and today the oyster beds are flourishing, with over two million oysters laid down. The clean waters also provide an ideal breeding ground for mussels, and Loch Fyne already has 18 miles of mussel ropes.

Loch Fyne is situated on the West Coast of Scotland to the North of Loch Lomond in Argyll. The company subscribes to the principle of ‘sustainability’, aiming to leave the environment undamaged and work towards improving the overall marine landscape.

So far they have managed to avoid many of the drawbacks of restaurant chains, by creating a more individual feel than most. They have focused on the slightly higher echelons of the market, a field where few have thrived in the past, but are succeeding by concentrating on maintaining quality, of both the raw ingredients and product served to the customer.

They now have several other outlets in London: for instance, one at Crouch End, 2 Park Street, London N8, +44 (0)20 8342 7740 and another in Twickenham, The Fisherman’s Hut, 175 Hampton Road, TW2 5NG, +44 (0)20 8255 6222. Do note that all their restaurants are non-smoking.