Loch Fyne Seafood Bar and Grill

Before Christmas Gav and I enjoyed a couple of days away in Chester. It's a beautiful city with plenty to do and see and we had two of the nicest meals I've had while we were there. We'd been planning on visiting Loch Fyne in Knutsford since we went to Rick Stein's restaurant over the summer. So we decided to book a table and made the half hour trip from Chester on our first night.

We were impressed straight away by the surrounding area - Knutsford looks like a lovely place and I'd like to go back for an explore. The street the restaurant is on was really quaint and had a couple of old fashioned country pubs on it that I wished we'd left time to have a drink in.

As you walk in you're met with a gleaming fish counter filled with their fresh fish and shellfish for your own viewing pleasure. The dining area was a good mix between stark wood and homely seaside themed additions. To be honest, we needn't have booked as there were only a few other tables filled. It was a weeknight but a livelier atmosphere would have been welcomed.

I had already drawn up my menu shortlist and was looking forward to my starter of Potted Smoked Peppered Mackerel with toasted bloomer. This is making me so hungry just looking at it, I NEED to recreate this at home! It was quite simple but perfectly executed. Buttery, with a deep smoky flavour and a little heat. The bread wasn't very exciting but the mackerel more than made up for it. Gav had the Tempura Battered Squid which he wolfed down without letting me have any and declared it the best squid he'd had.

For my main course I was planning on having the Smoked Haddock with Colcannon mash, mustard and crème fraîche sauce and soft poached egg, which is all right up my street. But I decided that I could probably quite easily make that for myself at home, and I wanted to treat myself and make the real really special. So I had the lobster as I had never even tasted lobster before and thought why not do it somewhere that specialises in seafood?

I'm so glad I tried it as I really enjoyed it. The meat is very sweet and delicate and was complimented well with the peppery watercress and creamy mayonnaise. The fries were a bit pap though, I know it's traditional to serve it in this way but I was very jealous of Gav's chunky chips across the table. Fries are just a bit pointless aren't they? Regardless, I loved the whole experience of cracking open and eating the lobster and would definitely order it again. We also shared a seafood medley side order of seared scallops, grilled king prawn & steamed mussels which were perfectly cooked and a welcome addition to the main. Gav chose from the 'Fish, Your Way' section of the menu, which is a really good idea. You choose the type of fish you want, how you want it cooked, pick from the sauces or salsas and add two sides of your choice. He had pan fried hake with tomato salsa, chips and green beans. Simply tastes and flavours cooked well.

I highly recommend this restaurant to lovers of seafood. The food is actually beautiful to look at and the menu filled with well put together dishes made from simple well cooked ingredients. I am completely inspired to try and recreate some of them and would absolutely revisit this place.