Fyne Dine at the Loch Fyne on City Square in Leeds

Loch Fyne are a chain of seafood restaurants that also sell a range of fish and shellfish, in this case the fresh fish is for sale from a counter in the entrance foyer.

This branch is on City Square in Leeds near the train station, with an extensive bus stop on the street next to it. There is limited on street parking as well as some comparatively expensive car parks nearby. There are a number of other dining out places in the area, such as the Pret a Manger on Infirmary Street.

It was visited on a Sunday lunchtime and, when entered, it was almost completely empty, although it did start to fill up a bit by the time the restaurant was left. The restaurant has a bar counter inside it, and there are salt and pepper grinders on each table.

There are Daily Specials, the full menu and the Fyne Dine set menu, which is available every day until 7PM. The Set Menu has two courses for £10.45 and three courses for £12.45, which includes a side dish.

Loch Fyne Restaurant, The Old Post Office, 2 City Square, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS1 2ES.

The drinks ordered were two bottles of Coca-Cola and a half pint of Peroni Nastro Azzurro; the Cokes, being in a bottle, were of a better quality than the typical draught drink, and were chilled enough. The Peroni was draught, and was fine. The food was ordered from the Fyne Dine menu.

Starters

Both the starters were the same, Potted Scottish Peppered Mackerel. They were served on a Loch Fyne branded oval plate, with the mackerel in a Kilner jar on a doily on the plate. The mackerel in the jar was topped with a layer of solidified butter. The mackerel was accompanied with two slices of toasted granary bread and a garnish of some small green and red shoots, possibly herbs or salad leaves.

There was plenty of the potted mackerel; enough for three slices of bread, not just the provided two.

Main Courses

Again, both main courses were the same, Scottish Rope-Grown Mussels in a white wine and cream sauce, which is sometimes known as Moules Mariniere. The mussels were served with a wedge of lemon and some chopped parsley, and the sauce contained, by the looks of it, chopped onions and garlic.

There were a decent number of mussels in the dish, more than two dozen. It was served in a bowl, possibly a soup bowl, along with two small bowls, one empty, for putting the finished shells in, although it was by no means actually big enough for the job and one containing hot water and a couple of pieces of lemon for cleaning your fingers.

The side order chosen for each was French Fries, and they were served in a metal container that was lined with a type of paper. These were quite thin chips that were hot, but not overcooked.

One of the dishes of mussels was a bit on the cool side, but not the other. It wasn't cool enough to be unpleasant, but it was enough to be noticeable.

There was a fair amount of the white wine and cream sauce that the mussels were cooked in, almost enough to be classed as a bowl of soup. This was flavourful.

Desserts

The first dessert was Luxury Ice Cream, of which there was a choice of flavours. The flavour chosen was white chocolate, three scoops of which were served in a sundae glass and dusted with icing sugar. The ice cream had pieces of white chocolate in it.

The ice cream had a good amount of chocolate in it, and was a nice change.

The second dessert ordered was the Rhubarb & Custard Cheesecake. This was comprised a layer of biscuit, on top of which was a layer of cooked rhubarb, then a thick layer of cheesecake and it was finally topped with a thin layer of something, possibly the custard. It was served on an oval plate, identical to the one the starter was served on, and was accompanied by one scoop of white chocolate ice cream, identical to the ice cream in the other dessert, and what could have been chopped mixed nuts, and then dusted with icing sugar.

The cheesecake did not taste strongly of custard - the custard was not, in fact, noticeable. It was nice, though, and definitely did taste of the rhubarb.

The cost of the meal for two people came to £31.70, including drinks - the bottled Coke was actually more expensive than the Peroni - which was a substantial discount off the main menu price of the same dishes.

The service was on the whole pretty quick, with the starter taking the longest to be served, and was friendly. The restaurant has a nice atmosphere, with the whole place giving the feeling of quality, such as the paper napkins being very thick, enough that they feel like fabric.

The food served is primarily fish and shellfish, with a few vegetarian and meat options, but on the whole this is only suitable if you like seafood. Loch Fyne is definitely recommended if you enjoy seafood, and the Fyne Dine menu is good value for money. 4/5.