Loch Fyne, Shrewsbury

Rating: 5/10. There's much to admire about Loch Fyne, Shrewsbury's premier seafood restaurant. Its raison d'etre is simple: great ingredients, sustainably sourced, are served in a buzzy, bistro atmosphere writes Andrew Richardson.

But when my friend and I visited, there was little else to enjoy. This critic's visit was all sizzle and no steak, if you'll allow me to mix my meat-based metaphors.

Loch Fyne has been one of the catering industry's success stories. Growing from a small oyster shack in the glen at the head of Loch Fyne, it has mushroomed into a 42-restaurant behemoth with outlets across the UK. Informal, with carefully-sourced, freshly-cooked food, it has many admirable characteristics.

At a time when fish stocks are plummeting, it works closely with environmental groups to protecting costal communities and marine ecology.

Its website is emphatic: "We will not serve fish from endangered stocks and we ensure that the products used in the restaurants derive from a sustainable resource, either wild or farmed responsibly."

But there's more to great restaurants than simply procuring great ingredients – and my experience of Loch Fyne didn't whet my appetite for more.

There were two factors that left me distinctly underwhelmed: 1) brusque, impatient service that left my friend and I feeling as though we'd somehow intruded on our waitresses' evening and, 2) unrefined cooking. A restaurant can stock the greatest ingredients in the world, but if it's chefs are too pushed to treat them with the care and respect they deserve, they'll be wasted.

In terms of efficiency, Loch Fyne is up there up with the best. My friend and I arrived for our reservation and were offered a choice of tables by a helpful Italian waitress. Within minutes, a second waitress was at our table, offering drinks and providing menus. Her manner, however, was less than welcoming.

One of the restaurant's recent Tripadvisor reviewers clearly had a similar experience. The reviewer wrote: "Two out of the three waitresses were brusque, curt and sometimes pushy 'Are you sure you don't want a pudding?'. If you're a good restaurant you treat ALL your customers with courtesy not just those choosing from the a la carte menu."

Although my friend and I were eating from the a la carte menu, our experience was exactly the same. We were rushed, frowned upon and seemed to serve as an inconvenience for one or two members of the restaurant's team. They seemed 'hassled', and their unempathetic service left us ill at ease. Another Tripadvisor critic suggested: "Think of it as a Harvester, but featuring fish." Quite.

Poor service aside, the restaurant had a great atmosphere. It's noisy, buzzy and makes customers feel as though they're part of a scene.

It is similar, in some ways, to one of Shrewsbury's best bistros, The Armoury, which sits on the banks of the River Severn. At both venues, customers can enjoy plenty of chatter among a crowd that's out for a good time.

My friend and I perused the menu for a short time before our waitress returned. We ordered a basket of bread, followed by starters of mushroom and camembert bake and half a dozen oysters. The bread was ferried to our table in a flash – but it was burned on the top and bottom; not 'overdone', or 'dark brown', but black, so that the crust was inedible. Our busy waitress also neglected to bring us any butter. Paying £1.85 for burned bread with no butter makes for an unimpressive start. My friend's starter was delivered soon after; comprising soggy bread in a watery camembert and mushroom sauce.

Limp rocket leaves and three slices of pear had been added as garnish. It was sloppy and inexpert. My starter, in contrast, was Loch Fyne at its best. Six oysters were served with a mixture of accompaniments, including lemon, Tabasco and other dressings. They were sparklingly fresh, utterly delicious.

My friend opted for the smoked haddock risotto for her main, but it was lousy. Served with a soft poached egg, the dish had been under-seasoned and over cooked. It's difficult not to feel sympathy for the chef – not to mention my friend. There were three chefs working flat out to feed a busy, bustling restaurant and they simply wouldn't have had the time to pay sufficient attention to each plate.

Serving a bowl of bland, milky rice with small flakes of fish for £10.65, however, made only for a disappointing main. My friend tried to pep up the dish, by adding salt and pepper, but the rice was so mushy she resigned herself to fishing out the flakes of haddock and leaving the rest.

I opted for a chilled half lobster with a ginger and lime dressing. As with my starter, it was a treat. The fish was fresh and succulent, the dressings helped to elevate the main ingredient. If only they'd done something similar with my friend's starter and main.

Our waitress returned, making perfunctory remarks about the volume of uneaten risotto and bringing dessert menus. My friend opted for a crème brulee while I went for a pear crumble with crème anglais and vanilla ice cream. The brulee was light, like custard, rather than creamy. It was uninspired. The pear crumble was watery – the fruit hadn't been stewed first – and underwhelmed. The crème anglais was undeserving of the name; vanilla was conspicuous by its absence.

As we left, having paid almost £60, I noted a brief motto at the foot of our bill: "Thank you for visiting a Loch Fyne restaurant. Please call again."

The printed 'thank you' was one of the few gracious notes in an unmemorable evening.

ADDRESS:

Loch Fyne, Market Street, Shrewsbury, SY1 1LG

Tel: 01743 277140

Web: http://www.lochfyne-restaurants.com/restaurants/shrewsbury

AT A GLANCE:

Food: Fish, and plenty of it.

You really must try: Oysters or lobsters – uncooked, unadulterated and unspoiled by a too-busy kitchen.

Service: Poor, brusque and disengaging.

Local/seasonal: Not local, of course, but sustainable. Scores top marks.