The Bay Brasserie - Shetland Islands

Located inside the Lerwick Hotel in Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland, this restaurant offers stunning views of the bay. The service and atmosphere are fantastic, and the fish and chips are exceptional. Whether you choose that dish or anything else from the menu, you won't leave disappointed.

During our stay at the Lerwick hotel, we dined at the Bay Brasserie. We requested a table by the window to enjoy the beautiful view of the bay. The service was excellent and very friendly. I ordered the ribeye steak, while my wife had the fish, and both dishes were delicious.

We recently visited this restaurant after a long absence and were pleasantly surprised by the changes made to the menu. The overall experience was excellent - the food was delicious, well-presented, and reasonably priced. The menu offers straightforward, high-quality dishes without any pretentiousness. Unlike other places we have been to, the service here was exceptional. The staff were polite, attentive, and professional, with a friendly demeanor that added to our dining experience.

9 of us came for a birthday lunch 5 adults and 4 children. The menu is varied, and there is a separate one for the youngsters. Adults all had different choices and all were happy. The children also were able to mix and match what they had the staff were very helpful. An excellent experience, and they brought in the birthday cake (provided by us) right on cue, with plates and forks. Very good value too!

The theme of this review is that the menu I had seen on-line and the restaurant description led me to believe this was a more refined dining experience than it turned out to be The menu is interesting and varied but the dishes we tasted didn 't quite deliver on the expectations set. The goats cheese bon bons were claggy and needed a reformat to be lighter on the palate. I wasn 't convinced that home-made sorbet particularly complemented the cheese but it certainly helped wash it from the corners of my mouth where it had stuck resolutely. The venison stroganoff promised a feast of flavours but I found it somewhat prosaic. Finally, I doubt the meringue at the heart of the pavlova had been made on the day of our visit and was indistinguishable from the rock hard nests you can buy in packs in Sainsburys. The accompanying gin and lime mousse did little to lift the dish. On the plus side, my vegetarian partner enjoyed the banana blossom which she hadn 't tried before but certainly gave a big thumbs up to. Contrary to the website description of the staff as well trained, friendly and knowledgeable we found service lacking in confidence, patchy and slightly timid. My partner was particularly annoyed that the menu was presented to us without telling her that the treacle and whiskey salmon starter was not available, even though we were amongst the first diners to be seated. As a result, she went without a starter as there was no substitute offered. Let me be clear, this was not a bad meal, just a meal that promised more than it delivered and could and should have been a lot better with a bit more care.