The Restaurant Guide for Wine Lovers
The Bonnie Badger
The Bonnie Badger is a produce-led Scottish gastropub with rooms in Gullane, where a genuinely ambitious drinks list sits behind a village-pub front. The wine programme earns its standing on a deep, biodynamic-led Champagne selection, an intelligently style-arranged list and a fine-wine-by-the-glass tier that puts grand bottles within a single pour, let down only by the absence of Sherry against the cured and salt-cured fish the kitchen loves. It will most reward the diner who comes for serious Scottish seafood and cooking and wants to drink well by the glass, from a village house pour right up to mature claret.
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The Waterside Bistro
Haddington, East Lothian
Modern British bistro
The Waterside Bistro is an owner-run modern-British bistro by the river in Haddington, cooking a seasonal card that changes through the year. Its wine programme is the serious draw — broad, genuinely international, with a generous by-the-glass shortlist and carried right through to dessert wine and Port by the glass — held back only by unstated vintages and the absence of a printed pairing. It will most reward the curious drinker who likes to graze across a wide list by the glass and match each plate as it comes.
Read the assessmentLa Dolce Vita
Haddington, East Lothian
Italian eaterie, pasticceria and wine bar
La Dolce Vita is a casual Italian eaterie, pasticceria and wine bar in Haddington that cooks the Italian classics at a set-menu price. The wine programme earns its place on the honesty of its by-the-glass pricing and the coherence of an Italian-led list that shares the kitchen's idiom, from the everyday Prosecco to the small fortified shelf its puddings ask for, even if it stops short of a printed pairing or a fine-wine tier. It will most reward the diner who comes to eat Italian and is happy to drink a well-priced glass chosen to suit the plate.
Read the assessmentOld Aberlady Inn
Aberlady, East Lothian
Italian-Scottish fusion gastropub
Old Aberlady Inn is a village gastropub serving all-day Scottish and Italian plates from a short, honestly priced wine list built for everyday drinking rather than exploration. The wine programme does its core job — crisp unoaked whites for the fish, soft juicy reds for the grills, most of it by the glass in two sizes — but stops short of mutual elevation, with no Champagne, no dessert or fortified wine, and no pairing thought for the harder plates. It will most suit a relaxed diner who wants a sound, approachable glass with a good pub meal and is content to be steered by style rather than by a serious cellar.
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