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The Restaurant Guide for Wine Lovers

The Waterside Bistro

74/100
  • Haddington, East Lothian
  • Modern British bistro
  • By the glass
  • ££
  • Beta
  • Assessed July 2026
What's this?

These are confidence labels. They show how sure we are that what we publish still reflects the restaurant's current practice. They are not a judgement on the restaurant; the wine and cooking are scored separately, out of 100.

  • Beta means assessed and scored, but we are still confirming some details (such as the current wine list) and the restaurant has not yet had the chance to correct any factual inaccuracy, so it is published with that caveat.
  • No label means a fully confirmed entry.
  • In development means not yet a review. It appears so you can see where coverage is coming.

Restaurants often change their menus. The date beside the label says when we last reviewed.

We assessed The Waterside Bistro in July 2026 and this review is based on the food menu and wine list at the time of the review. As menus and wine lists change, we name styles in order for the information to remain more useful as menus change. If things have slipped you can use the Vinealto Dining app including accessing an up to date reading using 'At the Table' from the wine list in front of you in the restaurant. How we assess

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.

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More in East Lothian

83/100 Beta

The Bonnie Badger

Gullane, East Lothian

Modern Scottish gastropub

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.

  • By the glass
  • £££
  • Assessed July 2026
Read the assessment

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