Waterside - East Lothian

Four of us dined at this restaurant. Our friends' sea bass fillets looked appetizing, but the haddock and chips we ordered were disappointing. We requested breaded haddock, but what was served to us appeared to be covered in a thick batter that we had to remove. In my experience running a restaurant years ago, breaded fish had a thin layer of breadcrumbs on top. The Picpoul de Pinet white wine we ordered was overpriced at 28 pounds. Instead of returning to Waterside Bistro, we found that eating and drinking with friends at home was a much better and more affordable option.

I fully appreciate I should have said this in the restaurant and didn’t as I hate complaining. This was our third time here. 1st time was amazing, 2nd time was not great (a while ago), but we thought we’d try again. Tonight’s meal was honestly terrible. I’ll start with the positive. The restaurant is generally nice and cosy and the staff are nice too. My turkey was cooked well, and my partners main meal (the Plaice) was actually very good. Now onto the ‘not good’. Both starters were awful. My partner got a pear and blue cheese/walnut tart. This came as a shop bought pastry bottom, filled with cold raw pear, blue cheese and walnut. I’m sure most think this will be a cooked version (like what you see if you google this type of thing). My starter was the lamb breast which was honestly just a plate of fat, it was mostly inedible. I couldn’t even cut it never mind eat it. My main was the turkey which I said was cooked well, but the veg (turnip, carrots, peas and Brussels) were all just boiled, hard and cold. Not roasted, no flavour, and the turnip in particular was cold and solid. The glass on the table had a big lipstick stain from a previous user. And my partners pint was warm like really warm. All in all this was just terrible and it’s such a shame as the place is lovely with respect to the atmosphere. Disappointing

First time back to the Waterside after a few years and it did not disappoint. A warm welcome and a super enthusiastic owner added real value to the occasion. The food was super and well priced. The log fired added the warmth to the snow outside. Will definitely return.

Ate last night after trudging round in the wet. Only in the town for one night, but dying to return. We walked in and the welcome from Stewart was fantasticly hospitable. Great menu, talked through with enthusiasm, the food was superb. There’s clearly a very talented chef here but all the staff were upbeat and cheerful. A lovely evening spent, thank you

We finished a winter’s walk in the Haddington area with lunch at The Waterside Bistro. Greeted and served by friendly staff. Our table looked out over the river and the old bridge with snow on the ground idyllic. Though it was a light lunch of soup and pate it was delicious and perfect on a very cold day. We must do dinner here sometime soon.