The Bridge Inn at Ratho Shortlist*

Guests receive a ‘cheerful welcome’ at this pub-with-rooms, which stands by a bridge over the Union Canal in a conservation village. Fires burn in a bar popular with locals; in the ‘inviting’ dining room, produce from local suppliers and the walled garden influences the menu of pub classics (pie of the day; Mull Cheddar macaroni) and more elaborate dishes (pheasant and Ayrshire smoked bacon terrine, pickled beets, apple gel). Upstairs, ‘snug’, pleasingly simple bedrooms have a canal view. Breakfast brings sausages from rare-breed pigs, and freshly laid chicken and duck eggs from Ratho Hall, just across the canal. Convenient for Edinburgh Airport. Sister hotel The Ship Inn is in Elie (see main entry).