Although I have lived in Edinburgh for around 8 years, I always feel a draw towards East Lothian - it was my home for 15 years.

East Lothian, starts from Musselburgh which is approx 20 minutes drive along the coastal road through Portobello and Joppa then onto this charming coastal town. Known for its quaint seafront promenade and fairly good theatre, it’s also known for this seafood restaurant and takeaway - East Coast.

AFTERNOON SEA AT EAST COAST, MUSSELBURGH - COME HERE FOR THE BEST FISH N CHIPS ON THE EAST COAST

East Coast Restaurant is owned and run by two of the nicest and most generous people in hospitality, Carlo and Katia Crolla. They are dedicated and hard workers helping them take the title of THE BEST SEAFOOD ESTABLISHMENT IN SCOTLAND Award 2022/2023.

I’ve known that they were super stars for a while now, having purchased a gluten free fish supper almost every Saturday for my mum! She absolutely loved their Wee fish n chips takeaway! We’d drive round to Musselburgh harbour and sit in the car (rain, snow, hail or sunshine) and munch on our suppers. Such wonderful memories!

East Coast absolutely do deliver when it comes to belly busting takeaways and meals in the restaurant but they also cater for wee-er appetites too and I was delighted to see them introduce their Afternoon Sea (£17.50pp) recently which includes (not that this is wee in anyway!)

• wee battered haddock

• twice cooked chips

• homemade mushy peas

• house tartare sauce

• homemade pickled onions

• lemon wedge

• sourdough bread and butter

• pot of tea

• sweet treat of the day

You can upgrade to a Royal Afternoon Sea with a glass of Prosecco for an additional £3.50pp.

There are restrictions on this - Afternoon Sea is only available Friday to Sunday between 2:30pm and 4:30pm but you should definitely fit this into your weekend plans. It’s so bloody good!

Firstly, plenty of sourdough bread and butter at the table. The bread is fresh, slightly chewy and so good with fish n chips.

The fish is a perfect size, its fresh and coated in the most crunchy, non greasy batter. Breaking this piece of fish open will bring you immense happiness. The chips are big n fat n fluffy and so good for dunking into the mushy peas or for building that ultimate chip butty!

The peas were so good, I asked for another small bowl!

With a short break after demolishing your fish supper, the staff are kind enough to give you a wee break before bringing you tea and cake. The staff do ask you in what order/how you would like to have your Afternoon Tea. We chose to have the fish supper first, then tea and cake. You could of course have your tea with your fish supper followed by cake or have your tea and cake first. It’s totally up to you and the staff are so brilliant that they’ll accommodate your choice any which way.

Cake was a vanilla sponge slice with cream and blueberries. It was light, slightly sweet and went down so well with a fantastic cup of tea!

The Afternoon Sea gave me so much joy and we raised a wee cuppa in remembrance of my mum!

This deal is great value for money and you’ll leave with a very full and happy belly. Seriously, get booking!

THINGS TO NOTE ABOUT EAST COAST

• Easily accessible via car from Edinburgh - 20 minutes drive and plenty of free on street parking

• Catch the 26 bus which stops a few yards away

• Wheelchair accessible from the street as its all level

• Their menu is predominantly seafood

• Advisable to book

East Coast, 171 North High Street, Musselburgh www.eastcoastrestaurant.co.uk/restaurant

My Spoon Award : Tartan Spoon 10/10

I was invited by East Coast to review their Afternoon Tea menu. Food was complimentary but the views are very much my own.