The hidden village of Garvald is as pretty as a picture, and well worth a short detour from the spectacular Hillfoots Trail. Historically, the settlement is best known as the place where Oliver Cromwell and his army rested en route to Dunbar, and legend has it that they drank the village’s two breweries dry in just one evening. Thankfully, the village is now a more relaxed, family-orientated place, perfect for a quick reviving coffee, light lunch or leisurely evening meal.

Owners Peter and Elaine McQuade go out of their way to use the finest local ingredients wherever possible, and this shows through in the quality dishes served up in their quaint restaurant. To start, the home-cured gravadlax is a sublime dish, the deliciousness of which is only matched by wonderful mains such as hearty game casserole, smoked haddock fishcakes, breast of chicken stuffed with haggis, and red onion and goat’s cheese tarte tatin. Dessert could be a delightful lemon posset with raspberry sorbet, or a rich sticky toffee pudding made from an ageold recipe. An after-dinner coffee taken in the cosy bar area during the cold months, or in the south-facing beer garden in summer, completes a truly relaxed dining experience in what must be one of the most idyllic locations around Edinburgh.