Bridge Inn Ratho

Love the restaurant here, they offer smaller portions on some of their mains too. Spacious, great service and a great menu. Wine list too. Mains cost around £12-£20 (from memory), I’ll take my family here when they come up to visit next.

Second or third time at the Bridge Inn now, and it is always great. I come here when cycling, as they cater to groups, have a varied and extensive menu and are always really friendly and flexible.
I usually opt for the cullen skink as it is just divine, but never forget the epic and enormous onion rings. If the weather’s good then you can sit outside and watch the world go by and admire the canal.
Comes highly recommended, especially if you’re on a bike.

Fantastic location with the most wonderful views. Only 4 rooms at the inn, so you get a lot of attention and service. The staff is so friendly and the food is brilliant. The inn keeper Chris, waiter Wil and Bar tender Naomi really looked after us.

Great place to go for a meal or just a coffee and cake. but it is a bit pricey. The people are very friendly and helpful. If you have the money I would recommend this place

This place has been bigged up. it won a couple of awards apparently. so we were expecting a lot out of this place. It didn’t disappoint. I had good old bangers & mash (they breed the pigs they serve). The kids had fish & chips (real fish). Husband had lamb which was good (though I think he liked the pork sausages more). We shared a brownie for dessert — it was like warm fudge cake — delicious — with a scoop of the creamiest vanilla ice cream.
Our youngest was having a bad night but the staff were all happy to help me calm her down (which she did, long enough for us to eat dessert).
The fireplaces were lit & it had a warm & cosy atmosphere. It’s on a canal (we couldn’t see anything outside by 6pm) but apparently it’s a gorgeous setting.
The food is pub food done really well. The place is warm & cosy… we’ll be back in summer to check it again for sure!

This is a nice pub and a very good restaurant. I would rate them as the finest choice in the area. I visit frequently, staying at the Dalmahoy, so the location in Ratho is quite convenient. Although the restaurant atmosphere is casual, I feel quite comfortable taking clients to the Bridge Inn for business dinners and lunches. The food is quite good, the staff friendly and responsive. Service might be a little slow compared to typical pubs, though I would not characterize their food as pub-​grub, and would not characterize the atmosphere as fast-​pace, fast food. Its more relaxed and conducive to socializing with guests. I wouldn’t recommend the Bridge Inn if you’re in a hurry. Very good mainstays at the Bridge Inn are the Fish & Chips, the Cullen skink, and Lamb trio. They also have gluten-​free offerings that are quite good as well. They have weekly specials that do not disappoint. Last week I had a venison dish with tenderloins and a venison croquette that was very tasty. (The tenderloin was as toothsome as a filet [mignon] with a hint of venison.)

«There is a good tradition of love and hate; stayin’ by the fireside.»
Hey Tanita Tikaram, your lyrics just about sum up my experience of The Bridge Inn. Well, hate is a rather strong word in this instance, but otherwise, these lyrics are perfect!
Our first visit was true love — we didn’t want a big lunch (although it was Sunday, and the Roast Pork was tempting the SR); so settled for a couple of cheeky lemonades and a snack. For the boy, this was a mightily packed chicken and bacon sandwich with shoestring fries; for me it was (what I thought was a salad) roast vegetables, ciabatta and beetroot hummous. Well, the sandwich paled into insignificance to my vegetable sharing platter (not a salad, as it turned out) — a pile of warm, grilled vegetables, sliced and toasted mini ciabatta and a pot of the purpl-​iest hummous I have ever seen. Melt in the mouth too, the beetroot serving as a gently earthy undertone to the traditional chickpea and garlic mix. I had assumed I would just snack a little bit on the hummous… when in reality, I wolfed every single bit down.
Having had such a good meal, we returned with my parents a few weeks later. I had, at my first visit, noted that there wasn’t a massive non-​meat selection, but had forgotton this in my post-​hummous comedown (2 of said options contained egg, which I’m not a fan of, so narrowed my options further). When we got to the restaurant and saw the menu, I remembered. While my parents and the SR tucked into steak pie of gigantic proportions, and my mother into a beautifully presented trio of lamb, I had a rather more forlorn looking bowl of chickpea curry, with not even a garnish to cheer it up. To say, it tasted of disappointment and I secretly wished I’d ordered the vegetable platter again.
One side note: the restaurant is popular, and as a result, can be extremely loud — we struggled to hear each other talk, making the Silent Reviewer even more silent than he normally is.
I left a comment card at the end, as I felt so disappointed and it seemed to me that there was a significant difference in the meat and non meat based options, in presentation and flavour. The owners called my mother back (I’d left her name, rather than mine, as I know she would return for the roast) and followed up on my criticisms. And that, my friends, is how you get a 4^th star — food is good, but customer service can create memories for far longer. If we return, I hope that feedback turns into action.

For what it is (country pub type place) I really like this place! The food portions are huuuuuge, the pies ginormous and flaky! Yum! Clearly homemade. The service I found exceptional, very friendly and attentive. They certainly know how to endear themselves to customers.
As a pit stop during a summer walk along the canal this is exactly the type of place you want to go to. It has a lovely beer garden area out the back. Must remember this place for the summer months.

Just had a very pleasant evening with a large group (30+).
Despite the large group, food came out in a timely fashion and more importantly was pretty good.

Nice Village Pub
Cycled out to Ratho from Fountain park on the Easter weekend and stopped off here for a bowl of soup before heading back. They had obviously been quite busy for the Bank Holiday lunch, and the staff had that look of fear in their eyes when I walked in — «oh no, more customers, haven’t we done enough today?!» — they didn’t really say that! They were quite pleasant, if a little rough around the edges.
Food took its time, but was obviously home-​made, try the Onion Rings, they were pretty special. I know a lot of people who love this place, but it has yet to win me over, though it is certainly the best option in Ratho…
Straight forward semi modern deco, with a nice beer garden and a balcony looking over the Canal.

Tasty British cooking created with flair…
We visited during the week for dinner only and the place was full, which was a good sign. The proprietor met us at the door and apologised for problems we had encountered trying to make a booking as they had had a power cut earlier in the day and the phones had stopped working. We ordered drinks at the bar, I had an excellent draft pint of amber ale, whilst they quickly laid a table up for us.
The venue has undergone some serious remodeling and the new bar area has an open fire, but there is also a separate quieter bar, again with an open fire in the seperate restaurant area. The décor and lighting style created a pleasant ambiance.
The menu is inspired by many local food suppliers, the inns own pigs and 12 month year round vegetable garden, and it was most impressive.
I had scallops and black pudding to start with and they were presented in a creative way. For my main course I went for the pork belly, which also came with some pork meat, home made baked beans and apple sauce, all getting ¹⁰⁄₁₀. The addition of twice fried chips were good, but I felt the thick potato wedge style chips could have been a little crisper. However I consumed everything presented to me.
My dining companions had a wood pigeon appetiser which was thought to be excellent, and a smoked salmon tartar, which was very tasty, but was not prepared in a minced tartar style, but simply served in small pieces of smoked salmon.
The dining room had a lively atmosphere, but was not too noisy and we all had a great evening.

I will start by saying each time I visit the Bridge Inn I am never disappointed, however it also seems to change it’s format rather frequently. This has two effects, each review may have been written when the menu or venue was different but I prefer to focus on the fact that despite the many drastic changes I keep coming back and I enjoy myself each time!
A new feature (at least I think it is new) is a separate bar and restaurant menu, the bar menu ends at 7pm. As you can imagine the bar menu is very much bar food, (burgers, fish and chips etc) while the restaurant menu is a lot more involved (steaks, fish, roasted pork dishes). My very kind waiter allowed me to order a starter from the main menu and a main course from the bar menu even though it was after 7pm.
I am a sucker for scallop dishes and this blew me away! My started was a fresh black pudding with pan fried scallops and a carrot purée. It was absolutely brilliant, the flavours complimented each other very well. I would have happily had a second and third portion.
My main course was a simple bar burger however this was no cheap burger patty. A very nice steak patty full of flavour with some salad and nice strong cheese.
After dinner the dreaded bill arrived but even then I was surprised. Not the cheapest bar food but worth every penny!
Drop by if you are out in the west, you won’t be disappointed!

After a long walk along the Union Canal, there’s no greater pleasure than spying the Bridge Inn. A buzzing hub of the local community, rarely have we dined in an atmosphere so alive with lively chatter. It can be relied upon to provide hearty fare and a friendly welcome.
Overall, we said: «this place seems like a good pub. They do nice food, good portions, decent prices and had a convivial atmosphere that is what I would want in my local, and should I find myself back in Ratho, I certainly wouldn’t be averse to popping back in.»

«The Bridge Inn at Ratho near Edinburgh airport is a swish refurbished hotel.
BUT!
Don’t go near their boat luncheons on the historic Union canal. Don’t touch them with a barge pole! The big yin wearing a „Boss“ button is the master of disaster. Our guests for a family reunion luncheon on board a barge travelled from London and all points of Scotland to sit at a mooring eating what can best be described as one star quality food, while the „boss“ looked for a wee part to start the engine.
All this after 3 months of planning on our part. Wedding planners in particular should look elsewhere or stick to the major cities and give the rural sector a wide berth.
Maintenance of their vessels is not their long suit. It would be better if they dropped the motley fleet from the top of the Falkirk Wheel and stick to running a swish pub.»

Food was Not Very good, Waitress was Very Rude, I do not Think I will Visit This Bar Again

We went here for a family lunch today to celebrate my Mother in Laws 73^rd birthday! We were disappointed to say the least! We ordered our drinks and they took quite a while to come. Then after a good while the waitress came to take our food order. A couple of us ordered mussels as a starter and finger bowls, bread and butter were duly brought to accompany these. We waited and wairted then started on the bread and buttter! Eventually the starters arrived and they were fine but after a further wait they cleared the plates and then… You guessed a lengthy wait for our mains!
The «Special» Roast Lamb was far from Special! It was mediocre to say the least! Actually I must say the veg were cooked to perfection and the yorkshire pud was fine! My sister in law had the battered fish, sad to say the batter was floppy and soggy! All in all it wasn’t cheap and it wasn’t good! To be fair I saw fish and chips coming out later and it looked much better! The staff were obviously under pressure and far from happy as one of our party had his head bitten off when he asked for vinegar for his chips! Have to say it didn’t even appear to be so busy that it would cause problems! Would think twice about visiting here again!!!

The Bridge Inn was always the place to go and for a couple of years i made sure I went at least once a month.
The friendly atmosphere and warm environment made it cosy and welcoming even on the coldest winter day, there was none of the ‘forced’ atmosphere that a lot of chain pubs have and the smiles from the staff were genuine.
Sunday lunch in here although expensive is still worth it and the portions will have you undoing your top button. The bar has always kept a good selection of wines rather than your usual plonk or table wine. However, about 3 years ago it changed hands (so I’m told) and since then the food midweek has been variable. Before you could always rely on it being lovely. Now it varies from lovely to plain disgusting midweek. Yet weekends the food is lovely. I’m guessing they have a different chef during the week.
This is the place to take your parents or your grandparents, although children are welcome its not tolerated to let them run riot. Its a quiet atmosphere and the patronage want it kept that way.