Mrs Formans Inn

We came in Musselburgh a week ago and had a great walk next to the sea and the river, so this pub came to our radar when we became peckish!
It was end of the day and the waitress that left serving as around 20h00 was a bit tired, must have been a busy day.
My friends ordered the burger (which comes in two sizes, 9oz and 7oz I think). The bun was a disappointment: plain and almost without taste, looking like the ones you buy from a super market in a plastic bag (not even the day ones). The beef itself was good, and the chips were ok.
i had the salmon linguine with king prawns in rich white sauce: very tasty, but might feel heavy for some.
The highlight was the starter: breadcrumbed haggis croquettes with a dip! Must try!

My husband and I visited this place when it was fairly new, it was thick outside with snow and we were both in casual attire. We never ordered any meals, but sat in the corner with irish coffees. We found the owner pleasant and friendly. This place is what Musselburgh needs to help bring new energy into a town that has become decidedly tacky with bargain/​charity shops. I wish them well!

SInce my twenties where I could have simply redirected my salary into a pub’s coffers, I don’t really go to such establishments that often, nor when I do, do I tend to eat there. I’m not a huge gastropub fan either, but last night, checking out Mrs Formans seemed just right. It’s a gastropub but definitely with leanings more towards gastro rather than pub and definitely no comfy seats.
The pub itself has been around for over a century, and run by the original Mrs, sitting at the end of the race and golf course. It closed down a year or so ago and has been reinvented by the new owners. With jazz-​flavours flowing gently through the dining area, we definitely had a mellow, unrushed night.
For starters, we tucked into Belhaven smoked trout pâté (very coarse and absolutely delicious) and red pepper soup (lacked seasoning but otherwise good). Our mains consisted of grilled sea bass in a garlic parsley sauce, and linguine with smoked salmon and king prawns. To be fair, the mains let the experience down. The sea bass dish was bland, and the linguine very heavy and not much flavour (or fish) either. Definitely needed more seasoning on both dishes, which made it better, but I was less impressed here.
However, we finished and moved on to the desserts of cranachan and raspberry/​plum crumble. The boy adored his crumble, and what can I say, the cranachan was fantastic — compared to my recent experience elsewhere — this place almost had me in tears, I enjoyed it so much — light, with crunchy oats, sharp raspberry and whisky entrancing the tastebuds.
So overall, while I think the main courses are not super enthralling so far, Mrs Formans is a really nice place to relax and enjoy a good — not great, yet — meal. Definitely worth spending a penny in.

Having driven past this place on my way home from work every night for the last 15 months, I eventually decided to make a visit last night, despite living only 2 minutes (drive) away.
I had been put off in the past as it allegedly used to have a bit of a ‘rough’ reputation. However, I had noticed that renovations works had been getting carried out and so my curiosity was perked to see if it was worthwhile.
In any case, my partner & I set off to find out whether or not it deserved its past reputation or, indeed, if we had found our new local???
We turned up at around 10 past 8 and first impressions were good. The place was nicely busy, cosy and very tastefully decorated. Result! However, the proprietor then informed us that meals finished at 8! D’oh!
Fortunately (for us) the proprietor was extremely nice and instead invited us to stay and he would cook the food for us himself! Now that’s what I call customer service…
We eventually settled on two mains which he was more than happy to cook for us. After we were seated, we were very promptly asked for drinks, which were then served to us at our table. Further, the proprietor then came and informed us that the chef had decided to stay and cook our meals for us!
The food was served very quickly, without the quality being impaired, and was extremely tasty and enjoyable.
So, to summarise:
Customer Service — 5 (out of 5)
Food 4 (mainly a ‘gastro-​pub’ style menu, although there were a few cheeky little surprises)
Atmosphere — 4
Drinks — 4 (more ales please!)
In total, 4 badger stars from me.
Oh, and is it going to be new local? A resounding YES.