Chez Bernard, Leith, Edinburgh

Aaargh! I knew this day would come. Back in the dawn of time, at the genesis of Tom Eats!, a small voice was predicting this possibility. What? I hear you ask. Well forget my woes for now and concentrate on your own happiness.

To do that I suggest you get yourself down to Leith, in particular to 38 The Shore. Since 1 August Jonathan and Isla have been dispensing wine, food and happiness overlooking the river. All day every day. It's a glorious bright space, buzzing nicely on a Wednesday afternoon. With food at these prices and such a range of wines of this quality, it's not hard to see why.

Incidentally, don't be confused by the names. Jonathan is as authentically French as the place itself. Not quite sure why he was given a name which most Gauls struggle to pronounce. What we do know that the bistro is named after his grandfather, and has nothing to do with nearby Bernard Street. And the lady of the house, Jonathan's wife. Well despite the name, she's not Scottish either. Either French or Spanish (Really! the quality of journalism in these pages...) If we refer to them as Mr Heredia and Ms Mosquera perhaps you'll get the continental vibe which they bring. What I can't adequately communicate is how absolutely charming they both are.

Bernard

Jonathan's fondest memories are of childhood days spent in France with Grandpère Bernard, around long tables, good food, a glass of wine and the people you love. The idea here is that you can come in for a glass of wine, or for a snack or for a full meal. As you enter you are faced with the counter brimming with oysters and prawns and other good stuff. You can, as we did, just order a few things, see how you feel and then order some more. You'll probably want to.

And my problem? Well many of the offerings come in the form of planchettes  (platters), whether of seafood, charcuterie or cheese. The plats chauds are the sorts of things you expect in a French bistro, crepes, croque Monsieur, baked Camembert, pate and so on. The point is that there isn't a vast amount of cooking involved. That's absolutely no criticism, as everything we ate was delightful. It simply highlights a glitch in my scoring system in places where the strength of the kitchen is in the sourcing of top class ingredients and their simple presentation.

But as with any good bistro the menu sways with the seasons. They have just introduced the classic French winter warmer of raclette, unctuously melting cheese with charcuterie, potatoes and bread. Jonathan showed me the Christmas menu which will feature boeuf bourgignon. A small wager has been placed to see if his is better than mine. Probably.

Another bistro tradition, one which will keep them permanently busy, is value for money. Their plats chauds,(hot plates) which aren't greedily priced - mostly around a tenner - are available for just £8 each at lunchtime. The three of us had a couple of bowls of onion soup, a tartine of Emmenthal and Serrano ham, a whole saucisson (choose from pepper or fennel) and some excellent chips. Then we rounded that off with a small plate of cheese, four nicely complementing French examples. You could go for a Formule, another fine French tradition. A 500ml carafe of wine plus either a medium platter, or 10 oysters will cost just £40.

Grandpa Bernard was originally from Burgundy but made Bordeaux his home. Jonathan has moved here and made Edinburgh his home. France's loss is most definitely Leith's gain. And my scoring system? Well stuff it. I'd be tempted to add extra points for service and for value. You won't find a warmer atmosphere anywhere in town. And the other parts? Pouf! Mere bagatelles. A nice composite 19 should be enough to get you coming here at any time of day and in all seasons. Vive la France!