Good Bakeries in Edinburgh, Scotland
Just thought I'd put in a couple of recommendations for good bread in my local town of Edinburgh, having just today eaten a fantastic baguette from a new Scottish-French(?) bakery.
'The Wee Boulangerie' produces French style artisan bread and it actually compares very favourably to the real French bread I had on holiday in Brittany this year. It is the most authentically French bread I have had outside of France, and is in fact better than quite a lot of bread I've had in France.
http://www.theweeboulangerie.co.uk/ [1]
Peter's Yard is a Swedish artisan bakery and café opposite my University, which produces very high quality sourdough artisan bread of the sort with a tough crust and holey, chewy crumb and excellent flavour. It has some quite bizarre and intriguing flavours sometimes, such as artichoke or spinach. Their rye bread is also very good and flavoursome. They seriously know their stuff, and have a lot of good pastries and cakes too.
http://www.petersyard.com/ [2]
Valvona and Crolla, an Italian Delicatessen with a long history, are responsible for my idea of what sourdough bread should taste like. Their sourdough loaves are sour in a way nothing else I've tasted has been, and on a good day their bread is unbelievably tasty and addictive. Unlike the other two I recommend, the crumb of these loaves tends to be quite dense, but when the bread is also soft, in combination with the sour flavour it just makes it all the more addictive. This is also a good place for fancy Italian food of any description.
http://www.valvonacrolla.co.uk/index.html [3]
Some other honourable mentions include Hendersons, who have a.. unique.. approach to baking, and produce tasty though rather dry and dense wholemeal loaves and rolls that aren't quite like anywhere else.
http://www.hendersonsofedinburgh.co.uk/ [4]
Also Falko Konditormeister, a German bakery with dense, heavy, flavoursome breads, including rye bread. They seem to be more a specialist in unbelievably fancy looking cake.