Anna Hamilton

Sometimes life’s little pleasures come in the form of bar bites and sides. Forget about your pre-summer diets and settle in with any (or all) of my favourites from across the city.    Ting Thai Caravan8-9 Teviot Place, Edinburgh, EH1 2RA, 0131 225 9801. Open Mon-Sun noon-11pm.The sweet potato crispies from Ting Thai Caravan are a wonderful thing to behold; in fact, when I choose to ignore my calorie compass, I can happily wolf down a couple of bowls of these in one sitting. Also known as mun tod, this Thai street food fritter is made using sweet potato in a coconut and tapioca flour batter and served with sweet chilli sauce. The service here is fast, you can’t book and it’s cash only, which works perfectly, as at £1.80 per portion they’re great value and take mere moments to eat.  <img id="80e7a8d4-a68e-9376-ce86-8a25b2b7faa3" data-caption="" data-credit="" data-width-class="" type="image/jpeg" total="1280456" loaded="1280456" src="http://media.timeout.com/images/102532608/image.jpg" class="photo lazy inline">   The Bon Vivant55 Thistle Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1DY, bonvivantedinburgh.co.uk, 0131 225 3275. Open Mon-Sun noon- 1am.Before moving to Edinburgh properly, my visits from London were always marked with a welcome back glass of vino and haggis bonbons from Bon V. There was something almost ritualistic about getting off the train and walking down cobbled Thistle Street before entering a bustling, candle-lit wine bar for an albeit slightly idealistic taste of Scotlan