A MUSSELBURGH eatery which specialises in seafood is continuing its winning streak with a hat-trick of accolades during the Covid-19 pandemic.

East Coast, on the town’s North High Street, scooped a Good Food Award 2021 for best fish and chips.

With some 536,954 eating establishments within the UK, competition for the accolades was tough.

A competition spokesperson said: “We were taken aback by the record number of entrants and votes cast for the finalists by readers, customers and fans alike.

“It was heartwarming to see the support our finalists received, given the adversity everyone faced.”

The Good Food Awards recognise “the hard-working teams who strive for culinary excellence within their field”.

Based upon customer feedback, nominations and votes, the winners demonstrated “exceptional levels” of food quality, service and value when compared to industry benchmarks in their category.

East Coast was also voted Fish and Chip Takeaway of the Year for Edinburgh and the Lothians at the Food & Drink Awards 2020, hosted by LUX Life magazine.

A competition spokesperson said: “The Food & Drink Awards is returning to commend those who go above and beyond for their customers and/or consumers to ensure that their appetites are catered for, especially in light of the recent Covid-19 outbreak, which has seen many businesses in the food and drink industry face unprecedented challenges over the past few months.”

The restaurant was also named best takeaway in the Midlothian & East Lothian Chamber of Commerce Food and Drink Awards 2020 in a virtual award ceremony via Zoom.

These accolades celebrated the “innovation, resilience and successes” that have taken place over the past year, especially in response to the challenges that the sector has faced due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The sponsors included East Lothian Food & Drink and Haddington-based Lothian Electric Machines (LEMAC).

In a joint statement, East Coast owners Carlo and Katia Crolla said: “We are delighted to have won these awards and to have added them to our growing collection, especially during this very difficult period of trading. We’ve just celebrated our two-year trading birthday so these awards are a great way to celebrate this.

“We are experiencing extremely challenging times but we have continued to offer the very high standards and consistency that we always do, even though this hasn’t been easy. The support of our customers has been amazing and this has kept us going through 2020.

“We would like to thank our employees in particular for all the hard work they put in every day – without their support, these awards wouldn’t be possible.”