Breakfast Nomination #20, the Fire Station Creative on Carnegie Drive in Dunfermline

Breakfast Nomination #20, the Fire Station Creative on Carnegie Drive in Dunfermline

Nominated by Iain Townson

Originally reviewed on the 29th of January, 2017 

Gary's score: 4/6 

My score: not too bad considering I had to get a train over a river to get here 

Gary ate: American Pancake(s) with bacon and maple syrup (£5.50) and a large pot of tea that we shared (£3.25) 

I ate: Eggs Balmoral (aka Eggs Royale - poached eggs, toasted muffins with smoked salmon and Hollondaise sauce) (£6.50) and shared a pot of tea with Gary 

Total cost: £15.25 

Our pros: friendly service; a unique setting with interesting things to look at as it was in an art gallery; generous portions; tasty food; very fair prices and we had a pleasant experience that didn't have us cursing the fact we'd had to travel nearly 15 miles for breakfast. 

Our cons: Gary's breakfast was a little heavy for him (the pancake was bigger than his head); our table was a bit low down to eat comfortably at (though there were better tables to sit at - I just foolishly picked the first table we saw) and it was quite a trek for a breakfast for us being based in Edinburgh (but I did accept this challenge so that's my fault too!). 

Our experience: I have a strong feeling that Gary was cursing the fact he agreed to do this challenge with me when my alarm went off early on Sunday morning and the cold, dark realisation set in that we would not be eating breakfast until after we'd walked 40 minutes to the station, travelled another half hour by train then walked for another 20 minutes to the café once we'd reached Dunfermline. 

I placated Gary at Waverly by purchasing us both some Costa hot chocolates to keep us going as we still had quite a journey ahead of us but I did enjoy crossing the bridge over the Forth - I never get sick of that view.

I never get sick of that view

We managed to make it to the Fire Station Creative without too much stress even though I was determined that Gary was taking us in the wrong direction as despite his Fife roots and his experience of countless nights out in Dunfermline 'teaching' him the geography of the area, I still trusted Google Maps a bit more as its primary experience with Dunfermline geography *wasn't* based on dozens of drunken pub crawls, dancing to the Stone Roses in slow motion, with tales of a mystery Brigadoon-style chippy that only appears to Gary and his friends after X amount of booze has been consumed and they were ready for their late-night kebabs. 

I sat us down at the first table we found, which meant we were right beside the door and were getting a bit of a cold draught every time someone came in or left but it wasn't too bad. The table was a bit low down for us to eat off of comfortably but there were dozens of better suited tables further back - I was just silly and grabbed the first table I saw so I wouldn't be wandering around gormlessly looking for a place to sit. 

The Fire Station Creative does table service, though we didn't find this out until we approached the counter to order and were (politely) shooed back to our table to get our orders taken. You pay at the counter when you're finished though, but the waitress let us know that in advance. 

We both enjoyed our food though Gary felt his pancake would have benefited from some added fruit to help make it feel less glutenous, as despite the pancake starting off tasty and sweet - it became sickly and filling very, very fast. The menu also said "pancakeS" but after Gary saw the ginormous proportion of his single pancake, he was grateful to only have one. 

My food was pretty decent - not the best Eggs Balmoral/Royale I've had but still a good contender in that list with delicious salmon, though the breakfast came with rocket (often annoyingly paired with salmon) which I gladly left on my plate as I really, really don't like it. 

what is this chair about?

The place was inoffensive - friendly service and good food. The most unique thing about this place is that firstly it's a converted fire house and secondly it doubles as not only an art gallery, but a space for artists to work in as they have numerous studio rooms available in the building so this is the first place Gary and I have ever eaten in that's anything like this. 

It was an interesting experience eating our food in amongst paintings, sculptures and one dubious looking giant carved wooden chair that had hands and feet, but I wouldn't necessarily say it's ideal for a visit if you're Edinburgh-based. If you live in or near Dunfermline then I would say the service and food quality is definitely high enough to warrant a visit, but other than that - it's maybe not worth the 15 mile trip for food! Though it was nice to see a 'decorated' tree in the park on our way back to the station. Thank you Dunfermline!

like Christmas in January, in Fife

What's next: Cafe Grande in Brunstfield

Breakfast Nomination #19, Odds and Ends Coffee House in Polwarth

Breakfast Nomination #19, Odds and Ends Coffee House in Polwarth

Nominated by Claire Wheelan

Originally reviewed on December 4th, 2016

 "I don't *think* he's a psychopath...." 

Gary's score: 5/6  
My score: you mean I don't need to be a total fatty at breakfast to enjoy myself? 

Gary ate: a bacon roll with ketchup (£3) and a hot chocolate (£2.30), then later a cheesecake brownie (gluten free!) (£2.60) and a cherry cola (la la la la Lola) (£1.90) 
I ate: a toasted bagel with cream cheese (£3) and a hot chocolate (£2.30), then later a slice of chocolate orange cake (£3.20) and a Yorkshire tea (£2) 
Total cost: £10.60 for breakfast and £9.70 for 'desert' or £20.30 altogether 

Our pros: quick service; tasty food; very cheap; light breakfast; lovely decor and pleasant service.
Our cons: bit chilly; menus are all behind the tills so scouring them for food choices is a bit of a pain; few breakfast options, and no big breakfast options. 

Our experience: So, it's somewhat frustratingly ironic that the whole time I was living in Morningside we had to drag our arses down to Leith for a bunch of reviews and the minute we move down the Leith, all our nominations are conveniently located on the other side of town - this one being a 15 minute walk from where I used to live and is now a half hour bus journey clear across town! 

Odds and Ends Coffee House is a lovely little café tucked away in Polwarth not too far from Piece Box (seriously, it's about two doors down from it) and sadly Piece Box looked exceptionally full when we walked past whereas this place was all but deserted - though this did allow us to have a wonderfully peaceful breakfast, even if it might mean this place might not be doing so well business-wise. 

We were a little put off when we first sat down as there were few breakfast options - maybe 4 at a push, like granola/toast/bacon roll or a bagel, and all were small breakfast options. Gary and I usually end up with rumbling tummies by the time we make it to our breakfasts (especially when we need to trek clear across town for them) so usually opt for decent sized portions i.e. a full cooked breakfast, but it was actually a nice change to have quite a light but still satisfying breakfast - this is with us ignoring the fact that Gary and I totally munched cakes after we finished our breakfasts of course. 

The place has a rustic feel to it, with bare brick walls, naked light bulbs and mismatched furniture - although this kind of decor is pretty much ten-a-penny in most cafés these days and a little bit hipster, it was still a lovely place to sit in and have breakfast, though the serveware looked like it all dated from the 70s (seriously, look at the hot chocolate cups). 

what decade is it again?

It was a little chilly due to the frostiness outside but they had a standalone heater nearby to where we were sat so it wasn't too bad. 

Gary and I both agreed that our breakfasts were lovely - his bacon was delicious and well cooked and my bagel was perfectly toasted with really lovely tasting cream cheese. 
Our cakes after were fantastic too - perfectly moist and tasty, and I really enjoyed my Yorkshire tea to go along with my chocolate orange cake. 

 Ultimately this place was a lovely, quiet little coffee house tucked away in Polwarth and our breakfasts were light, cheap and tasty so I would definitely recommend stopping by if you're in the area (especially if Piece Box is full, as that's a great café too and well worth a visit as well!) 

If you do decide to visit, this place also does a breakfast special before 12pm so you can pick up a fruit scone or pastry with a tea or coffee for just £3.50 and it also has a nice selection of lunch options and a huge selection of hot beverages to choose from. 

What's next: The Fire Station Creative in Dunfermline (that's right, DUNFERMLINE).

Breakfast Nomination #18, the Caffeine Drip in the West End

Breakfast Nomination #18, the Caffeine Drip in the West End

Nominated by Erin Whyte 

Originally reviewed on October 9th, 2016

With our 7th guest reviewer - Emily Hair 

"What's pyjama party? Is that some bar down Leith?" 

Gary's score: 3/6 (would've been 4 if not for his actual meal) 
My score: tasty food but did the menu have to be so damn complicated? 
Emily's score: described by the colour "brown", she wishes it were "more green" but the "omelettes were delicious" 

Gary ate: (boldly) the vegan breakfast with toast, chickpea scramble (pureed chickpea) and ketchup (£5.50), fried banana (£1.60), vegan haggis (£2.50) and fried mushrooms (£1.60) with a (giant) Milo hot chocolate (£3) 
I ate: the non-vegan breakfast with toast, poached eggs and ketchup (£5.50), bacon (£1.60), vegan haggis (it just comes vegan) (£2.50), fried mushrooms (£1.60) and an English Breakfast tea (£2.60) 
Emily ate: a halloumi, mushroom and spinach omelette with toast and Mrs Balls sauce (a kind of chutney) (£8.50) with a Durbanville smoothie (£4.50) which was vegan as it was made with just fruit and apple juice 
Total cost: £41 altogether or £28 for just me and Gary 

Our pros: gluten free, vegan and veggie options but still meat options too; customisable breakfasts; friendly staff; a new experience for us food-wise; South African snacks sold here such as Biltong; takeaway options offered; tasty bacon, omelette, poached eggs and smoothie, and lots of cakes on display (such as their "crazy tiffins"). 
Our cons: milky hot chocolate; weak tasting tea; not much table space for 3 people; overly-complicated menu (just look at my attempts to list prices for our breakfasts to get a hint as to what I mean); vegan breakfast not filling but still expensive; customisable breakfast adds up to be quite expensive even if you don't order components to effectively make up a standard full cooked breakfast, and ordering at the counter for sit in or takeaway caused a bit of congestion at the café entrance. 

Our experience:  I have to begin this blog review by saying that this has been our most popular review to date! It's quite exciting to try something new and just from posting a little on Facebook, Twitter and mostly Instagram - a lot of intrigue has been sparked on the basis that we were reviewing a place that had quite a significant offering of vegan food on the menu. 

We received the most amount of feedback via Instagram, garnering the greatest amount of likes and comments on our review photos than we'd ever had, as well as getting a fair bit of interest on Facebook by simply mentioning the place we were going to to be reviewing next - often these posts are shrugged off and maybe get one or two likes (if we're lucky) but this time we had people commenting telling us how interested they were already in this upcoming review.
Anyway, here is our experience.

We dragged ourselves out of bed at 8:30 this morning (somewhat grumpily) to ensure we had time this afternoon for my birthday surprise at 1pm (which was seeing a double bill at the Film House of Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles) and took an hour-long scenic walk across town to the Caffeine Drip in the West End where we met our 7th guest reviewer, Emily, at the front door to the café then walked downstairs to grab a seat. 

We were greeted upon arrival, given free will to choose our own seats then handed our menus promptly though after that you are to go to the tills to order. 
This caused a bit of a kerfuffle at the tills as the till is located directly at the bottom of the stairs and patrons ordering their takeaways end up almost banging into you as you yourself queue to order your food to sit-in, so this was a minor gripe. 
Table service or a different till location would have been more ideal here. 

What sticks out about this place initially, other than the South African theme and décor, is that for the first time in our breakfast reviewing history - we have visited a place that caters pretty inclusively for vegans. 

I was pretty excited to try this place out as it's always interesting to have a place to review that is not your run-of-the-mill café just serving up your typical breakfast options, and it gives the review a bit more traction and a different edge to it, so I'm grateful to Erin for nominating this place for us. 

This place does do fairly standard breakfasts but there's a much wider variety of options for them. 
I'd say the key thing this place focuses on is customisation - you can order a full cooked breakfast but you're in charge of what bread you get (gluten free options available), what meat (if applicable), what kind of vegan-friendly egg/meat/dairy substitutes you want, what add-ons and even what kind of sauce you want to get (Mrs Balls, anyone?). 

the famous Mrs Balls sauce!

The customisation angle is great but it was also a hindrance when it's pretty much the only possible way to order as when we were first handed our menus we were hit by a mess of options, prices and lists of food components everywhere. 

If you're looking to order a quick set breakfast then you won't have much luck here. Yes, there were breakfast rolls and French toast on offer but the bulk of the breakfasts came with at least 3 mandatory customisations you'd have to specify when ordering. 
This is good for people who want control over what exactly they're going to eat for breakfast but is a bit of a pain in the arse if you just want to sit down and order a breakfast real quick. 

We were sat in the corner dubbed "the bean room" with jute sacks adorning the walls with dubious looking Buddhist symbols on the walls. 
We all agreed it wasn't our kind of kind of décor but the place was uniquely bright and vibrant with oranges and reds colouring the walls and floors of the main café which was an interesting change. 

the Bean Room

Our food came out pretty quick despite the fact everything is specified to be "made to order", so that was nice that the food managed to be fresh *and* quick as other places (yeah, I'm going there again guys) such as BRUNO'S 7-7 DINER, THE WORST FOOD PLACE IN SCOTLAND used their "made to order" practise as a (pitiful) excuse for why they took 40 minutes to cook your food when the place was 3/4 empty. 
One day I may stop bitching about that awful diner, but today, today is not that day. 

Emily was a big fan of her haloumi omelette (and as it turns out, so was Instagram as its picture garnered about 30 likes in 5 minutes - a record for our_breakfast_challenge account) and her smoothie. 

 I quite enjoyed my food as the bacon was well cooked and my poached eggs were suitably runny. The vegan haggis was interesting (I'm not sure if there's any difference between this and standard veggie haggis as even a google search didn't offer up any explanations to what it was), it tasted nice though a little too nutty for me but my mushrooms were cooked perfectly. 

 My tea was a bit too weak but I'm starting to get used to that in cafés as they always seem to have really rubbish teabags for their English Breakfast teas. However, it was not worth over £2 and the takeaway price for the tea is less than half that for some reason. 

some more table jenga!

Gary wasn't the biggest fan of his breakfast, but I guess that's what happens when you panic and forget what you really wanted to order when you make it to the tills and instead order a total vegan breakfast with fried bananas in it! 
His scrambled chickpeas were beyond "scrambled" and instead had the consistency, and some may argue flavour, of baby food and the whole breakfast wasn't substantial enough as he practically keeled over (slight exaggeration) when I dragged him and Emily for a walk round Dean Village after breakfast. 
I spent part of my breakfast sneaking Gary a bit of bacon here and a bit of egg there for nourishment, hoping the staff wouldn't walk past and scream "traitor" at him for tainting his all-vegan breakfast with an assortment of animal products. 

I would say Emily enjoyed this place the most and Gary enjoyed it the least but we were keen to return for other meals and I really loved going to quite a different place for once - even going to McDonald's back in the day was a bit more of an exciting experience, if depressing, as a fair few of the cafés in this city get a bit samey after a while so I'm really pleased to have reviewed this place and I think already (based on Facebook comments and Instagram likes) this challenge has already sparked an attraction from people specifically due to the vegan/vegetarian aspects of the challenge. 

The whole experience today was fresh, fun and I enjoyed the vibe of today's challenge - even though we had to get up so early on a Sunday and everyone who knows me knows that this is a really fucking hard thing for me to do.
I really enjoyed the chat and the experience of trying somewhere totally new and different for a change. 

I'll tie up this review on a somewhat humorous (to us anyway) note by saying that after a quick jaunt along the Water of Leith we graciously walked Emily home (mostly to ensure we didn't go up any other steep slopes and cause Gary to pass out from lack of energy from the morning's breakfast) and she proceeded to fail to open her own front door for a good 5 minutes (leading us to worry she was in fact pretending to live in this flat in order to get away from us quicker) and wound up buzzing to get let into the stair as her attempts with every single key on her keychain failed to gain her access to the building she (allegedly, now it seems) has inhabited for a number of years. 
Of course, Gary and I being the awful people we are we stood and stared at her for the full 5 minutes to ensure maximum awkwardness for poor Emily as she tried to escape us post-breakfast and we refused to leave until she was safely inside whatever random stairway she had just broken into. 

What's next: Odds and Ends Coffee Shop in Polwarth, nominated by Claire Wheelan, the former nominator of the Tower Restaurant in the National Museum

Breakfast Nomination #17, Hemma in Holyrood

Breakfast Nomination #17, Hemma in Holyrood 

Nominated by Russell Simspon - who was eager for us to give Hemma a second chance 

Originally reviewed September 18th 2016

Gary's score: 4/6 
My score: nowhere near as bad as I expected 

Gary ate: the Hemma breakfast (cooked breakfast) (£8.50), a tea (£1.60), an orange juice (£2.60!!!) and a small chocolate cake (£1) 
I ate: French toast with salmon and dill (£7.50), a tea (£1.60) and also a small chocolate cake (£1) 
Total cost: £23.80 

Our pros: good vibe in the café; very bright and spacious inside; not *too* expensive; pleasant service; food delivered quickly; nice big cups of tea and sweet little chocolate cakes offered with our drinks. 
Our cons: staff a little nervous and sometimes overbearing; slightly burnt French toast; food not very flavoursome; no sauce for cooked breakfast; staff hard to spot as they're all in plain clothes, and not very many breakfast choices on offer. 

Our experience: I have to start off this review by saying that we actually originally tried to go to Hemma a year ago. That's right, we tried but were unsuccessful!
Long before this place was recommended to us, Gary and I went through a stint of not doing our breakfast nominations and just trying places for breakfast to just... you know, eat, for sustenance rather than to review for Facebook. And every place we went to, we had a bad time. 

Around this time was when we went to the God awful Bruno's 7-7 diner and were insulted by the manageress - and I will mention the awfulness of that place as many times as I can in my reviews because it should be avoided! DO NOT GO! 
Anyway, so one day we were walking around Holyrood looking for a place to eat and we stumbled across Hemma, but we didn't even get as far as eating here before we had to leave and go somewhere else.  

We stood hovering around the front with no one paying us any attention and we weren't sure if we were to seat ourselves or wait but I think after a few minutes we seated ourselves anyway but were then ignored for another 10 minutes or so. Gary got fed up and went up to order at the counter but a waitress walked past and told him he could have a seat again and she'd come over and take his order. 

Gary sits down again, another 5 minutes or so pass and then she comes over to take our order - we mention the food we'd like to order and she says "Ah, ok. Well it's going to be a 40 minute wait for food so....". 
We glanced round Hemma, maybe a quarter of the tables actually full but still the place is near-empty, and we think "fuck this" and we leave. 

So, after that experience of waiting 20-odd minutes just to have someone attempt to take our order only to tell us it'd be another 40 minutes to get some food, we weren't keen to return. 

However, Russell (the nominator of this challenge) visited Hemma at a later date and tweeted about it himself, we had a little conversation about it via Twitter and it wound up on our nominations so Gary and I had to return - I simply cannot back down from a challenge, plus it's always good to give places a second change. Except Bruno's 7-7, they can fuck right off. 

Anyway, we went in with low expectations and with the experience of last year still fresh in our mind but they were a lot more on the ball today, if a bit nervous or unsure at points. They now have a sign with "please wait here to be seated on it" so that cleared up that issue. 
We got bright, attentive and friendly service upon arrival, got to pick our own table (from the non-reserved ones) and were given menus right away. 
Our orders got taken for our drinks and food within about 5 minutes of sitting down and our food was delivered maybe ten minutes after that. 

Everyone that served us was friendly though one of the waitresses seemed a bit nervous, tripping over her words and repeating our orders back to herself as if she was worried she might forget them, but everything came as we ordered it, and aside from being congratulated on finishing our arguably not very big portions of food -"Well done!!", and being asked how were, how we'd spent our morning, what we were up to next etc - the service wasn't too over the top, which was nice. 

Neither of us were too impressed with our breakfasts in terms of flavour and my French toast was a little singed round the edges, but the food wasn't the worst we'd had. 

I thought considering we'd have two breakfasts, three drinks and two cakes that £23 didn't seem a lot to pay at the end but I don't feel that £2.60 for orange juice is right, neither is £1 for a mouthful of cake or £7.50 for a small bit of French toast. 
However, we have ordered two breakfasts and two drinks before and wound up paying £30 elsewhere so it didn't seem too bad overall - just individual things seemed more expensive than they should've been.  

Hemma is part of a chain of Scandinavian bars/cafés/restaurants (they seem to be all three at different parts of the day) and we actually have another nomination from the chain it belongs to coming up in future, Akva at the start of the canal, so we shall see how that one compares to this (hopefully it's not the exact same). 

The place could do with more breakfast options but it's such a nice, spacious place and we had the choice of sitting on big plush sofas or at a large table (finally we had enough space to eat!) so I reckon this one would be good enough to be recommended for people to try if they were in the area but it wasn't anything spectacular. 

What's next: the Caffeine Drip in the West End, nominated by Erin Whyte

Breakfast Nomination #16, Montpeliers in Brunstfield

Breakfast Nomination #16, Montpeliers in Brunstfield 

Nominated by Mr Mark Strevens - his second nomination (the first being the Ship On The Shore in Leith) 

Originally reviewed on July 31st, 2016

With our sixth guest reviewer, the one and only Kirsty McVean 

"Those were the Holladaise..." 

Gary's score: 4.7/6 
My score: I was robbed of my free tea! 
Kirsty's score: 7.3 Snotlings /10 (this week's review is brought to you by Warhammer)  


Gary ate: the Full Monty (massive full cooked breakfast + grilled chicken and steak??) that came with toast and orange juice and was *supposed* to come with a tea or coffee, yet didn't (£11.95) and a hot chocolate (£3.10) 
I ate: the Monty (the same as Gary, minus the steak and chicken) and an English Breakfast tea (£2.75) but they didn't include my tea in the price even though it's supposed to come with the breakfast.
Kirsty ate: Eggs Royale (eggs Benedict with salmon) (£6.95), and orange juice (£2.40) and an Americano (£2.70) 
Total Cost: £39.45!!! or £27.40 for me and Gary, though it should've just been £24.65 with my tea included with my breakfast, grr. 

Our pros: nicely decorated restaurant with a good view from our window seats; friendly enough service; loads of breakfast options; good salmon for the eggs Royale and nice toast with the Monty breakfasts. 
Our Cons: really watery orange juice; not being offered the tea or coffee with our Monty breakfasts and me being charged my tea separately was pretty bad imo; really slow to get our bill; tables were far too small for three people to sit at with food; felt boxed in by the window and some of the food was pretty average - some even flavourless. 

Our experience: I was initially pretty excited about this place - it had a huge swathe of breakfast options and most importantly they did breakfast until 5pm (amazing) and it's a mere ten minute walk from my front door - time for a Sunday lie-in finally! 

Kirsty, carboot sale fanatic

Except no, that did not happen. 

In order to add to our breakfast challenge experience, Kirsty suggested that Gary and I join her at 10am to go to the car boot sale in the Omni Centre car park which takes place each Sunday. 
Safe to say I was not particularly awake for the first few hours of our day together and spent an inordinate amount of time yawning loudly and struggling to keep my eyes open whilst we wandered round endless piles of rusty old tools, awkward looking framed pet portraits and any other random belongings people had dug out that cupboard in their home they've not gone into for 47 years and decided to bring along to the sale. 

dozing off (probably)

Once we'd done the Kirsty circuit around the car boot sale, we grabbed a bus straight to Montpeliers - yes, food time! 

Montpeliers looked pretty busy, as it always does when I go past on my way to work, but we managed to get a seat after just a few minutes. 

We deliberated over the copious menu choices for a while before deciding what would be best to satisfy our hungers - Gary wondering why the hell a breakfast would come with a chicken and a steak but thought "fuck it!" and ordered it anyway. 

The wait staff that dealt with us seemed friendly enough but we didn't really get checked on at all and we were sat there for 10-15 minutes at the end waiting to ask if we could get the bill. 
However, this seems to happen annoyingly regularly these days when we eat out so I'm not sure if this is just normal procedure but I find it kind of off-putting feeling like you're being held hostage until you make the sufficient pointed eye contact with a nearby waiter in order to get the bloody bill finally. 

Kirsty really enjoyed her food and even had a few bits and pieces of mine and Gary's leftovers as we'd had more than enough food, especially with the rack of toast we got with our cooked breakfasts.
She said the salmon was good, the Hollandaise was acceptable and thought the pea shoots on her dish were a nice touch. 


Generally I liked my full cooked breakfast but I've got more for less in other places (*cough cough* CJ's Café, seriously it's so cheap) and Gary and I both agreed our poached eggs tasted far too watery with not much of a runny yoke going on and our sausages were too herby. 

mm, toasty toast

However, the haggis and black pudding were both cooked well and not greasy. I liked the added toast, but the OJ that came with our food tasted mostly of water and less of orange juice and I really can't let it slide that we didn't get our tea or coffee included with our breakfast - neither of us were offered either drink when we ordered food and I'd already ordered a tea at the start of the meal before we were asked our food orders, so I wound up getting charged for it anyway which I thought was pretty bloody cheeky as it specifically says on the menu that the Monty breakfasts come with "tea or coffee and a glass of orange juice", gah. 

Only one of these drinks was complimentary, humph

It's a lovely place but there was a *lot* of people bustling about and a lot of noise from the bar - mainly lots of smashing glass (not sure if it was intentional or not) and clinking so it was a bit too loud for me and we were really struggling to fit our plates on the table to eat. 

we're gonna need a bigger table

My plate was actually hanging off the table and I was worried I was going to end up with a lapful of food if I wasn't careful so I'd suggest only going there alone or with one other person to make sure you have adequate table space! 

I'd say this place is worth visiting on a nice day - especially as there's outdoor seating, and because there's probably about a dozen or more exciting breakfast options including pancakes, Mexican wraps and filled rolls as well as what the three of us ate today, so there's really something for everyone and lots to try. 

However, it's expensive (it's Brunstfield though, hardly surprising) and the food quality doesn't really measure up to those prices so I would probably pick a cheaper place over this one for the same or better quality of food. 

Nice but not great. 

Where's next: Hemma in Holyrood, nominated by Russell Simpson.