A high price to pay for eggs and ogling

Place: Montpeliers Address: 159-161 Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh Telephone: 0131-229 3115 Brunch served: 9am-6pm, Mon-Sun.

Other information: Pints between #2.25 and #2.45.

There are some bars that just seem to attract divvies in busloads. We're not talking about the wee neddy types who want to see you, minus your jacket, outside now, but rather those sad, minging businessmen who come out to ignore their mates and ogle anything vaguely female.

A whole extended family of this species, hanging onto the bar should its collective trouser movements defy gravity, is the first thing you clock when you walk into this establishment. That and the fact you are going to be seriously out of pocket by the time you leave. As one of the few decent bars in this part of town, Montpeliers is all too aware that it can slap on a bit of pretence and charge well over the odds. And it does, with little other than a caffeine high available for under #2.

On the punter front, you will never be so grateful for the calming - no, seriously - influence of students. A small contingent is regularly in residence, having popped in from Napier University's nearby Merchiston campus for a post-lecture bevvy.

The safest time to experience Monty's delights is during daylight hours, when you can tuck into your scrambled eggs and bacon without some over-eager punter salivating onto your plate. The breakfast menu offers 11 options which you can pick and mix to suit.

When we visit, my companion makes light work of the brioche, smoked salmon and scrambled egg (#3.55), but complains that the salmon is lacking in flavour. I opt for the corned beef hash with potato scone and fried egg (#4.35), but you could pay substantially less for a packet in a supermarket and it would taste much the same.

The patisserie helps ease our disappointment - but means there is little change left from #20 to get the bus home. Still, we get some insight into why ogling is such a popular Montpeliers pursuit: giving someone the once-over is the one thing that remains free.

Claire Prentice

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