How many times have you met your friends for brunch, all excited about the chatter and the chow only to find that the only vegetarian brekkie or brunch available is the meat version without the meat. The Witchhiker has travelled the length and breadth of Scotland seeking out and sampling the top veggie breakfasts available in this fair land. Its been hard work and we're rounder...but we're happy.

Our first stop was The Illicit Still in Broad Street, Aberdeen. The atmosphere in The Still was very chilled out and relaxed the day we stopped by for a visit and there were lots of nooks and crannies to hide away in. They do a full vegetarian breakfast option as well as the standard full brekkie. We were very impressed with the huge platter of food that arrived in front of us and there was the added bonus of a pint of Guinness to go along with it if you so desired ;-) The tattie scones, eggs, sausages and were all excellent and there were even Billy Connolly CDs being played in the loo. This is the veggie breakfast to go for if you fancy lounging
around with your mates for brunch and then maybe stay on for a beer or two afterwards. Happy days.

We despatched a faithful pair of witchhikers to the Magical Organical Cafe at Tir na nOg (near Drymen, Loch Lomond) to try their Veggie fayre. The cafe is open Tues-Sun and the brekkie
option is available until 2pm so don't dilly dally. They dutifully reported back "Runny eggs eggs-actly the way I ordered them, fluffy and tasty sausages and not grease laden. Then, because
I have a clear route map on breakfasts, I hovered over the mushrooms, then the tempeh bacon rashers, all with the added accessory of the little tiny ramekin of tomato sauce. I had
opted for no beans (too messy) and no tomato (unnecessary) so I’d been given extra veggie bacon rashers to compensate. Topped off with a proper cuppa – strong and hitting the spot.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm." We actually had to cut their report quite dramatically but we're sure you get the gist of it...

We opted to visit Urban Angel in Edinburgh ourselves on a rainy Saturday afternoon. After a
20min wait for a table we were shown through to the cafe proper and settled ourselves in. Urban
Angel gets on our favourites list before we've even sampled anything as their philosophy is to use seasonal, fresh, local, and mainly organic produce and the decor and surrounding atmosphere is pleasantly relaxed and quirky. We opt for the fairtrade banana pancakes with honeycomb and
marscapone and the omelette with spinach, feta and vine tomato (who says breakfast has to be a
fry up!) and we are not disappointed though there is nearly fisticuffs over the last bite of pancake. We were also accompanied by a friend who opted for the organic beef burger, they suggested after the first bite that they had died and gone to heaven (much like the cow who they claimed to meet in Nirvana...) It ain't cheap but it is very, very tasty.

A few days later and we stopped in at Pillars of Hercules Cupar, Fife. We love Pillars, the location, the staff the terrace, the coffee, the hippiness of it all but what about their brekkie? Phew! It lived up to expectations. Fantastic organic, free range & local toast, beans, poached eggs, mushrooms and COFFEE. Yay! They only catch is its only available Sat & Sun 10-12, so get up early, go eat and then sit on their terrace and drink coffee all day.

Our last stop is a visit to Tibo in Dennistoun, Glasgow. This place really is a find and is a lovely Deli as well as licensed cafe. The vegetarian breakfast option is excellent and the witchhiker was very pleased to report that veggie haggis is included! Yay! They even bake their own bread which is a treat in itself. Mmmmmmm. And a special shout out has to go to the coffee for it is very good coffee, and you should know by now how important good coffee is to the Witchhiker. Brekkie is only served until 12 so don't sleep in!

As enjoyable as all those breakfasts were, we’ve decided to take it easy on the cooked breakfast
front for the time being. And in the next issue, we do a collective sampling of 5 colonic irrigations.
Any volunteers?!

I m p o r t a n t
Breakfast Stuff:
1. Sausages should be used as a buffer between beans and the other constituent ingredients of a breakfast to create a Safe-zone for tomato sauce dippers.
2. Fried eggs must always be flipped before serving to allow the sunny-side up side to be properly sealed. NOTE: Care must be taken to not damage the yolk.
3. When suffering from a hangover and going for a fry-up, ensure you take your own plastic
cutlery, as all the squeaks and scrapes of metal on plate will do nothing to improve your state.
4. Sauces should be applied to safe-zones (see #2), for example the Sausage buffer zone, or the top of the fried egg.
5. Choose your seating wisely, and be aware of your fellow breakfasters: Nobody wants to sit next to the Hungry Muncher with the extra long arms.