The continuing tragedy of East Timor took us to the Trocaire sponsored protest outside the American Embassy on a rainy Saturday morning. I did have to have it explained to me as to why the Americans needed to be protested to - the answer was that for once they weren't getting involved in other people's struggles for democracy and they should have been. Anyway, since the mass-meeting was due at one o'clock in the afternoon, we Wicklow people who had driven up to Dublin decided that brunch was a good idea to the keep the cold and the wet at bay while we protested.

Odessa specialises in brunch, and one of my companions suggested that since I'd last reviewed a breakfast, there was something nicely chronological about doing a brunch next. True enough, but I was peckish anyway. We got there in the rain at ten to twelve to find that they open at twelve, but they kindly let us in and we went downstairs to sit. Of course we ended up staying there, so I never did get a good look at the upstairs. This is a place designed with comfort in mind: big deeply-upholstered chairs that were like small arm-chairs, surrounded the tables while equally soft and gloriously comfortable benches lined the sides. Gentle lighting and good music makes this a perfect place to nurse a Friday night hangover. There are even papers available for you to read. It just has the feel of welcome and ease all over it.

Water and coffee came almost at once while we looked through the menu. You can get a Champagne and orange juice or a Bloody Mary if you like the hair of the dog, or if you're really going for it, these are both available by the jug - Odessa seems to have the cure thing well-worked out.

The brunches are varied and between us we had the Odessa omelette breakfast, the scrambled egg breakfast, the poached breakfast and the eggs Benedict for me, which brought to mind the old joke. Last time I ate eggs Benedict was in Saumur and I enjoyed these every bit as much. These are big brunches, they come with home fries, which are potatoes cut into small quadrants, and all the trimmings. Big plates and generous portions meant I was the only one who actually cleaned the plate of every morsel. Why is everyone else so damn dainty?

The prices for this gentle easing into a brand new day are between £5 and £7 for the brunches. Six of us ate well and filled ourselves with coffee for £44, which is great value. I'll be back to Odessa, if only to try out sitting at a corner table that's raised on a dais and can be curtained off for privacy. Just think, you could slowly come to terms with the after-effects of the night before in comfort and seclusion.

So to continue this chronological theme, lunch came next. Not the same day, obviously, even I couldn't manage that - but a couple of days later I arranged to meet my old friend Shane Bisgood for lunch. He used to teach me to shoot and it's something he still does, both here and in America. We met in the Horseshoe Bar and after a couple of tarted up tomato juices there, went off to Fitzers in Dawson Street. On the way we passed a couple of girls walking towards us and Bisgood came out with the old line 'I don't like yours.' Well that's the sort of conversation you have when it's a boy's lunch.

On the odd occasion I've had bit parts in movies, the catering is invariably done by Fitzers, so I knew what they could do on location. Now we were about to try their nonperipatetic kitchens. Fitzers is a pleasing room to sit in, painted in pastel colours, with the walls covered with mirrors and paintings. The paintings all seemed to hang to the left a bit, a phrase that gentleman tailors once used. Big fans spin on the ceiling. It has a brisk feel - there's a definite lunchtime trade that's over by two as office hours resume, after that come the stragglers and tourists.

We were in no particular hurry and lingered over the menu and wine list. A decent wine list at average prices runs to about sixty wines which are spread across the globe. I picked the Beyerskloof Pinotage 1977 from the RSA, listed at £19.75, which I've drunk in situ and like. The menu is quite short, but there's something for most tastes. The starters are all in around £5 and the main courses all around the £10 mark. Shane chose the crab salad to start and the wholemeal spaghetti to follow. I have to admit that the idea of wholemeal spaghetti is entirely horrendous to me, but I wasn't going to gainsay my guest. I picked the deep-fried goats' cheese and followed with the rump of lamb - something Mrs. Beetonish about the word 'rump' made me choose it.

Shane's a well brought up guest and let me taste his crab salad. It was very good and beautifully presented with slivers of cucumber decorating the edges of the plate like ribbons. My goats' cheese had a good taste and came with a small Caesar salad to accompany it, but the cheese crust was thick and somehow unpalatable, with a taste of uncooked flour. When the main courses came I knew I was on a winner. Rather rudely I forked up a little of Shane's spaghetti before he'd even started and tasted it. 'I don't like yours,' I said. Unsalted pasta is a no-no, a real mortaller. Even if you like the texture of wholemeal pasta - which I don't - putting no salt in the cooking water makes pasta a penance to eat. Shane was not to be deterred and ate on despite my pronouncements. 'It's not bad at all if you don't eat the spaghetti,' he said. My lamb was perfectly cooked; pink, just as I'd asked for, and it came on a puree bed with melted cheese atop. Really good.

We ordered two espressos and finished the rest of the wine slowly, turning it into one of those leisurely lunches that only those without gainful employment can indulge in these days. We'd been attentively served and despite my remarks on a couple of the dishes, I liked this place. You can eat in under an hour if you need to, which is handy to know. The bill, which included mineral water and four espressos - yes, they were good - came to £55.35. And no, I'm not doing high tea next week.