National grid ref TM163445. Website www.stlawrencecentre.co.uk.
Cheap & cheerful, pleasant atmosphere of deconsecrated church.
Round the corner from Leopold Street multi-storey car park, less than 5 minutes' walk from harbour.
www.ageandsons.co.uk
We really enjoyed our post-Christmas lunch at Age & Sons. Upstairs in the restaurant, the food was delicious, the service attentive and the original art attractive. Above all, THERE WAS NO MUSIC in this tastefully converted Victorian warehouse, formerly used by local wine merchants Page & Sons (the "P" tile fell off, it seems).
http://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/café
Newly refurbished Portrait Gallery is a lovely building with wonderful exhibits. Before or after your visit to the galleries, a visit to the cafe is a must. It can be very busy at lunch times, and it's self service, so it's best to avoid the crowds. But the cafe itself is lovely and muzak-free.
Based on, but not quite as good as, the epic Peter's Yard... nice cakes, coffees, light lunches etc. Not as crushed as P's Y, with plenty of room, free wifi, comfy couches, newspapers and best of all - no muzak!
Open every day and in the evenings during term times.
Open on weekdays during university vacations.
See the website for details: www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/accommodation-services/current-students...
Next to the University Library on the south side of George Square, the cafe is sizeable and has comfortable chairs and sofas and quiet corners for conversations and for groups to socialise.
Open to the general public to just walk in, and generally blissfully quiet outside mealtimes.
The food is standard good cafeteria fare and the coffee is fine.
Reeves is an independent bakery with nine shops in towns across south Wiltshire, Hants and Dorset. Their original and largest shop is in Butcher's Row, Salisbury. (see their website for details www.reevethebaker.co.uk/find-store/find-store.html )
Reeves bakes a huge variety of breads, cakes, croissants, scones, pies etc. Some of their branches, such as those in Salisbury and Amesbury, have cafés attached. None has piped music as far as I know.
Grid ref TM273491, between the middle of the main street (The Thoroughfare) and St Johns church.
Garnished sandwiches lunchtimes Tue to Sat, full meals evenings Monday to Saturday. Some cask ales.
Reviewed 8 November 2011. Nearer to Malvern Link station.
Brilliant pub with real ale, cider and interesting food. It even owns a brewery.
On Oban's main street, very near the railway station.
This branch of Waterstone's is blissfully music-free. The manager was told by the company to put music in and he refused.
http://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/page/2:140:2
Open daily, 10am-5pm (6pm for August only). Thursdays until 7pm
There are two cafés off the foyer of the National Gallery of Scotland. The larger of the two, the Scottish Café and Restaurant, does play piped music. However, there is a smaller one called the Garden Café (situated in the Gardens entrance) which is musac-free. The coffee is good and they have a variety of cakes and pastries. If you are lucky, you can get a table with a pleasant view of Princes Street Gardens