Musa Art & Music Cafe

Built as a church in 1880, then later used as a warehouse for banana ripening, these premises were refurbished in 2006 to create Musa – an open, split-level space with art adorning the walls where musicians are often booked for evenings & weekends. The food spans lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch, & late afternoon ‘munchies’ (small dishes such as Welsh rarebit with smoked chicken, or butterbean hoummos with olives). A typical lunchtime salad of smoked salmon & crayfish in coriander mayonnaise comes in a quantity, & density, that could more than satisfy the ravenous oil rig supply crew from the nearby harbour. Evening offerings, meanwhile, aim for more bistro-like fare (priced accordingly irrespective of the cafe surroundings) & may include saffron & rocket risotto with sun-dried tomatoes & a parmesan wafer to start, followed by tuna steak with wild garlic veloute & olive crushed new potatoes, & rhubarb fool & strawberry ice-cream to finish. Throw in some decent beers, an almost entirely sub-£20 wine list, & friendly staff & overall you get an affable Aberdonian experience.