Aberdeen Art Gallery

For the third largest city in Scotland, Aberdeen doesn’t have many tourist attractions – unless you like cold sea and breezy coastlines, that is (which, before you say anything, I absolutely adore the sight of!) The Granite City is pretty slim on “cultural” venues, but one worth mentioning is the recently revamped and reopened Art Gallery.

While the exhibits are a bit of a mishmash and many do raise an eyebrow, the building itself is without a doubt worth visiting; and there are a lot of interactive features too. Although I’m not the Modern Art type, the place has put some spell on me – so much so that one Working From Home weekday I simply felt the urge to pay it a visit at lunchtime.

I will leave you to explore and comment on the contents of the gallery at your leisure and focus on the more prosaic aspect of my visit. There are two cafes: one on the ground floor, right by the entrance, and another on the top floor, with access to the terrace opening up to a somewhat obstructed skyline of Aberdeen’s city centre. I think you know which one I went for.

Albeit I felt a bit hungry having replaced my lunch for art (not enough physical nourishment there!), I wasn’t particularly excited by any of the ordinary-looking (how unfitting) treats in the display and decided to just have my mocha. Orders – probably due to Covid – are taken once you’re seated at the table; and since this was a weekday, I didn’t have to wait at all to be attended to.

I have to say, I was taken aback by the size of the coffee when it arrived shortly afterwards – the price didn’t indicate the volume. I was glad I didn’t go for cake.

As I begun sipping, I burnt the roof of my mouth – yep, too hot to handle straight away. Once I let it cool down a bit, I gave it another go. It was certainly chocolatey sweet… like a nice hot chocolate… with no coffee to be tasted whatsoever.

I thought I’d give it the benefit of the doubt and kept sipping, expecting to eventually – against all logic – get a taste of caffeine. Nope. And at this point, with half a cup gone, I felt a bit silly asking the assistant whether she might have forgotten something – so I remained silent.

Who knows, maybe a mistake, maybe that’s their recipe. I did finish the “mocha” and I actually enjoyed it a lot – but it was missing one key ingredient.

Having said that, it was still a better experience than I’m used to ordering coffees in museums (unless it’s in Rome!) and so I feel justified giving it decent marks.

If you happen to be a tourist in Aberdeen, I’d encourage you to visit the Art Gallery and fear not grabbing a coffee there if you enjoy the exhibits or the view for longer than expected – maybe just compare the recipes with the barista when you order…

Price

Mocha: £2.30

Verdict

A very nice hot chocolate… if you get my point!

To find out more about visiting the Aberdeen Art Gallery, click here.