Fodor's Expert Review The Reel

Orkney's musical tradition is alive and fiddling, but never more so than at this café and restaurant. The eating is cheap and hearty: expect big bowls of soup, doorstop-size sandwiches with inventive fillings, and slices of sponge cake. As you eat, young Orcadians run up the stairs with their violin cases to the music school, where all sorts of sprees and shindigs are held in the performance spaces. It becomes more like a pub on a Friday or Saturday night, with locally brewed ales and, of course, live music.