(I actually wrote this back in 2019 for a university blog that fell through…but now I’m back in the office and therefore back working in cafes I thought why not publish this finally on my own blog!)

I don’t know about you but I appreciate a change of scenery and find it difficult to sit and work in the same place for hours or days on end. I get fidgety, I start to worry that I’m bothering my colleagues, I get distracted and then I just start wasting time. As such, I’ve already sussed out a handful of cafes around Aberdeen that I love to work in. Sometimes I just go to one before or after some office time, sometimes I spend the whole day away and take myself on a little café circuit. Strangely that almost feels like a little holiday. I’m a great believer in the saying ‘a change is as good as a rest’.

Short disclaimer – obviously check with your supervisor that it’s okay for you to go AWOL for a day. Open and honest communication between you and your supervisors is key but every supervisory relationship is different.

My first café stop is the Union Café and bistro on the corner of Union Street and Shiprow. From mine I can walk past two of my favourite sculptures in Aberdeen to get there. The giant cat perched up above the restaurants opposite the Marischal College and the Nuart piece of the little men perched near or on balcony’s on the side of The Illicit Still. Once at the Union Café I like to sit on the high chairs by the window so that I can people watch in between working. I’ve only had coffee and cake there before but they have an extensive range of cakes, some of which are more inventive flavours than those you’d normally find. I had a great piece of rose and pistachio cake in there once.

When I’m ready to stretch my legs or go for another coffee/snack I potter down to Contour Café in The Green. This is really close to the harbour so if I’m in need of a little fresh air and a walk I go and have a look at the ships. I appreciate that this isn’t every ones cup of tea but I briefly worked in the merchant navy on a standby vessel and some of that interest still lingers. There is actually a ship tracking app which lets you know which vessels are in harbour so that you can go and visit any favourite ships. Some of them have pretty cool patterns painted on their bows or interesting names and you start to learn who the regulars are. It’s pretty much train spotting but with ships. Don’t judge me! So, once I’ve appropriately nerded out in the harbour I grab any seat I can in Contour Café. There are some quite big tables in there to spread out on and they’d work pretty well for a group meeting. This place has THE best vegan sausage baps with ketchup. I don’t know if it’s the fresh bread or the sausages or the love that they’re made with but they’re just so good. I’ve tried lots of other things in there and they’re all nice but I always come back to the vegan sausage bap. They also do 10% student discount (or at least they did when I wrote this in 2019!).

After leaving Contour and on my way to Food Story I’m greeted by my favourite door in the Painted Doors Project. I heard two American tourists describe it as disturbing once, but to me, a doughnut worshipper, there is nothing better than two glazed parent doughnuts cradling a baby doughnut. Food Story is on Thistle street just off Union Street. The walk between the two is perfect for me to pop into any shops that I’d rather avoid on a weekend. Food story has great food, great coffee and a great atmosphere but one of the reasons it stands out for me is it’s bulk shop upstairs and it’s all round efforts towards sustainability. The store upstairs sells bulk grains, spices, beans, pasta (including gluten free), cereals, dried fruit and although I’m not sure if they do it at the moment I’ve got both olive oil and balsamic vinegar in there too. The staff are really relaxed, helpful and friendly so they’re more than happy to help you figure out the weighing system and answer any questions on how to move towards a more sustainable lifestyle. In case you’re a die-hard carnivore that can’t contemplate a single meal without the addition of something meaty you unfortunately (for you) won’t find that here, there is some dairy though. I think it’s probably also the most child and dog friendly of the places that I go to but seen as I have neither one of those it’s a little hard for me to judge properly.

After I’ve worked in Food Story and decided that it’s time to move on I pop over to Cup on Gaelic Lane off Belmont Street. Cup splits opinion a little in that many of my friends feel that it’s too busy in there to work…I guess maybe you have to time it well. I like the background noise though and the hustle of general activity. Just down the street from Cup there’s also a really great shop nearby called MacBeans that sells loose leaf teas and coffee beans. Treating myself to a nice new coffee that I can share with my colleagues (we’re all coffee fiends) is normally enough to lure me back up to the zoology department!

It’s probably worth noting that I never really use wifi when I’m working in a café so I have absolutely no idea of the wifi capabilities or speeds in any of these places. I just come armed with a pile of papers and make sure the things I want to work on are downloaded and offline. It probably doesn’t need to be said but I obviously buy something in every place I work in and try not to overstay my welcome, but I’ve never felt in any of these places that me working away was bothering anyone.

For a bonus ‘out of the office’ working location I love Brewdog on Gallowgate for the early evening. They make incredible pizzas and although I don’t suggest it’s a good work/life balance ethic to work into the evening I have enjoyed dinner and a bit of reading or writing in there on occasion. They have really big windows for people-watching and the window tables leave you feeling a little cosy and tucked away. There are always dogs in Brewdog too and that’s great for the morale, right?!