St Magnus Cafe in Orkney Islands

Popped in for a hot drink and a snack. The menu had something for everyone. Pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food, the staff were nice and the food was served quickly. Not the fanciest decor, but I don’t eat decor. The prices were very reasonable. I would recommend.

Simple but tasty food, at very reasonable prices, served by friendly and helpful staff in a very impressive building. What's not to love?

Had a gorgeous scone and coffee in the St Magnus Cafe. It’s in the community centre and doesn’t look anything from the outside but they had cream to go in my americano (couldn’t get it in Edinburgh trendy coffee places) :(… cakes are home made and super fast wifi. Lovely staff and people queuing out the door, definitely recommend!

we popped in for food and was welcomed in by the staff the steak pie chips and peas were good and just what we needed to keep us going for the rest off the day and it help the local community

lovely congenial atmosphere in here, as we waited for the washing to finish in the laundrette: Free wifi, very reasonable prices.

A coffee and bun stop whilst out and about. It a community cafe so don't expect fine dinning. Sandwiches and other hot food was available at reasonable prices.

Great simple breakfast at a great price. Clean and simple decor but does what it says without pretentiousness. Will definitely be back.

Visited here just as a bus trip arrived, we were near front of queue but service was fairly slow. The food options were ok, however the food itself was nice and prices very reasonable.

Enjoyed the lunch we had here. Tasted great and prices were very reasonable. Service was quick which was good as we needed to catch the ferry.

I had jacket potato with tuna and my husband had coronation chicken. Both were very good. The cafe was clean, The staff were polite.

Right opposite St Magnus Cathedral this is an excellent place for refreshments. Helpful staff and a varied menue

Great value, good food in local community centre, relaxed cafe with wide menu. right opposite the cathedral. Avoid the higher priced Kirkwall tourist stops and get a better quality of food.

When you walk into this community cafe you could be mistaken to prejudge the menu on the appearance. Don’t be fooled this is a hidden gem, brilliant menu and quick cafe service. We visited twice and each time our meals which included soup, sandwich, 2 burgers, and 3 drinks all came to under £20. Lovely food and a great place for a quick bite to eat.

Having been virtually told to 'go away' at The Real Food Cafe next door ("The table are all gone- no point in waiting") we decided to call in at this community cafe. Fabulous! Lovely team of staff producing soup, baked potatoes, drinks and cakes. I had a great coronation chicken baked potato and my wife vegetable soup. OK, the ambience might leave something to be desired but it's a charity and well worth supporting.

Stopped in here for a cuppa and a snack. Lovely welcome with a smile from the lady behind the counter.

Came across the local eatery situated across from the Cathedral. Lovely homemade soups, scones, cakes, all at reasonable prices. Plenty of table space, v clean. Well worth a visit

Having travelled over to Orkney for the day as part of our NC500 route we were disappointed that it had rained hard all day. We were in desperate need of a hot coffee and a snack and were really pleased as we drove through Kirkwall...

We stopped here for coffee/tea and cake. Staff were friendly and efficient, track and trace details taken quickly. The drinks were freshly prepared while we waited and the double chocolate muffin was just what I needed after walking around Kirkwell. Highly recommended 😀

Great for breakfast and other food and snacks all day long. Good for families and visitors alike or if you just want your lunch to take out

This cafe is opposite the cathedral and is very pleasant. We had very tasty scones, cake and coffee here. The locals seem to come here which we always say is a good sign. You clear your own table, but this adds to the relaxed atmosphere...

Popped in for a delicious lunch. Unbelievably good value with high quality soup scones and baked potatoes. We’ll be back.

This is a great, friendly little community cafe, well located opposite the cathedral and a couple of doors down from the excellent Orkney museum. The breakfast rolls are delicious, and the scones are amazing - the best on Orkney (and I've eaten a few!), served...

Well used by the locals for breakfast rolls and carry oots the coffee and sausage on a roll was good and well priced.

When we got to this place it was afternoon and there was not much choice in the way of offerings. A rather tired looking and unenthusiastic employee served us from the counter.

Easy access and a good cafe offering fresh foods at a reasonable price. A friendly staff and a cheery atmosphere.

If you are looking for refreshments that offer value for money, then look no further! St Magnus Cafe, Kirkwall offers everything.... good service, freshly cooked food and ambience... all at a very reasonable cost. A thriving Community Cafe patronised by both locals and visitors alike..

After being to all the afternoon eateries with my daughter this one came out top. Good portion, good price, good service. Top marks

A nice place if you require a quick break from town for a coffee or light snack, its not got ambiance about it, and i think many local ladies call and have their group chats over tea and soup each day as its convenient place

Popped in here for some breakfast and was really pleasantly surprised by both the standard of food and the staff. Excellent breakfast and well presented not just slapped on a plate. Great wifi connection.

Always a friendly welcome, great soup and a varied selection sandwiches and filled rolls. There scones and home bakes are fantastic. A very reasonable priced place to eat.

This cafe has the most amazing cheese scones. Spent a few days in the area and went for our daily fix of the scones. Good variety of food.

A great little cafe overlooking the Cathedral. And you can’t question the value for money. A community facility well worth supporting. It’s great!

Wasn’t thrilled with the soup but my sister thought the scone was good. It was filing and inexpensive.

A basic cafe offering a simple but tasty menu - the chicken and mushroom soup was lovely, but it would have been nice to be given a choice of margarine or butter in the bread roll (I realised in time that it was marg and requested butter, and if you like a buttery roll, you’re in for a disappointment - there was barely a scraping). Staff were friendly and polite.

Excellent place to eat, great food at a very affordable price. Ideally situated, right opposite Cathedral. Would recommend for lunch.

I have been visiting the St Magnus Cafe for 20 years and the friendliness of the staff and great value food are still as good as ever. Take away food, including salad boxes, are availed if you fancy a picnic (yes, the weather is good too).

Visited for lunch. I had soup and husband had a pasty. We both had soft drinks total was under £10. Food excellent.very polite staff. Great community cafe - it’s part of the town hall. Has a self clearing policy which is well adhered to this keeping costs down. Well worth a visit.

We called in here for a bite to eat and a drink. We were happy with what we got and the atmosphere was fine.

From London to Shetland, Orkney and back to London, these were the best cheese scones we tasted, look forward to eating some more again!

called in for a coffee whilst waiting for the nearby museum to open, Great coffee served by a very friendly lady

Ordered coffee and tea was a bit hot burned my mouth. After cool down all good nice remodeled building in centre of town.

We had delicious scones here, which were still warm from the oven. The sandwiches were also good. Everything was reasonably priced. I would recommend this cafe.

Being right in the centre of Kirkwall, this is a great place for a snack or light lunch. A community cafe run for locals and visitors.

Hade nog förväntat mig riktigt kaffe men fick Nescafe, vilket var en besvikelse. För övrigt var det ok med hyfsade priser

There are 3 seating options in this cafe set within Kirkwall's Town Hall opposite St Magnus Cathedral: 2 sofas, bar stools at the window or tables and chairs. Free wifi is available. Grab a tray & queue for service then, after you have finished, clear your tray to a trolley. Basic but efficient. Very good bacon rolls. Food made to order - within sight. Can get very busy.

Always friendly staff, does get very busy. Straightforward no frills food served with a smile, big cups of milky coffee, a comfy reminder of home over the decades. Great place for coffe with friends and family or somewhere to read the paper with a coffee and snack.

This is a nice cafe. They do filled rolls baked potatoes and lovely home made soup. They keep the prices down, by having a self clear system. They also sell juice and confectionary.

Staff members were really nice and good was also good, first i found food expensive but after looking at other places I realized it's bit cheaper than others! and they take only cash so make you have some cash with you

Came in here for a mid morning snack. Staff are excellent. Good selection of drinks, rolls and fancies to eat. Had hot chocolates andcteas and a bacon roll est. Great food for a cheap price.

If you want some basic warm food and drink without frills but of acceptable quality, this place will fulfil your wishes. Nothing fancy but when it's been raining all day, who cares?

Very good value and over the road from the Cathedral. This is the place for value cups of tea and bacon baps. There are also toilets available as this is also on the ground floor of the Council Offices.

is a popular place for locals as well as Tourists. had a great Veggie breakfast there, much MUCH cheaper than the real food place next door. Well rocommended

Not available 30 years ago but a great asset. Food good and ambience good. Very handy for Cathedral.

Se trata de una ubicación céntrica, frente a la catedral. El café y bollos están bien, pero una taza pequeña de mermelada y un poco de mantequilla, significa que tienen que ser distribuidos un poco finas. Te animo a aclarar después de usted mismo, pero no todo el mundo cumple, lo que significa que hay un poco de cosas a la izquierda en las mesas. El servicio era eficiente si no fue efusivo, así que, en general, una pausa agradable de las multitudes de crucero, pero podría explorar en otro lugar la próxima vez.

Buena comida local, tazas de té y sopa casera. Pasteles simple. Un servicio amable, una decoración simple, en el centro de la ciudad cerca de la catedral

We just came in to get out of the rain, but it was a nice treat to have coffee and chocolate cake in a friendly atmosphere.

Leichte Enttäuschung nachdem dieses Café für seine Kuchen überall gelobt wurde. Ausser fertig abgepackten Süsswaren gab es am Nachmittag nichts mehr, was dieses Café speziell gemacht hätte.

I hadn't realised until after my visit that this is a cocmmunity cafe but that is no real surprise it had that 'cheerful amateur' feel to it... nothing wrong in that but it does lead to a slightly less slick experience than some of the local competition.The coffee I had was as good as any I had in Orkney, the (synthetic) iced cream bun a soft and squishy trip down memory lane... all at a fery reasonable price despite being smack in the middle of town and opposite the CathedralI liked the place...

Enfin un endroit où on peut manger avec des enfants chose pas évident car tous les bars qui servent à manger refusent les familles avec enfants ! Soupe délicieuse hamburger sont bons les prix sont tout petit par contre la salle est petite et il y a beaucoup monde il faut de la chance pour s asseoir.

lovely food in an excellent location across from the cathedral. Good selection and very reasonable prices.

This is a community cafe and offers simple food hot and cold and is very comfortable and reasonably priced.

Another stop on the cruise called in for lunch. The Beef in the area had been described by the bus guide as the best in the world. Clearly this was not from the area. To share the wife said she would have a chip but guess what none available. The experience I must say did not encourage me to go back. Service does not exist even have to clear your own table. On the wind it said it had a trip advisor certificate of excellence but how is beyond me.

Inexpensive food, basic no frills environment. Decent place for a quick bite to eat or quick cup of coffee.

Called in for a bite to eat. Coffee and tea OK, food very limited choice but sound enough. Place itself quite modern and clean. Friendly. Not much else to say.

Visited on 4th April 2017 with son. I had a cheese panini and son had a cheese and ham toastie. Well filled and good quality ingredients, served with basic side salad (lettuce and coleslaw). Both had Fentimans soft drinks, a favourite of ours. Have eaten here many times and consistently good quality. Would thoroughly recommend the soup, toasties/paninis, filled rolls and apple pies. Coffee decent, not tried tea but looks fine too! Wi-Fi available. Self service (queue at till) and they request you self clear too. Friendly staff. Would recommend for families, couples, groups of friends looking for a reasonably priced quality snack/lunch.

Popped in just prior to visiting the Bishop's palace, with my elderly Aunt and three kids (8,10&14). 2 coffees, 2 scones with jam and butter, 2 milkshakes, 1 can, 1 muffin, 1 doughnut and 1 pizza - £13... absolutely amazing value! Really busy Cafe but still no problems getting a seat or being served. Would recommend to anyone needing a pit stop!

Situated in the centre of the town and very convenient for the cathedral and museum, this is a gem of cafe. Automatic doors and level access for wheelchair, pushchair or mobility scooter users makes this cafe accessible to all and all are made to feel welcome. Staff are lovely and friendly.

We had lunch a couple of times at this lovely cafe. The various hot soups are fantastic. Prices reasonable. Clean and very pleasant.

Returned to the St Magnus Cafe and was not disappointed,the breakfast was fantastic,and the home made soup at lunch was excellent.This place is hard to beat for both the food and the price,free wifi and papers also,great for a family visiting Orkney on a budget.

Enjoyed visiting this little café before visiting the Cathedral. The service was good and the food delicious and the coffee great. Toilets are clean.

Fantastic little restaurant in the heart of Kirkwall with a surprisingly varied menu, delicious food, and friendly service. We had a very pleasant lunch here, and would recommend it to anyone visiting Orkney.

Always busy, the cafe is a budget-priced place where main meals and snacks can be bought at anytime during its opening hours. It can be hard to find a place to sit and sharing tables is usual. That means that you can have a great conversation at times with an Orcadian or two over your meal.

Very popular modern cafe with a good range of food & drink & helpful service. Plenty of tables & clean accessible toilets

If you want a quick, inexpensive lunch stop them this is the place. The staff are very efficient, the food good and the locals eat here too.We had delicious lentil soup.

A large echo-y space opposite St Magnus Cathedral. Part of the old town hall, I believe. Fine for a cup of tea but there are smarter more inviting places around.

This terrific little Coffee house style restaurant next to the 11th Century St Magnus Cathedral serves an interesting pub style menu. It's a purchase at the service bar style service including sandwiches meat pies and baked foods. We had coffee tea and fresh scones with sweet whipped cream and Island berry jam. Outstanding. Enjoy.

Cheap and cheerful. Tasty local produce. Limited menu but it is a cafe.Struggled to get a seat as it is a popular eating place in the town - so be prepared to wait for a table!Self service cafe.

This cafe is fantastic,quality food at a quality price,whether you are rich or poor you will enjoy great food and fantastic staff.All the soup is home made and fresh filled rolls to take away if you want,fresh cooked breakfast at a low price, this is a quality cafe check it out.

This is the place to go for good old fashioned cafe fare, bacon baps are great, some seriously good cake, good stuff for ordinary folk at good ordinary prices, we went back every time we visited kirkwall. Wish there were more places like this in more towns around the uk.

We stopped in for a coffee and were pleasantly surprised to see wifi as well. I had the Americano, which was nice. There is a great atmosphere and the people are friendly. Nice place to go for coffee or a bite to eat.

We stopped for tea and scones but no scones were available. But we did enjoy the tea and free wi-fi. The bathroom was clean too!

Excellent selection, clean cafe, friendly service. Perfect for children. Re visited on several occasions.

Simple , non fussy food for a fair price . Would recommend for lunch could improve choice of home baking

We ended up here one day. It was good enough. Not bad if in a hurry. The decor is average. They have traditional food that reminded me of down south-steak pie, standard scones, and so on.

This is the cheapest place to eat I have found in the Orkneys and yes, you get what you pay for. But the cafe doesn't give itself airs. You know what you're in for and, frankly, it's really not bad for what it is. I can respect that.The staff is friendly, the place is very clean and even though the food is lackluster, it's still a good experience and I keep going back. You can definitly do worse for a lot more money.

This cafe serves basic food, including sandwiches, but also some hot specials including home made soup, generously filled baked potatoes and decent tea and coffee - all at very reasonable prices

This café is in a great location with wide range of options. Can be busy especially when cruise ships are in! Homemade soups are delicious.

3 off us popped in here for a lunch time snack, we had rolls on mince and rolls on sausage. These were very good and not expensive. We found the cafe was very clean with good service. After we ate our rolls we had scones on jam, but we found them to be quite hard and tasteless. But we will return here for the very good filled rolls.

we only had a short time here,but what we saw was good.we had a bowl of soup and a cob,the soup was hot and thick.the service was quick. will call again on our next trip.

I've been to this cafe several times during my stay. It's a self-clearing cafe and most people seem to respect this. The food is lovely, though maybe my choices were a little on the unhealthy side (all day breakfast and sausage and mushroom roll). The staff were always helpful and the cakes were really light and fluffy. It can be busy over lunchtime, but I shared a table with a lovely local lady.

We had a one day stop in Kirkwall on our cruise. The excursion was half day, so we spent the rest of the day in the city proper. Looking for a place to eat that wasn't a bar, we stumbled into St Magnus. It's directly across from the cathedral and had some open tables (inside). It's a counter service and the ladies taking our order were so friendly. Keep in mind that this is a cash only place, so you'll have to use the ATM down the street. Not a big deal. My wife and I each had a bacon sandwich, and the kids a grilled cheese. Let's say it hit the spot completely. If you're in town, stop here for a quick bite.

Had an awesome panini and beer in the city center just steps from the Cathedral. Would definitely stop by again next time in Kirkwall. Had a beautiful day so ate outside and soaked up the sun while recharging.

Called into this lovely cafe for tea. It was very clean and the staff were extremely friendly. It leads into the town hall.

If your time is limited, this café is opposite the cathedral. The menu is not large but the food is of good quality and has very friendly staff. Very impressed that I had my ordinary coffee made with frothy hot milk!

Very clean ,friendly staff,good food with reasonable prices. Easy to find, opposite the st Magnus cathedral Kirkwall. Takeaway option available. Our daily coffee stop.

Schon von außen ist dieses Café ein Blickfang, und wer hinein geht, wird nach allen Regeln der Kunst verwöhnt. Der eine geht in den Pub, der andere in dieses wunderschöne Café.

Fantastic for a quick lunch, nothing fancy in the way of seating, self service, not expensive, seems popular with the locals,I also had lunch here a few times on a previous visit while at the archives, it does get very busy

Lunchtime is busy, if you have time to go early if taking it away do it otherwise be prepared to join the queue. You won't be disappointed at the choice on offer, they will even make what you want ifs not on the shelf

If you go to Orkney on a budget or not this is the place for you,the food is made fresh as is the soup and the prices are very fair.The staff are very friendly and the cafe is very busy.

Right opposite St. Magnus Cathedral, the café offers god honest food at reasonable prices,. It is an ideal place to visit, if you have been to The Bishop's Palace, the Earl's Palace and the Cathedral. The staff are helpful and the décor is restful.