Barbara Sayers, Suffolk Park
Like David Heilpern I am averse to noisy shops, regardless of what they sell. Music is meant to enhance and attract, not repel and override, everything. You only have to stand in the entrance of a shop to know the kind of customer a business is trying to attract.
When it comes to eating and enjoying time out, noise is definitely not wanted as part of my experience. When I want to hear music it needs to be quiet enough to call it music, not so loud it can only be called noise.
My favourite current place to go for a lunch break is at Manna Haven in Byron Bay. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea or coffee. You won’t get it there anyway, only substitutes. Nor is the menu the usual kind, being vegan and vegetarian.
However, David, and anyone else wanting peaceful places, I find it very pleasant. The surrounds are pleasant (ital) and you don’t have to shout! The music here is quite subdued too.
Because their hours are basically late-morning into mid-afternoon this rules out night-time dining. This doesn’t solve the evening problem for going out. To go out of the 2481 area for evening entertainment means navigating dreadful roads… That’s another story for another time.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
