‘You’re getting old,’ a well-meaning friend concludes after sitting through another heated rant about one of my ultimate restaurant pet hates.

We had just last week discussed how an otherwise excellent dining experience in Edinburgh had been sabotaged by a soundtrack so garbled that even an AI Spotify DJ gone rogue couldn’t possibly be to blame.

And now, after a different spot on the opposite side of the country, in Ayrshire, had committed the same auditory sin, the question was once again being hashed out over a post-dinner drink.

Why do so many restaurants get the music wrong these days?

From jarring, genre-hopping playlists to volume cranked up so loud that conversation is firmly off the cards, there are few easier ways to kill the vibe. And yet, it’s unfortunately all too common.

Currently clinging on to the final months of........

© Herald Scotland