A family from London say they are bringing all the flavours of Italy to a former noodle bar - which they have spent £80,000 renovating.

Mirabella, Canterbury’s newest Italian restaurant, is headed by husband and wife Stelian and Marina Mocanu.

Their venture replaces Pan-Asian chain Urban Wok, which closed earlier this year, in St Margaret's Street.

Mirabella, which was named by Mr Mocanu after his wife’s middle name, will serve traditional Italian food for both eat in and takeaway.

Open for lunch and dinner, the eatery will specialise in casual lunch offerings including sandwiches, antipasti and tavola calda, which is Italian cafeteria-style serving.

The Mocanu family are Romanian in origin but lived in Italy for several years before moving to the UK.

They previously owned an Italian restaurant in Romania named Monalisa after their 15-year-old daughter.

Marina Mirabella Mocanu, 38, said: “We plan to open in the middle of January. We want to have everything ready and set up to make sure we don’t miss anything.

“It’s not just about the money, we want to offer a really good service to the people of Canterbury.

“Italian food is the number one food, it is delicious. We love this food. We lived in Italy for a couple of years and our youngest daughter was born there.

“Our restaurant in Monalisa in Romania was open for about four years before we decided to move here for our daughter’s education.

“Opening here will be totally different. It’s a different country with a different culture and mentality but we are working hard to get everything ready because it is our wish.”

The Mocanu family have been living in London for the past seven years, but are currently considering moving to Canterbury.

On why they chose Canterbury to open their first UK restaurant, mother-of-two Marina said: “My husband came here for work and we found that we love this city and it’s a busy city with a lot of students, young people and tourists who will love our food.”

The entrepreneurial couple don’t plan to stop at Canterbury and are already looking at premises for their next venue, with a site in Brighton catching their eye.

But for now they are focused on their Canterbury grand opening which they hope to hold on January 15.

Mr Mocanu, a builder, undertook a good portion of the renovations on himself and estimates the family spent £80,000 on the project.

On why he chose to name the business after his wife this time, Stelian Mocanu said: “Our restaurant in Romania was named for our daughter Monalisa.

"This time I chose to name the Mirabella after my wife because she is the pillar of our family.”