Top 10 best cafés in Canterbury according to TripAdvisor ratings
Published: 00:01, 26 April 2019
Updated: 11:53, 26 April 2019
Deciding on where to eat in Canterbury can be tricky.
Residents and tourists are spoilt for choice, with the city's range of restaurants and bistros to suit every taste and season.
So to make things easier, we've rounded up the 10 best cafés according to Tripadvisor reviews.
10 - Don Juan, Dane John
'This was a fantastic surprise, that we stumbled across while walking through the gardens. The tapas were delicious, the ham and cheese open sandwich and the aubergine were very tasty. The host was very friendly and passionate about the food' - January 2019
9 - Cafe Solo, Wincheap
'On the occasions that I have visited, there has always been plenty of pleasant, attentive staff so you will not have to wait long to get a drink and place your order. Not much of a wait for ordered food and the staff make sure you have everything you need. Highly recommended,' - March 2019
8 - Saffron Cafe, Castle Street
'Looking for somewhere to eat on our way out for a morning walk. There are plenty of avocado on toast for a tenner type places in Canterbury but a full English was required, and this place fit the bill perfectly! Great value for money and prompt service' - March 2019
7 - Boho, High Street
'Great spot on the high street. Lovely food and super friendly service. If you want to avoid the chain restaurants and cafes then this place is perfect' - March 2019
6 - Canteen, Sun Street
'Visited while in Canterbury for the day. I had a jacket potato which came with a salad and hubby had a flatbread. We both enjoyed our lunch. My latte was really delicious - very smooth and silky' - March 2019
5 - The Veg Box Cafe, Burgate
'I have nothing but praise for this vegan restaurant. We both had the Bhudda Bowl, mine was topped with vegan pesto, mixed seeds and nuts and the fermented red onion. What a fabulous lunch, so delicious I had to make sure I didn’t just wolf it down. We both had a slice of the beetroot/chocolate brownie, again this was lush. I will definitely visit again' - April 2019
4 - Kitch, St Peter's Street
'On a recent trip to Canterbury my partner and I visited on a slightly grim morning for breakfast. This place certainly uplifted our mood. I had poached eggs, smoked salmon and avocado on sour-dough toast and it was heavenly. Our coffees were expertly made, too. Staff were friendly, all in all it was a great experience' - April 2019
3 - The Skinny Kitchen, St Peter's Street
'The spinach quesadilla with chicken was exceptional. Good vibes at this place people - well worth a visit! I went on a Saturday lunch and found a table, it was quite noisy upstairs due to the room acoustics but manageable and good atmosphere. Smoothie menu is very good' - February 2019
2 - The Refectory Kitchen, St Dunstan's Street
'The food is excellent. Locally sourced and mainly organic. You cannot get better value for money. I strongly recommend the full grill - the perfect all day breakfast. Be warned it gets very busy at weekends and during lunch times. But not to be missed if you are a visitor and walking from Canterbury West station. This is an independently-owned local business and it shows with the care it treats its customers' - March 2019
1 - The Moat Tea Room
Thriving in a town centre frequently hit by closures is certainly no piece of cake.
Yet for The Moat Tea Rooms - ranked by TripAdvisor as Canterbury’s best café - the secret to success might just lie in its delicious slabs of traditional sponge.
The quaint building in Burgate - with its exposed beams and windows piled high with cakes and sticky buns - has a long history as a family home, boot maker, antiques dealer and glasses repair shop.
But in 1998, Nimmy Sandhu - who moved to Canterbury from India with his parents as a young child - decided it was the perfect place to open his authentic tearoom.
His 32-year-old nephew, Kelvin, now joint owner, has been working at the business since it opened.
“I started working here when I was 11,” he explained. “I worked here every Saturday and Sunday for £1 an hour. I was washing up - we had no dishwasher back then - and serving. It was just me and my uncle.
“Times have changed quite a bit since then.
“We had a refurbishment a couple of years ago. We’ve got a slightly more modern look now, and a new website.”
Now, the eatery - which seats about 40 people - employs about 10 full-time and part-time members of staff. But despite moving with the times, it has remained a traditional English tearoom at heart. “We’ve kept things simple,” said Kelvin. “We love afternoon tea - that’s our speciality.
'We like to make cakes that are like how your nan might make them' - Kelvin Sandhu
“We often go to London to see what the Dorchester and the Ritz are doing. But we can’t do what somewhere charging £70 a head does. Instead, we stick to our big, fat Victoria sponges and chocolate cake.
"We like to make cakes that are almost like how your nan might make them.
“It’s not necessarily Instagrammable - it hasn’t got petit fours on the top - but that’s not what we are. People come to see us to have that slice of coffee and walnut cake.”
Kelvin says keeping the business running hasn’t always been easy, but credits The Moat Tea Rooms’ success to a simple approach.
“At times, it’s been hard,” he said. “We’ve never really had a full-time chef or baker. Instead, everyone does everything. So we keep the baking simple, so we can teach it to everyone who works here.
“The other thing is passion. It is hard work - we are very busy these days - but we love it.”
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Lydia Chantler-Hicks