A vegan’s guide to Canterbury

Published on 6 Jun 2019, updated August 2020.

You’ll be spoilt for choice in this attractive cathedral city, and one of the most popular places to visit in Kent. Adrienne Wyper has put together this vegan guide to Canterbury to help you plan your trip.

Veg Box Café

Mon-Sun 9am-5pm, 17b Burgate, thevegboxcafe.co.uk

Handily situated opposite Canterbury Wholefoods, the bright, bold café has a daily-changing menu showcasing local seasonal organic veg. For breakfast, scrummy spiced granola competes with sourdough toast topped with turmeric-scrambled tofu. Or how about farinata (chickpea flour pancake): protein-rich and satisfying?

For lunch, there’s soup, jacket potato, hotpot (curry or stew), Buddha bowl, or bake (such as vegetable gratin, shepherdess pie, baked risotto). Thoughtfully, there’s a kid’s bowl option filled with whatever they fancy.

Staff are keen to share knowledge, posting recipes on Facebook and holding monthly fermenting classes. And to chillax, how about a free hand massage (available every Friday morning) perhaps accompanied by a turmeric latte and chocolate beetroot brownie?

Kitch Café

Mon-Fri 8:30-5pm, 4 St Peter’s Street

Embracing the hashtag #eatrealfood, Kitch Café prides itself on serving ‘delicious, fresh, homemade food made with all natural and wholegrain, seasonal ingredients’. There are all-day brunch and lunch menus and my pick would be banana and oat pancakes with dark chocolate and maple syrup.

Or try the full vegan that ticks the five-a-day box with sweet potato fritters, hummus, tomatoes, spinach and kale, with mushrooms and, of course, avocado on sourdough. The drinks menu hits the spot with all your hot and cold favourites including turmeric, matcha or charcoal lattes and no fewer than five protein-rich superfood smoothies.

The Ambrette

14-15 Beer Cart Lane, www.ambretterestaurant.co.uk

Specialising in contemporary south Indian-style cooking with international influences, the award-winning Ambrette, in the heart of the city, has a vegan menu on offer, which excels in exciting flavours and amazing textures, like the crunch of the crispy, puffed-up hollow puri balls, and the tangy, lacy dosa (fermented rice pancake).

It was opened five years ago, by chef Dev Biswal, following the success of the original (still open) Ambrette in Margate. If you want to learn how to cook what you’ve eaten, Dev holds cookery classes, and you can also buy various dining vouchers – great for gifts.

Café Mauresque

8 Butchery Lane, www.cafemauresque.co.uk

Why not go for some vegan tapas. Prettily decorated with traditional tiling and intricate lanterns that dapple the walls with light, setting the souk-like scene for an authentic Andalusian/north African (mauresque means ‘Moorish’) experience. For dinner, try the good-value vegan platter of meltingly soft aubergines in tomato and red wine, with tabbouleh, hummus, olives, falafel and paprika almonds, to scoop up with light, fluffy flatbread.

Or assemble your own plates to pick at from the vegan tapas menu, including patatas a la pobre (potatoes with onion, green pepper and garlic), butterbean stew or pepper and mushroom gratin with crispy aubergine fritters. And don’t miss the Moroccan fresh mint teas…

Places to visit

The cathedral city of Canterbury has been drawing visitors since the Middle Ages, when pilgrims visited the shrine of Thomas A’Becket. Get an overview of the city by walking the ancient walls, and explore the iconic 11th-century cathedral.

Admire the mediaeval architecture as you stroll the pedestrianised cobbled high street (rated as Britain’s second healthiest in 2018 by the Royal Society for Public Health), perhaps popping into the independent shops of all types on King’s Mile.

For a fresh perspective, take a guided boat tour, or hire a punt, on the River Stour. Stock up at Canterbury Wholefoods (1-3 Iron Bar Lane) in business for over 40 years.

Where to stay

Wake up to an amazing view at the contemporary Canterbury Cathedral Lodge hotel (canterburycathedrallodge.org), inside the private grounds of the cathedral. Or go for the wonkily appealing mediaeval wooden beams and low ceilings of the House of Agnes luxury four-star B&B (houseofagnes.co.uk), once home to Charles Dickens and mentioned in David Copperfield, with city-themed rooms (match your dinner menu with Mumbai or Marrakech), an honesty bar and bike hire.

Did you find this vegan guide to Canterbury helpful? Check out our other vegan city guides here.

Kent-dweller Adrienne Wyper enjoys writing about food, travel and wellbeing – so bringing all three together on a tour of Canterbury’s vegan eating is ideal. See more of her work at adriennewyper2015.com

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