1. Marlowe's
A Canterbury institution, the Marlowe's formula has remained unchanged for years; walls crammed with signed pictures of famous actors, wax-clad candlesticks, vast portions of food and the cheapest margaritas in town. Most famous for its huge fajitas (which don't make it into the £10 bracket), the hefty burgers, salads and other Mexican dishes all come in under a tenner. If you're after something less exotic, the Canterbury pie (£9.95) is a good bet, although if you want to leave room for the indulgent dessert menu, you might want to opt for a salad. There's a lunch menu at £6.95 for selected mains and a glass of wine, and two-course kids menu for £4.25.
• 55 St Peter's Street; +44 (0)1227 462194, marlowesrestaurant.co.uk.
2. The Old Brewery Tavern
Canterbury finally got a decent city-centre hotel when the Abode opened, and this Michael Caines-owned pub is part of the set-up. The aim is traditional, affordable pub grub served up in a slightly pub-flat-pack dining room – chunky wooden tables and chairs – and a cosier lounge. But there's no faulting the pricing; classics like ham, egg and chips and beer battered fish and chips for £9.95, sharing platters from £6.95 and a nifty selection of starters such as salmon and horseradish fishcakes and homemade pork pie (from £4.25) that can be upped to a "generous" portion for another couple of quid.
• High Street; +44 (0)1227 826682, michaelcaines.com/taverns/canterbury.
3. Tiny Tim's Tea Room
The name is a touch naff, but the place itself is charming; a proper thirties-style tearoom with a pianist in the afternoons and neat sandwiches and homemade scones delivered on cake stands with pots of tea. It's not just about afternoon tea; breakfasts include poached eggs on toast (£4.95) or toasted crumpets, (£2.25) while lunch might be a traditional Kentish "huffkin"; huge soft rolls stuffed with bacon and eggs or thick slices of ham and mustard (£7.50, with a salad). Afternoon tea is pricey at £12.95 – but the traditional cream tea, two hefty scones with a big scoop of clotted cream and another of jam – is the one to go for at £6.50.
• 34 St Margaret's Street; +44 (0)1227 450793, tinytimstearoom.co.uk.
4. Cafe Mauresque
The perfect spot for a mid-shopping lunch break, Cafe Mauresque serves up a combination of traditional Moroccan dishes and Spanish tapas. Keep to the tapas end of the menu and you can eat really well for a very reasonable amount; dishes such as falafel and crispy potatoes with harissa start at £2.95, while larger tapas – warm chorizo and king prawn salad, piquillo peppers stuffed with tuna aioli – come in at £4.95. A lunch menu of selected main courses and glass of wine for £6.50 is a complete bargain, and the warm Moroccan decor and calm atmosphere feels a world away from the hectic streets outside.
• 8 Butchery Lane; +44 (0)1227 464300, cafemauresque.com.
5. Super Noodles
Every town should have a Super Noodles; authentic Chinese food made by a coterie of Chinese friends and family – encompassing snack-style starters that are great to share (tempura prawns, black bean mussels or spicy chilli-and-salt tofu all at £3.60) and hearty bowls of noodles with roasted meats, seafood and zingy sauces. The "New Fusion" menu allows you to create your own dish, while the 'Bowls and Spoons' menu offers healthier options with little or no oil. Mains are all between £5-£6.50. Faultless.
• 87 Northgate; +44 (0)1227 457888, meisupernoodles.co.uk.
6. Cafe St Pierre
Cafe St Pierre is that rare thing; a French-style cafe actually run by a Frenchman – if you are so inclined you can actually order in French. And it's suitably indulgent; thick hot chocolates that actually taste of real chocolate (none of the powdered muck), filled baguettes and light pastries that are worryingly moreish (from £2). The snag; its tiny, although there are tables on the streets on warmer days and a small patio at back. But everything can be taken away, so if the place is really heaving, order cafe au lait and pain au chocolat "pour aller".
• 41 St Peter's Street, +44 (0)1227 456791.
7. The Goods Shed
In Chaucer's day, pilgrims came to Canterbury to visit the cathedral – now food-lovers come for the Goods Shed, a converted railway shed on an unprepossessing road by Canterbury West station. Once inside it is a gourmet's fantasy; a six-days a week farmers market, with local producers selling everything from cheeses to cakes, meats – cured and fresh, homemade bread and fruit and veg. The Goods Shed has a restaurant, where the menu changes according to what the stallholders bring each day – but it is a touch pricey. Instead, simply browse the stalls, buy yourself a sumptuous picnic and head across the road to Westgate Gardens to eat it by the river.
• Station Road West; +44 (0)1227 459153, thegoodsshed.net.
8. The Farmhouse
Situated just outside the old City walls, the Farmhouse is a very 21st-century kind of place; part restaurant, with all food sourced within 20 miles, part bar and live venue, which offers a mix of music, theatre and short films. The restaurant itself has a very retro feel, furnished in a mish-mash of styles picked up by the owners at car boot sales. The menu is equally retro, changes with the seasons, and currently includes such gems as pheasant pastie with peppercorn sauce (£6), steak and ale pie, mash and liquor (£5) and plum crumble (£5). Smaller snacks are available in the bar; homemade Scotch eggs, whitebait, rollmops and welsh rarebit are all on offer from around £3.
• 11 Dover Street; +44 (0)1227 456118, thefarmhousecanterbury.co.uk.
9. Deeson's British Restaurant
It's taken some time for Kent to reassert its claim as the "allotment of England" but increasingly restaurants are relying on the local farms and surrounding countryside to create their menus. Deesons uses local producers – as well as countrywide specialists – to create its menu of seasonally-changing traditional British dishes. It's more affordable at lunchtime, when char-grilled Sussex minute steak (£8.50) or beetroot and Rosary goats cheese salad (£7) can be washed down with a glass of sparkling wine from nearby Chapeldown Vineyard, or cider from the Kent Cider Company.
• 25-26 Sun Street; +44 (0)1227 767854, deesonsrestaurant.co.uk.
10. Bramley's Bar
The food at Bramleys is refreshingly simple; take your pick of five meats (salami, salt beef, rilettes, chorizo) or cheeses (gruyere, goats cheese, stilton, brie) for a crisp tenner, and settle back into the 1920s colonial atmosphere to graze on your selection, along with chunks of excellent bread. Olives, hummus and sunblush tomatoes can be added for £1.50 a pop, but it's really all about the atmosphere at Bramleys; until the recent renovation it felt a bit like your Granny's front room (in a good way) but the slick new colonial look has upped the ante and given it a sophisticated feel.
• 15 Orange Street; +44 (0)1227 379933, bramleysbar.com.
• On 13 December Southeastern Railway () is extending high-speed services between London St Pancras and northern and eastern Kent, including Canterbury West, Dover Priory, Rochester, Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Margate. Off-peak day returns between St Pancras and Canterbury West will cost from £26 and a single journey will take 59 minutes.
