Rocket Cafe

There is a distinctly laidback vibe at this friendly, bohemian cafe. Its windows are covered in posters for yoga classes and vintage clothes shops, Satie-esque piano music drifts through its rooms and, in summer, diners spill out on to a lovely little patio garden. It majors on veggie and vegan dishes, if not exclusively. Breakfast might include French toast with maple syrup, while, at lunch, you could opt for a Little Hereford cheese sandwich on Lorentzen's bread or a slice of olive, Parma ham and sun dried tomato tart. A whiz through the Rocket's salad selection (for example, pearl barley and butternut squash, or an alliterative cous cous with pomegranate, peppers and parsley), confirmed that there are bright flavours in play here. Although, the seasoning could have been sharper. For £3, takeaway, it was money well spent.
• Dishes around £2.45-£5.50, eat-in. £1 cheaper to takeaway. 43 St Owen Street, 01432 271234, rocketcafe.biz

Cafe @ All Saints

Bill Sewell's business is running canteens in churches. He brings the catering know-how and a zealous commitment to regional produce (in this case, the likes of Dunkerton's cider; jams and chutneys from Sally's Pantry; Mr Tudge's rare breed Berkshire pig products; vegetables from Tillington Farm Court), while the Church of England provides the dramatic backdrop of stained glass, carved stone and mahogany. Even the most militant atheist would have to confess that, at the very least, Sewell's cafes have character. At lunch the dishes run the gamut from, say, a simple ploughman's to an Indonesian vegetable stew. The soup of the day – local squash, lentil and sage – had a pleasant sharp, almost sour note to it, which, like the forceful, bustling sage, added a layer of interest to this otherwise hearty winter warmer. Don't miss the cafe's light, creamy olive oil bread rolls, either. A conservative slice of Neal's Yard goat's cheese and roasted red pepper quiche was less complex, a little eggy too, but fine. For a real bargain, hit the cafe between 2.30-3.30pm, when there is 33% off all the hot dishes.
• Breakfast £2.45-£5.25, lunch £3.60-£9.65. All Saints Church, High Street, 01432 370415, cafeatallsaints.co.uk

The Hereford Deli

This hidden away deli-cafe serves simple, superlative sandwiches and, among other things, handsome open pies, handmade in nearby Worcester. A generously packed ham sandwich was lifted, not just by a great coleslaw, but immaculately fresh granary bread from Hereford artisan bakery Lorentzen. Lorentzen's retail outlet (Capuchin Yard, off Church Street, 07530 978647, lorentzenbakery.com), a small, bare-brick whitewashed space in pretty, boutiquey Capuchin Yard, is a must if you're shopping for a picnic. There is a limited choice, but its cakes are sublime. Its thick blackcurrant Bakewell squares (gorgeously moist, the farmhouse jam coming through properly, the pastry base perfectly crisp, the top almonds ever-so-slightly browned to enhance the flavour), is, by far, the most fun you can have in Hereford for £1.50. Stop-in at the Mousetrap cheese shop just around the corner (30 Church Street, 01432 353423, mousetrapcheese.co.uk), nip to butcher Neil Powell (small pies, £1.30. 51 Widemarsh Street, 01432 277557, hjedwards.co.uk) for a couple of its pork pies and you could quickly assemble a luxury lunch for well under a tenner. Invest the money saved at the Barrels (69 St Owen Street, 01432 274968, wyevalleybrewery.co.uk), flagship pub for Herefordshire's Wye Valley Brewery, and a proper, no-frills boozers' den. One where a super-fresh pint of Hereford Pale Ale is £2.40.
• Sandwiches £2.40-£2.95. 4, The Mews, St Owen Street, 01432 341283, thehereforddeli.com

Castle Bistro

Under chef Claire Nicholls, the kitchen at this smart Georgian town house hotel – which is partly supplied by its owner's farm – is generally considered to serve some of the best food in Hereford. The set-up includes a bistro, housed in a rather drab bar area, which by-day specialises in sandwiches and cream teas. Its light menu also includes a couple of main dishes which sneak in under £10. The Castle House burger (£9) comes with excellent chips, albeit in a Jenga stack, and is cleverly topped with a lush layer of sweet, jammy confit onions. The burger, however, while tasty, lacked a little lubrication. It needed more fat in the mix, or, perhaps, a slather of mustard mayo on the bun. If you can go a pound or two over this feature's notional £10-a-head limit, there are more interesting dishes on the bistro menu, such as boneless chicken thighs cooked, North African-style, with pomegranates and plums, over coriander-braised rice, or a tagliatelle of butternut squash, toasted pumpkin seeds and goats' cheese.
• Bistro menu, sandwiches and afternoon teas, £2-£5.50, main dishes £9-£16. Castle Street, Hereford, 01432 356321, castlehse.co.uk

Muzey's Old Bridge Cafe

Unfortunately, Muzzeyen Cakir's Turkish cafe was closed (it reopens on 3 November), when I visited Hereford, so I wasn't able to try its "Eastern Black Sea dishes". Given the enthusiasm for it, locally, however, it would be remiss not to mention it. At lunch, Muzey's serves mixed plates of daily-changing sides, salads and, usually, two hot main components. One day you might enjoy a beef casserole with stuffed courgettes, Turkish Brussels sprouts and rice; the next, charcoal-grilled chicken kofte with hummus and tomato salad. Regulars also rave about Muzey's lentil soup (£3.50), baklava and homemade lemonade.
• Lunch, mixed plates, £5.90. 23 Bridge Street, 01432 611528, facebook.com/pages/Muzeys-old-bridge-cafe

Andy's Kitchen

A couple of Leon cookbooks above the counter and a queue to the door are good signals. The time a staff member takes to carefully make a coffee, during such a busy lunch, confirms that this takeaway-cafe's claims to quality are more than just hype. A hive of making and baking activity, the kitchen knocks-out five-star sandwiches, homebaked quiches and attractive cakes, exotic salads and hot dishes, such as beef chilli, a homemade meatball sandwich with pickled red cabbage, or goats' cheese and bacon-stuffed mushrooms. The prices, particularly for takeaway, are very keen. My haul of creamy, flavourful chicken, bacon and mushroom stroganoff, served over nutty wild rice, was £3.60. The sauce could have done with a bigger slug of brandy, but at those prices, who's complaining?
• Sandwiches and dishes around £2.20-£3.60 takeaway, eat-in, £3.50-£5.30. 12 King Street, 01432 272001, facebook.com/pages/Andys-Kitchen

Thai On Wye

This backstreet Thai – a simple red room jazzed-up with a few ornaments, religious trinkets and flowers – delivers big flavours at knockdown prices. A nonetheless enjoyable bowl of tom kha goong soup was a shade heavy on the coconut milk (the chilli, lime leaves and fish sauce were struggling to assert themselves amid all that creamy sweetness and lemongrass), but a portion of roasted pork ribs was fantastic. The still moist meat falling off the bone, the fat rendered away, the ribs bathed in a spicy, honeyed sauce of real quality, they were delicious. If that is typical of Thai on Wye's output, and fans insist it is, then this place is a bargain. Don't get over-excited, though. That "Thai porn cracker" on the menu is just a typo.
• Takeaway, starters, £3.50-£4.95, salads and noodle dishes, £4.50-£5.95, mains with rice from £7.20. 15 West Street, 01432 376769, thaionwyerestaurant.co.uk

Diego's Cafe

Diego's is where Hereford's caffeine freaks ride coffee's so-called third wave. It serves an exemplary flat white (£2, the skillfully textured milk sweet, almost nutty, the coffee coming through robustly), as well as using pour-over filter and an Aeropress – the modern coffee geek's replacement for the cafetiere – for those delicate, complex single estate beans. Diego's roaster is James Gourmet Coffee in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire's go-to guys for gourmet beans. Diego's food is similarly fastidious. The menu ranges from daily specials, such as courgette rosti with fried egg, mushrooms and a Béarnaise sauce, to salads and baguettes, with an emphasis on regional, seasonal ingredients. Its breakfast and all-day brunch dishes have a strong local following. I can understand why. A sample eggs benedict was spot-on: the creamy Hollandaise had a good lemony poke to it, the fresh, sunny eggs ran, and were perched atop rugged, muscular hunks of honey roasted ham.
• Dishes £3.75-£6.95. 18-19 Bridge Street, 01432 269499, diegoscafe.co.uk

Razbari

Razbari includes a round-up of generic, "traditional" curry styles on its menu (mains run at £4.95-£9.95, if that is your bag), but delve into the specials, and you will find that this swanky curry house roams far and wide, from Nepal (a high-altitude chicken dish given a serious kick by a homemade hot pickle) to Hyderabad (a special sheek kebab that includes split yellow lentils), in search of authenticity. It prides itself on its fresh ingredients, masalas specific to individual dishes and, generally, proper cooking. My mishti ghost, that uses khodu, a sweet pumpkin, was a little mild for me, personally, but the pieces of onion and ginger in the rich tomato sauce, and the way that sauce had taken on an almost smoky depth, bore out Razbari's rep. It wasn't revelatory, but it was unusually tasty. A 15% discount on all prices, for takeaway collection, should help you bring your meal in at under £10-a-head.
• Eat-in, tandoori and special mains, with shared rice where applicable, £6.95-£13.05. 156 Eign Street, 01432 265440, razbari.co.uk

La Madeleine

Pretty vintage water jugs, art-deco chandeliers and fading glass panels advertising Pernod may not transport you to la belle époque, but the cooking at this newish Francophone cafe just might. From a menu that includes dishes such as chicken liver pate and croque monsieur, a plate of blue cheese and butternut squash tart – the blue precisely attenuated, the filling densely cheesy but yielding – served with an unapologetically Gallic salad (a simple, sharply-dressed pile of leaves and cucumber), was excellent. A local French baker, Fabrice Ponteville, also supplies La Madeleine with terrific breads, croissants and some of its cakes. Try his individual tarts (£2.50), my sample apple and almond was a magnificent bit of baking.
• Lighter dishes, £4.50-£6.90, lunch mains, excluding steaks, £7.50-£9.90. 17 Church Street, 01432 265233, facebook.com/lamadeleinehereford

• Flavours of Herefordshire festival, Sat 27 and Sun 28 October, various venues, Hereford; flavoursofherefordshire.co.uk. Travel between Manchester and Hereford was provided by Arriva Trains Wales; arrivatrainswales.co.uk