We’d just finished a morning of sightseeing in Canterbury and were looking for a very light lunch in the city centre, preferably sitting outside in the sun. A sign pointed us up steps where we found a large square terrace, surrounded by the second floor of shops, which was shared between Café Rouge and “Citi Terrace”:http://www.cititerrace.co.uk/.
It’s a ‘wait to be greeted’ place where we were given the option of sitting in or out. Outside tables and chairs were under huge square umbrellas but there were five tables down the side in full sun. The “menu”:http://www.cititerrace.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Citi-T-menu-Oct-2017-black-v2.pdf had light bites, burgers, salads and sandwiches, but having had a full English Breakfast, we settled for stuffed cheese filo cigars (£6) which came with balsamic dressed leaves. They were deep fried and slightly greasy, but so moreish with fabulous cheese flavours. With a glass of wine and a home-made mint lemonade it was perfect.
In fact, we enjoyed it so much, when we wanted a thirst quenching drink the next day before our trip to the Canterbury Tales we stopped for iced lemon teas.
After we’d been to Evensong at Canterbury Cathedral, it was still a beautiful night at 6.10pm and we wanted somewhere to sit in the sun and enjoy a glass of wine. We looked at a couple of options, but they were either noisy or not in the sun and so once again Citi Terrace fitted the bill. This time we tried a glass of English Chapel Down rose which we enjoyed very much.
On all three occasions the service was excellent with each table having a buzzer which you can press when you want to order, pay the bill etc. We’d have no hesitation in recommending it at any time of day. The interior is light and bright with a conservatory-style glass roof and large tables ideal for groups.
There are two entrances to the terrace and as the city is so compact, we found we were never far from either. The beauty of it is that it is very quiet as its upstairs and away from the large groups of children and tourists that pervade the city.
