Updated 2005-06-24
Canterbury's really not that bad for vegan living, on the whole. It's gotten worse in past months, with the closure of the Canterbury Wholefoods café and Oranges. Still, there's plenty of places to eat and buy food in the city.
First up, Canterbury Wholefoods is a wonderful store, stocked to the gills with hard-to-find ingredients, specialty products like vegan cheeses, and things to cater for your sweet tooth. There's no student discount but the staff are friendly and it's a really nice place to visit.
You've also got Holland and Barrett on the high street, and Julian Graves down the alley leading to the Cathedral by Boots. You have to be careful in there, though: They're fond of their E-numbers, dipping things in honey, and so on.
Finally, Sainsbury's is always good to shop in as they clearly label products that are suitable for vegans. The Canterbury Sainsbury's is the only place I've found vegan parmesan stocked, which works a treat on pasta dishes.
As for eating out, most places in Canterbury are good. My personal favourite is Supernoodles - large portions and good value, plus they're on the ball if you ask them about their ingredients. Café de China, at the end of town, are quite good too but a little bit more pricey. For Indian, I like the Raj Venue on Westgate. The Olive Grove is good for Italian, and Pizza Express are OK with it too. It helps if you what you want from them. There's a church on Northgate which has a small vegetarian café in it, but they mainly do cheese sandwiches. I didn't see anything vegan on the menu or anything easily adaptable, so you will want to eat elsewhere.
It's probably worth avoiding Zizzi's - you won't go hungry, but you'll get a plate of pasta and tomato sauce that costs you about six pounds. There's also a small country pub outside Canterbury that's the only place I've eaten at that's made me feel bad about being vegan, but I can't remember its name so I can't tell you to avoid it.
If you're up at the University, you're a bit more hard-pushed. The colleges will generally get you some food, but it won't be fun - I have a strong memory of the University open day I went to, when a lady came out of the kitchen bellowing "ARE YOU THE VEGAN?" at me. Maybe if you ate there every day they'd figure it out, but I wouldn't bet on it.
The Gulbenkian Theatre will do baked potatoes, but it's not the cheapest place to eat. In general, they're pretty clueless too. The Lighthouse used to be pretty good but I haven't tried it since they stopped catering themselves and stuck a Costa Coffee or whatever it is in there. I haven't been to Woody's in ages but there wasn't a proper meal there last time.
Origins is almost certainly your best bet. They tend to be pretty clued, and there's generally some choice - pitta bread with dips, mushroom fajitas, and/or curly fries. You can also find yourself a snack lunch in the campus shop - bread and houmous, fruit, or dried nuts and fruit. The Campus Shop did stock a couple of the Crank's sandwiches for a while, but only the mushroom paté and the salad sandwiches of theirs are vegan.
Generally, you're better off bringing a packed lunch with you if you're living off-campus, or going self-catering if you're on-campus.
Do get in touch if you've got your own experiences to share.
