Don Juan Café in Canterbury

A taste of Latin America in this iconic park of Central Canterbury. Great coffee and food (especially its “parrilla”). Cheerful atmosphere (including life music) and fantastic customer care. Ideal for a sunny day, but also cosy in the winter with heaters and sometimes a toasty fire!

Wonderful little spot with mexican/Spanish foods. I had the churros and coffee which was absolutely fabulous!

We ate some of their delicious empanadas accompanied by fresh minty lemonade in the park, little knowing we would return shortly thereafter for an evening of impromptu music and sangrías! We highly recommend this delightful café - for its food, friendly service, and good vibes.

A city oasis that serves sangria and tapas. What more could you ask for? It's rustic, but that adds to its charm.

The place is immersed in the park and on Fridays Don Juan usually grills meat. I spent the best Fridays in Canterbury in this place with friends enjoying some juicy and delicious meat. The two managers are warm and friendly without being intrusive. I absolutely recommend going there with friends to spend a quiet and fun evening and to enjoy an authentic Argentine barbecue.

Really kind and friendly Argentinian owner, married to an Italian (he will sniff out if you are Italian and will say a few words to you, always in a polite manner). I had the pleasure of having dinner here on Friday evening during the BBQ Grill which is only held on Friday evenings, spectacular! Real meat of all types: beef, chicken, pork, side dishes of fried potatoes and various vegetables, at a fairly reasonable price given the environment! A point of reference if you are in Canterbury for weeks if you are Mediterranean, I would return to the village just for him and his Friday barbecue

The perfect spot for a lazy BBQ with a Spanish twist & cocktails in the sun in the middle of a park. Good cocktails and good, simple food. Superfriendly service. Recommended!

Extremely sympathetic owner and workers, Great food, amazing atmosphere, Not too expensive. Just fantastic all around.

I’ve visited Canterbury six times from New Zealand over the years and this little outdoor seating coffee shop & cafe in Dane John gardens has been there every visit and always a must do for me. A very good vibe there.

Delicious empanadas and very friendly staff

Amazing food and great service! Guille is a great person

We saved ourselves from the rain and had a great stop at Don Juan. The Tapas and Empanadas were home made and excellent. My wife had a gin and tonic and I stuck with the cider which hit the spot. Had a good talk with the owner about music. Just right.

Great location and lively music

Great food, great service, amazing atmosphere. I really had a great time

We had excellent argentinian empanadas. Very friendly and helpful service.

Lovely place to share a good moment, with the nature and Latin flavours.

What's your emergency??....... coffee ☕😊👍💕

Lovely cafe sat in the Sunshine in the beautiful garden enjoying my coffee. Polite friendly staff

Good coffee😍 Lovely music. All I need in the Sunday morning.

Went there today for a couple of empanadas and hot chocolate. What a lovely, cosy place! With a great vibe, too. The empanadas were fresh and sooooo delicious! I will definitely go back.

Ordered Caribbean hot chocolate. Really nice.loved the atmosphere with the music.

Great place ; good music ; friendly atmosphere; amazing fresh empanadas; We love them; the electric heaters are a plus on a cold windy day; and dogs are welcome! We will definitely come back.

We went to Canterbury by train, walked from Canterbury East station across the bridge and into the park. This is when we see Don Juan Café, there are outside tables which were all occupied with people enjoying the atmosphere along with Coffee and alcoholic drinks. Great place to sit and chill.

Sunshine on a dreary autumn day in Dane john gardens! We were drawn to the little black hut by the great Latin music, and amazed by the range of food and drink on offer.....pork belly stew and rum cocktails to hot chocolate and pastry...this will cheer up winter no end!!

Fabulous café in the middle of Dane John Gardens! My husband and I stopped by on the way to the Canterbury East train station. Friendly staff and fun menu and drinks. Highly recommend! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🦢

Excelente lugar. La dueña una Argentina muy dulce y encantadora.

Best place to spend the afternoon, drinking sangría and tapas. The owner is the best!

Great find! Minutes from City Centre, peace & tranquility. Good empanadas, good coffee, good prices!

Great! I wasn’t expecting much, just a nice snack but this blew me away with its cheese and onion empanada, but be warned - grab a napkin! 😋😃 (This review was written by my 11 year old daughter)

Location Location Location, But the Service, what Service

utterly amazing Latin food. portions are big :) the burger is great. the empanadas are great. the coffee is great. definitely get the potato bravas. servers are super friendly :)

Tasty, hygienic food. Live the ambience in summer. Service is super good!

This is the best place I've eaten in years. The staff are friendly, helpful and accommodating. The food is beautifully cooked and the setting is pleasant and welcoming. I make a point of coming here whenever I'm in Canterbury. I can't recommend it highly enough.

The Huevos Rancheros was very nice!

Food is decent, but owner/manager is wildly discriminatory. First, after we ordered he told us we only ordered enough to stay for half an hour, and so i ordered more food so we could stay longer, after this, he took our table away from us, (while we were using it and ordered food to keep it), to give to another man who's a regular customer, simply because he asked for it. when i confronted him about this, and said he was being discriminatory, he agreed and told me thats 'how it is in the UK'.

Walking past the cafe decided to pop in and grab a cold drink and some canollis service was first class friendly and welcoming will use again and recommend

Always a pleasure to visit, it was our regular haunt for a couple of years before we had to move out of Canterbury! We still make the trip to go and enjoy the coffee, amazing atmosphere and good company. Always friendly and welcoming, it really feels like a holiday from home! The patrons are lovely, and are one of the inspirations for me learning Spanish! From, the 2 mocha couple 💕

Vegan unfriendly. Americano coffee cost £3! Yet, try to add SPLASH of oat milk and it will set you back £3.50! Thats extra £0.50 for being vegan... Quite price tag! Bottle of oat milk cost £0.95... You do the math. Either owner is super greedy or hates vegans. Either way we waitied 10 minutes to be served (2 people in queue) and i have been drenched with wine by merry customer who was (and had) one to many....highly not recommend it

Superb little café at the heart of the Dane John. Great quality coffee and lovely food too. Highly recommend!

Beautiful atmosphere and beautiful people

Great Latino food & a great place to practice your Spanish with lots of different accents. Live music & a brazier too! Empenadas & churros are excellent but there's lots more to try. All in a beautiful parkland setting a short walk from the City Centre, Wincheap, the rail & bus stations

Good atmosphere music played by a band called Maskara. Good food lovely afternoon and great music.

Great place, service, music and atmosphere! 100% recommended!

I went to the food festival in Dane John Gardens and despite all the temporary street food stands the Don Juan Café was the best thing there. Fantastic empanadas, beautiful fresh grilled sardines and quality coffee.

Excellent burgers, real bonus to Dane John. Chuiros are the best

Amazing empanadas and churros, super friendly service 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Amazing place. Went on Saturday they had live music with a great atmosphere. Very good prices as well £3.50 for a beer with a free tapas was great. Top place and top people.

A famous place to be! Thx for a great time! The two Germans

Excellent coffee and churro's with the most amazing chocolate sauce. In the Dane John Gardens , beautiful place.

Delicious lunch! Very friendly, my son dropped his burger 🍔 and they brought him a new one with a smile free of charge

We visited Dane John park with a group of 30 well behaved school children. One of the children fell resulting in a lump appearing on head. We carry all first aid with us, but just needed a small amount of ice to apply to the wound. We politely asked for some ice from Don Juan cafe - the lady serving us was lovely and gave us some ice no problem. However, the owner / manager waded in and tried to charge us. Seriously? We have an injured kid and your demanding payment for a few cubes of ice and a plastic cup? The girl behind the counter looked completely (and understandably) embarrassed. We declined the use of a cup, and just carried the few cubes of ice. The cost of a plastic cup and a few ice cubes would have been pence. And although I appreciate this is a business not a charity- trying to charge £1.50 and make a profit is just wrong. What happened to kindness? Let’s hope you don’t rely on a Good Samaritan for some help one day.

Amazing hidden gem with beautiful food and great atmosphere.

Great for a sandwich and hot drinks

Friendly and welcoming, with great music. Tasty spinach and cheese empanadas.

Relaxed and friendly atmosphere! Love it!

This place is fantastic!!! Super nice and chill! I highly recommend for anyone who is up to good food and nice atmosphere 👌 👍 Lovely owner who would take care of you and all your needs🥂

Trato excelente y cercano, servicio rápido y comida de calidad.

I like the vibes and fireplace. Welcoming and friendly service

Great for a dog walk stop. Cappuccino and bacon roll, perfect.

The coffe with oatmilk was very poor. Terrible flavour and texture. The man was rather unpleasant. Overall a pretty sad experience. Wouldnt go again

Amazing food. Great value for money. The BBQ is exquisite. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Great music 🎵 Buenísimoooooo!!

An oasis of calm and incredible coffee and food in the centre of Canterbury

Gorgeous food and drinks with great vegan options. Thank you! ♥️

Good service, fresh food and lovely atmosphere. A local gem.

Sitting in the park on a deckchair having a good coffee,great!

We just popped in for lunch. Really friendly staff, delicious food. We had patatas bravas, burger (fresh cob roll, salad & cheese and delicious burger) and hot dogs for the children. We didn’t have to wait long for s table and of course it’s location means the children can have a good run around. Oh & did I mention the fresh churros with choc dip? Conveniently forgotten already!

The price is exceptional for value and my hot chocolate was delicious.

Warm and lovely environment for all ages a taste of Latin America in the drinks and tapas. The music and outdoor ambiance.

Excellent food and wine. Definetly worth stopping whilst on a walk in the park.

Nice little place! Good service, reasonable choice for such a small place, and ideal for a coffee and snack in the park.

Excellent little place, stumbled on when walking through the park. Amazing mojito and nice tapas. Great relaxed place.

Love this cafe in the heart of the Dane John Gardens. Good coffee, homemade cakes & high quality hot food. The empanadas, patatas bravas & bacon rolls are lovely and at weekends the paella & bbq meats/veg are delicious. On a summer's day, nothing better than a glass of wine/sangria/mojito & tapas. So pleased to be able to support a local, independent business which has stayed open throughout lockdown.

The owner is Uruguayan and serves proper mate tea. Enough said: 5 stars!

A lovely little cafe with really friendly staff.

for the spring and summer season is a very nice place !!

Just stoppedfor a drink,lovely staff quick service and the sangria was great xx

Un lugar muy agradable para tomar algo y comer.

Lovely food, lovely staff. A great place to have a bite and let the kids run free on the grass

Brilliant place. Food is amazing and really reasonably priced. Staff are top notch and on sunny day, there’s nowhere like it. 10/10

Had the choripan roll, it was possibly the best sausage I've eaten. So fresh tasting and juicy. Would 10/10 recommend it. The staff are super friendly as well.

Buen lugar para comer al aire libre en un parque precioso. Tiene mesas tipo picnic y mesitas pequeñas. El dueño es Uruguayo y es encantador, hace la comida casera con un toque especial. El precio es muy razonable, sin duda es un lugar 100x100 recomendable.

Lovely place good food and the boss is a diamond, if you're ever in Canterbury try it, you'll enjoy it

When I saw the prices I thought it was a bit expensive, but when I saw the size of the bread roll and the amount of bacon I changed my mind. With the sun shining you couldn't ask for more.

Un très beau parc, bien entretenu

Thus is just a wooden hut in the Dane John park but the food and drink is good and the people and service are great. Some music (low key) would be good, even live music. There's a bandstand close by not being used the council should encourage it

Fantastic open-air cafe with amazing fresh South American food and a lovely atmos in Canterbury's Dane John gardens. The staff are very welcoming and the food is great value and cooked fresh to order. Lots of choice and a great option for foodies and veggies alike. Try the BBQ in the summer. Very well recommended!

Great value, food and staff! What else d'you need?

Very reasonably priced. Fantastic service and food.

Best lunch in Canterbury. Delicious home made food and sauces packed with flavour, very friendly staff and great music.

Great little place. Got style and great tasting food.

Lovely park, very kind staff and great food for a good price

We love the food and staff so nice we would go back .

Some of the best burgers I've ever tried!

Lo mejor de Canterbury para comer comida casera. El propietario muy amable.

Freshly cooked South-American food in a beautiful setting, served by very friendly staff.

Their choripan sandwich is amazing! And very friendly staff. I'll definitely visit again!

Lovely little cafè in the dane john park. Great food and drink for a reasonable price, especially considering its almost all hand made!

THE best place in Canterbury! The food is brilliant (the Suarez steak sandwich is to die for! <3), their espresso is spot on (tip: have a little salted peanut on the side with it), and the vibes... you thoroughly enjoy the food and drink there, but you gotta love the vibes! Always buzzing, always friendly, always loving! A sweet island of South America in the English sea! Besos! <3

Unglaublich leckere Speisen für den kleinen und großen Hunger 👌🏻 Burger & Empanadas sind sehr zu empfehlen! Danke, dass ihr unseren Besuch in Canterbury kulinarisch unvergesslich gemacht habt. Klare Empfehlung!

Chill out in the amazing Dane John Gardens, Canterbury and enjoy without doubt the best handmade and authentic Argentinean food you'll get in a UK park. Passionately prepared with fresh ingredients to order. Absolutely delicious. Looking forward to paella next visit which will be soon :)