Eating Out in Coventry
Coventry’s dining scene is pretty cosmopolitan, ranging from popular, long-standing Indian and Caribbean restaurants to newer pan-Asian street-food joints. This is still the heart of England, though, where country pubs and city bistros make the most of traditional recipes using fresh farm produce from across the West Midlands and Warwickshire.
Redeveloped sections of the city centre, like the pedestrian zones along Broadgate and around Priory Place, are packed with attractive, mid-priced places to eat. You’ll find funkier coffee shops and street food stalls around the creative quarter at Fargo Village.
Locals like to stop at Belgrade Plaza for pizza and pasta before or after a show at the historic Belgrade Theatre. The upmarket suburb of Earlsdon is well worth a visit for its nicely designed bars and eateries, which attract a sophisticated crowd at the weekend. n nearby villages like Baginton, there are great old inns for carvery lunches and hearty roast dinners.
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- Meat pies: The farms of the West Midlands are known for producing prime beef, lamb and pork. Coventrians love to eat these hot or cold in pastry – try a fresh pork pie with local apple chutney.
- Coventry God cakes: Triangular pastries filled with sweet mincemeat (not actually meat but dried raisins with rum and sugar), traditionally eaten as dessert or with afternoon tea.
- Traditional ales: The West Midlands has a long history of producing quality beers and ales. Many Coventry pubs serve old favourites on tap, while newer craft-beer bars brew their own concoctions.
Shopping in Coventry
Coventry has been a commercial hub of the region since the Middle Ages. These days, it has air-conditioned malls in the city centre and busy retail parks along the motorways. You’ll also find old-fashioned merchants and young, creative craftspeople selling their wares at independent stores and market stalls.
Familiar brand names and chain stores line High Street and Broadgate, with many more inside the city’s main indoor shopping centres – Cathedral Lanes, West Orchards and Lower Precinct. Some of the Tudor buildings on medieval Spon Street are still home to specialist jewellers and butchers, and a stroll along the old-world shopfronts makes for an atmospheric excursion away from the modern malls.
The regular tenants of Fargo Village range from artists and designers to booksellers and bespoke barbers. There’s also an on-site trading hall that hosts seasonal fairs and weekend flea markets. Coventry Market is open every day but Sunday, with stalls for foodstuffs, flowers and household essentials.
Top independent shops in Coventry
- Aspell and Company: A trusty jeweller and watchmaker housed in a centuries-old Tudor building on medieval Spon Street.
- The Big Comfy Bookshop: This accurately named store inside Fargo Village also serves as a community-spirited live music venue, and you can try cakes from local bakeries while you browse.
- GladRags Boutique: A fun, colourful emporium selling vintage clothes and accessories for women.
- Brewer Bill: This Coventry market stall stocks everything you need to brew your own beer, including malts, hops and equipment.
Culture & Nightlife in Coventry
For a relatively small city, Coventry has a lot to offer culture lovers. Its museums, theatres and galleries draw big crowds, and the art scene is constantly refreshed by local students and emerging talents. Old pubs and stylish bars keep drinks, music and conversation flowing after dark.
Many of the city’s cultural attractions are clustered near the centre, where you’ll find Coventry Transport Museum, the Herbert Museum and Art Gallery and Belgrade Theatre.
Just at the edge of town is Warwick Arts Centre, one of Britain’s biggest cultural venues, where you can see films, plays and exhibitions on the grounds of the University of Warwick.
Friendly locals flock to the busy pubs and clubs along Broadgate and around Coventry Cathedral, and to the city’s central beer gardens on warm summer evenings.
Sophisticated Earlsden has become a go-to neighbourhood for craft beers, fine wines and signature cocktails.
Offbeat museums in Coventry
- West Midlands Police Museum: Inside Coventry’s main police station is a permanent exhibition of macabre case files and crime photos drawn from the history of local law enforcement.
- The Coventry Music Museum: This fun space celebrates Coventry’s contributions to the British pop scene – particularly ‘2-Tone’, a punk and reggae fusion that made local bands like Madness and the Specials famous in the early 1980s.
- The Weaver’s House: In this well-preserved Tudor building on Spon Street, you can see how local craftsman John Croke lived and worked in medieval times.
Visiting Coventry with a Family
Coventry has plenty to engage sporty, arty and adventure-hungry children, from football matches and pop concerts at Ricoh Arena to historic castles and battlements. It’s also an ideal base for exploring the country parks and historic castles of the surrounding West Midlands and Warwickshire.
Kids who love cars, trains and planes are all well-catered for at Coventry Transport Museum, the Electric Railway Museum in neighboring Baginton and the nearby Midland Air Museum.
Also in Baginton is Lunt Roman Fort, an ancient stronghold with a busy programme of games and events. For more time-travelling fun, it’s only 20 minutes’ drive from Coventry to medieval-themed entertainments at Warwick Castle.
Coombe Country Park has 500 acres of green space and woodland to run around in, and craft studios to retreat to if the weather turns against you. Brandon Marsh Nature Centre makes for a grand family day out exploring the flora and fauna, with scheduled activities for children.
Family-friendly restaurants in Coventry
- Rising Café: Set inside Coventry Cathedral this 1940s-vintage tea shop and bakery is famous for its warm atmosphere and high-quality home-made cakes.
- The Farmhouse Restaurant: Another classic pub with a big, grassy beer garden and kiddy play area. The menu is a mix of British and Indian dishes.
- Lickety Lick: A 1950s-style ice-cream parlour serving sundaes, milkshakes and pancakes against a candy-coloured backdrop of nostalgic Americana.
