Angela’s of Margate
Margate, Kent
There’s a general air of warm-heartedness and good humour at Lee Coad's and Charlotte Forsdike's sought-after restaurant. It comes across as a genuine local, refreshingly free of affectation and resolutely faithful to its seaside location, with ethically sourced fish as the main event. Seemingly thrown-together, the tiny, unassuming dining room a few steps from Margate beach squeezes in small tables (expanding with pavement seating in fine weather) and offers a daily changing blackboard menu with five choices per course. In culinary terms, chef Rob Cooper’s cooking points to Mediterranean Europe with simple preparations predominating, perhaps grilled mackerel with tomato and bread salad or sea bass with tomatoes, anchovies and capers. It may seem homely but everything is judged to the finest detail with seductive flavours – and the results are, quite simply, delicious. We shared sweet, smoked shell-on prawns with a good blob of aïoli (too popular to take off the menu), before perfectly cooked turbot atop white beans and a vivid green sauce. As a counterpoint, skate was served with outstanding ‘chorizo’ nuggets and sauce (made with paprika and garlic but with fish replacing the pork) and a tangle of green beans. On the side, beautifully flavoured grilled potatoes. We finished with a gloriously light almond and brown butter cake with poached apricots and a spirited, fruity sorbet (made with mulberries from a local tree). And to drink? The list is short and sweet but packed with interest, offering classic fish-friendly and low-intervention wines from England and coastal Europe. People travel for miles to visit Angela's and it gets booked up way ahead; if you're out of luck, however, its simpler, seafront sibling, Dory's, is just a stroll away – and it keeps back seats for walk-ins.
