Best restaurants in Margate Published 15 December 2024
Margate restaurants have evolved far beyond their traditional seaside roots, embracing careful sourcing, seasonal menus, and a relaxed, understated style. From low-key seafood spots featuring day-boat catches to Italian-inspired kitchens and pizza places showcasing quality British toppings, these Kent eateries share a respect for local ingredients, sustainability, and genuine hospitality. Discover our picks for the best restaurants in Margate, see how they’re quietly redefining the British coastal food experience.
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 se… Read more
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.
A homely celebration of rustic ingredients-led Italian cooking
‘We've celebrated weddings here, birthdays, happy times and sad times ... it’s the best food for the soul!’ declaimed a regular visitor to Simona Di Dio and Harry Ryder’s ‘little Italian kitchen&rsquo… Read more
‘We've celebrated weddings here, birthdays, happy times and sad times ... it’s the best food for the soul!’ declaimed a regular visitor to Simona Di Dio and Harry Ryder’s ‘little Italian kitchen’ in Margate’s Old Town. Simona’s cooking really does ‘feel like home,’ and this friendly, unpretentious space embodies the relaxed and ‘honest’ nature of the food – namely, ingredients-driven, rustic dishes rooted in the culinary traditions of Simona’s fertile home region of Sannio, north of Naples.
It’s a showcase of food born of necessity and ingenuity (what the Italians call cibo povero) but made with produce of the highest order: grandma’s recipe for verdura e fagioli (greens and beans) is a permanent fixture on the menu, likewise polpette di pane al sugo (bread balls with tomato sauce). Nibbles and ‘small(ish)’ plates are delivered on earthenware crockery – perhaps salt cod with blood orange and celery or buffalo mozzarella with cime di rape, smoked anchovy, chilli. After that, indulge in a serving of superlative hand-made pasta, say spaghetti with wild garlic, basil and cashew pesto or wholegrain ziti with a slow-cooked ragù of fennel sausages, home-preserved tomatoes and grated Corra Linn sheep’s cheese.
To conclude, torta caprese (chocolate and almond tart) or Italian rice pudding with plum jam make a fitting finale. The predominantly organic, biodynamic and natural wine list heralds some of the best producers in Italy, and staff are eager to provide helpful advice for those less familiar with low-intervention viticulture. Don’t forget to stock up on artisan Italian provisions at the adjoining shop.
Margate is inundated with blow-ins from the London restaurant scene and beyond at the moment, but it was local talent that established the town as a serious food destination. And there are few better examples than Dory’s, th… Read more
Margate is inundated with blow-ins from the London restaurant scene and beyond at the moment, but it was local talent that established the town as a serious food destination. And there are few better examples than Dory’s, the small, simple seafood eatery-cum-wine bar overlooking the beach, where a local, seasonal and sustainable commitment filters down from famous older sibling Angela’s, just round the corner. Ethical credentials pour forth from chalkboard menus and the drinks list (aperitifs run to a take on the Bloody Mary earthed up with garlic) and, as a no-cook set-up, it’s a model of its kind. Dishes are pre-made: the likes of soused paprika mussels are served cold, but brown crab piled high on toast (creamy with just a hint of chilli warmth) or smoked haddock and dill pie (with a fabulous pastry crust) are finished or reheated behind the bar. We also tried a bass fillet with kale, lentils and green sauce (superb), reignited our love affair with smoked prawns (first sampled at Angela's in the summer), and enjoyed an apple cake with caramel and crème fraîche. From a trio of wines by the glass chalked up on a board, we chose a skin-contact Rennersistas-Intergalactic from Burgenland, Austria – a brilliant match for the food; by contrast, the wine list proper favours some superb, forward-thinking English vineyards. The fact that everything is as it should be is down to a cracking front-of-house team. And while Dory's now takes bookings, the good news is that some space is reserved each day for walk-ins – a godsend in a town where the best restaurants can be booked up weeks in advance.
One of Margate's little treasures, Lisa Richards’ cheery seafront eatery has been delivering on its ‘thin and crispy’ pizza promise since 2012. Inside, it looks brighter and fresher than ever, while the chilled v… Read more
One of Margate's little treasures, Lisa Richards’ cheery seafront eatery has been delivering on its ‘thin and crispy’ pizza promise since 2012. Inside, it looks brighter and fresher than ever, while the chilled vibe is helped along by a bevy of ‘incredibly welcoming and passionate’ staff. Carefully chosen local ingredients make all the difference to the wood-fired pizzas, which come with vibrant artisan toppings – try the ‘fiery and smoky’ ‘nduja with hot honey and Ashmore chilli cheese or seasonal Kentish asparagus with egg and air-dried ham for size. Drinks have a distinctly local flavour too. Pizza by the sea doesn’t get any better than this.
‘Recommend this to everyone in town.' Thus speaks one Margate local, giving thanks for the gift of this simple izakaya-style Japanese restaurant located a brisk walk from the Old Town on increasingly food-centred Northdown R… Read more
‘Recommend this to everyone in town.' Thus speaks one Margate local, giving thanks for the gift of this simple izakaya-style Japanese restaurant located a brisk walk from the Old Town on increasingly food-centred Northdown Road. Obviously popular, it nourishes regulars (and irregulars) with a frequently changing menu of colourful, bracingly fresh and zippy food (mostly locally sourced), run through with inventive Japanese and north-east Asian flavours. Kate de Syllas trained at the Tokyo Sushi Academy and can be seen at work in the simple open galley kitchen at the back of a light-filled dining room, which is laid out in an all-purpose, no-frills style. Relaxed vibes are a given, service is informed and friendly, and it’s all good value. Everything is light and delicious, from a delicate steamed bao bun sando filled with crab and asparagus, slaw and pickled ginger to okonomiyaki topped, perhaps, with kimchi and smoked cheese, spicy mayo and crispy onion. The kitchen also serves up reworked traditional staples such as soba noodles tangled with local crab, seaweed and ponzu dressing (served cold), or curry udon with katsu chicken and vegetables. Finish with matcha whipped cheesecake, ginger crumb and toasted coconut. The concise drinks list promises sake and a few well-chosen, kindly priced wines by the glass and bottle.
Fizzing with renewed energy thanks to the arrival of chef-patron Will Gleave (ex-Hill & Szrok in Hackney), Sargasso has given Margate a restaurant with the sort of edge that the town craves. This place is cool. A small brick b… Read more
Fizzing with renewed energy thanks to the arrival of chef-patron Will Gleave (ex-Hill & Szrok in Hackney), Sargasso has given Margate a restaurant with the sort of edge that the town craves. This place is cool. A small brick box of a building on the Harbour Arm with splendid views over Margate Sands to the Old Town, it has little in the way of decor – just a narrow kitchen/dining room with stools at high tables and a counter. It's loud, packed and great fun, with an excellent, friendly team overseeing proceedings.
The deal is small plates, and sharing is the way to go, with the kitchen delivering a roster of generously loaded, rustically appealing dishes full of flavour. On an unusually warm early spring day, we bagged an outside table for a meal overflowing with Mediterranean warmth. A snack of fried courgette and Cantabrian anchovy hit exactly the right note, as did the fried squid squished in a soft brioche-style roll, and the melting, roasted Tropea onions with an utterly moreish romesco sauce. What really dazzled, however, was the day’s special – a sparklingly fresh, beautifully cooked lemon sole served on the bone, topped with an unbelievably flavoursome lemon and olive sauce. Desserts range from a creamy, vanilla-flecked panna cotta with poached rhubarb to a rich dark chocolate, olive oil and smoked chilli mousse – we enjoyed them both.
There's good drinking too, from a modern stash of mostly French and Italian wines. And we're happy to report that the days of using the grim Harbour Arms public conveniences are no more. Sargasso now boasts two sparkling portaloos, for their customers only – you just have to ask for a key.
Diminutive, delightful and delicious, Natalia Ribbe’s dinky wine bar and restaurant is a place that firmly ticks the ‘intimate’ and ‘neighbourhood’ boxes. Well away from the tourist bustle of the old … Read more
Diminutive, delightful and delicious, Natalia Ribbe’s dinky wine bar and restaurant is a place that firmly ticks the ‘intimate’ and ‘neighbourhood’ boxes. Well away from the tourist bustle of the old town, it’s a palpable hit with locals who come for the laid-back vibe, obliging service and Andy Lowe’s simple, good-value French-accented food. The compact kitchen-cum-dining room, with just 24 seats (there are a few more on the suntrap terrace, weather permitting), means that Lowe has to work single-handed within the confines of a small space, producing a short, flexible menu of appealing dishes that vary with the seasons.
Everyone praises the vol-au-vents, a fixture since day one. Indeed, our mushroom version was a stonking success and proved good snacking with a glass of Grüner Veltliner (on tap). Hispi cabbage with polenta and agrodolce, and a perfectly timed Dover sole with salmon caviar and samphire (the pick of our lunch), sat easily alongside the likes of salt-cod brandade with guindilla chillies, pâté de campagne with pickles, and confit duck leg with lentils and green sauce.
The sourdough bread comes from Oast Bakery, at the other end of Northdown Road, and for dessert look no further than brandy-laced plum clafoutis with vanilla ice cream – though we were momentarily tempted by the cheese plate. The wine list is a short, expertly curated list of natural and classic French, European and South African gems, arranged by style.
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