Best restaurants in Margate
Published 15 December 2024

‘By far the best restaurant in Margate,' sums up many readers’ affection for Lee Coad and Charlotte Forsdike's tiny eatery with rooms – in fact, some are even happy to endure lengthy train rides for a taste of its friendly hospitality, reasonable prices and Rob Cooper’s dependable seafood cookery. All in all, it’s a crowd puller, expanding onto the pavement in fine weather and, in high summer, to a few tables across the road, where the daily changing blackboard is hiked from table to table, French bistro-style.

Expect intensely seasonal cooking built around regular supplies of ethically sourced fish. Every dish sings with flavour: a main course of monkfish, tomatoes and smoked cod’s cheeks in a rich, green-flecked sauce was an early summer revelation, while reporters continue to applaud the perfectly cooked skate enhanced by fabulous, meaty nuggets of ‘chorizo’ (made from fish offcuts rather than pork) in a rich sauce. To begin, you might consider mackerel with fennel and pickled gooseberries or something as straightforward as brown crab on toast – a seasonal treat. There’s always a vegetarian dish, while crowd-pleasing desserts include a popular flourless chocolate cake or fig-leaf posset with gooseberries and meringue. The short wine list is packed with interest, offering classic fish-friendly and low-intervention tipples from England and coastal Europe. 

Endearingly popular, Simona Di Dio and Harry Ryder’s determinedly low-key restaurant has become an established fixture on the Margate dining scene. An atmosphere of warm informality is matched by homespun southern Italian cooking inspired by Simona’s family recipes from Foglianise in Campania, which provides some produce for the kitchen (the rest comes courtesy of a carefully nurtured network of local suppliers).

The menu structure allows for nibbling as much as three-coursing it. At our most recent visit, we chose from a selection of small plates including a summery citrus-marinated trout with fried courgettes tossed in mint and vinegar, as well as a couple of cibo povero dishes that are never off the menu – namely grandma’s recipe for verdura e fagioli (greens and beans) and the delicious polpette di pane al sugo (sourdough bread balls, eggs and herbs cooked in tomato sauce). A small bowl of pickled vegetables was a perfect accompaniment.

There’s fresh pasta, as you’d expect, made each day with a blend of Italian semolina and organic flour from Nonington Farm in Canterbury. Look out for the likes of spaghetti with sea bass, cherry tomatoes, fennel seeds, lemon and toasted breadcrumbs, or ziti with pork sausage and 'nduja. Among the choice of desserts, the light tiramisu makes an indulgent finale.

The list of predominantly organic, biodynamic and natural wines heralds some of the best producers in Italy, and staff give good advice to those less familiar with low-intervention viticulture. Don’t forget to stock up on artisan Italian provisions at La Cantina, the restaurant’s deli a few doors down

The formula could hardly be simpler: izakaya-style eats and drinks at the back end of the week in a simple white-walled space lit by paper globe lanterns in the evening. Much of Margate's culinary renaissance has been happening along the Northdown Road, and Mori Mori is an integral part of it. Regulars never fail to praise the uplifting atmosphere, which has none of the stuffiness of formal Japanese dining. Smartly compiled sushi boxes, noodle dishes teeming with umami seasonings, okonomiyaki and gyoza options, and a list of savoury nibbles all press the right buttons. It feels like 'clean healthy cooking', but without the earnestness, and staff invariably make everybody feel welcomed like old friends – the modest dimensions of the place giving it an intimate feel. Nobody would forgive us for failing to mention the matcha cheesecake with malted caramel crumb and coconut, which has its confirmed devotees. Sake and skin-contact wines lead the drinks range.

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 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.