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. Angela’s gets regularly booked up, especially during the summer season; if you're out of luck, Dory's (their simpler, seafront sibling) is just a stroll away – and it holds back seats for walk-ins. 

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

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 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 Road. Obviously popular, it nourishes regulars (and irregulars) with a frequently changing menu of colourful, bracingly fresh and zippy food (mostly locally sourced), shot 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 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.