Deal, Fish & Seafood Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: This “fantastic little bistro hidden away in Deal” is “well worth trying” for the “very high standard of its classic French cooking” – although there is some pushback against its “London prices”. Owner-operators Benoit & Sarah (respectively the Frog and the Scot) also run Le Pinardier wine shop and bar a few doors away.

2022 Review: In a “great” harbourside setting, chef Craig Mather’s collaboration with hotelier James Thomas namechecks the heroic homespun flotilla of the Dunkirk evacuation, also echoed in the decor. The food, mostly sourced within 30 miles of the restaurant, is reliably “solid”, not least the “lovely fresh catch of the day with interesting saucing”.

This “lovely seafood restaurant” is a “good find in Margate”, with an “extensive and varied menu” that features fresh oysters and “delicious seafood platters” but also “includes local meat and vegetarian options”. “Staff couldn’t be friendlier” and “the whole experience is very enjoyable”.

The “little sister to Angela’s”, a seafood restaurant-with-rooms round the corner, “never fails to satisfy” with its menu of “creative, unique fishy small plates” that are raw, pickled, cured or smoked. The owners run a co-op producing their own fruit and veg, and this site also has a wine shop stocking bottles from England and beyond.

“Stunning seafood within walking distance of the Turner Contemporary gallery and Margate seafront” has won fame for Lee Coad’s “tiny” sibling venue to Dory, that he opened in 2017 with his wife Charlotte Forsdike and chef Rob Cooper. “Gorgeous fresh fish is served in a very relaxed dining space”: “a café-like setting that’s enjoyable if not special”. “Service is fabulous too”, helping to account for why this is nowadays the most commented-on venue in town in our annual diners’ poll and “booking is essential” (“having finally landed a table, the memory of the roasted turbot skin will remain with me for a very long time!”)

This stunning curved modern restaurant was opened in 2011 by Saga billionaire Sir Roger De Haan and his son Josh, and won widespread acclaim for its seafood under founding chef Mark Sargeant. But since Mark’s departure in late 2021, ratings have softened a little – “the food is a bit up and down and on the pricey side to cater for the London crowd, but it has an ideal position overlooking the water and the harbour arm”.

2023 Review: This “very buzzy spot in a pink container on the harbour arm” serves “very fresh fish and seafood”, and is the “sister restaurant to Rocksalt”. “Spilling out onto a terrace, it makes a delightful spot for lunch in the sun, with engaging service and all that one wants from a decent fish restaurant”.

Close the harbour, a Victorian hotel dining room with a modern seafood-based menu and specials board which impressed critic Grace Dent of the Guardian.