Margate, Fish & Seafood Restaurant Guide

“Super-fresh seafood” comes with “a great view of the bay” (“the outside terrace is epic”) at Nadine & Simon Morriss’s “delightful and friendly” beachside venue, now into its second decade. “Now also serving locally produced meat”, including Sunday roasts, plus afternoon teas. The couple also run a nearby chippy called Beach Buoys.

“Our go-to for a tasty bite in Margate”; the “fun” younger sibling of restaurant-with-rooms Angela’s, round the corner, “punches above its weight” by all accounts, turning out “excellent” small-ish plates based on the day’s catch (often delivered raw, cured or pickled) plus vegetables from their co-op (they also have a shop stocking biodynamic wines).

“Top-notch fish” has created a firm local following for this low-key bistro-with-rooms, whose “small” but “perfectly executed” menu eschews meat for plenty of “wonderful” vegetables and herbs. The venture has a strong ethical remit that extends to using mycelium-grown lamps, re-dyed waste wool rugs and bio-plastic furniture, as well as running their own co-op farm. There’s a younger sibling, seafood bar and bottle shop Dory’s, overlooking Margate main sands.

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”.

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.