Now that Margate is 90 minutes by train from London, this seaside location has become the perfect place to stay for Londoners who love to eat and drink. Here is our selection of the best.
The best of Margate
Where: 21 Parade, Margate CT9 1EX
At Angela, it’s all about sustainably sourced seafood with delicacies like ray buttons and aioli on the regularly changing menu. It is a small and popular restaurant so you will need to book in advance.
Follow them on Instagram: @angelas_of_margate
Where: Contemporary Turner, Margate CT9 1HG
Margate favorite Barletta runs the cafe space at Turner Contemporary. You’ll find great small plates and inventive pastas (a pear and gorzonzola agnoletti dish we tried was memorable. They also do great cocktails and their view of the sea can’t be beat.
Follow them on Instagram: @barlettamargate
See also: Watch out for the new opening of the Barletta team this summer in Cliftonville. Sete is advertised as a wine bar and restaurant.
Where: 2-4 Broad Street, Margate CT9 1EW
“Heroically wonderful,” said reviewer Grace Dent of this independent Italian restaurant. With plenty of space inside and out, you’ll find superlative pastas and Italian peasant dishes deeply rooted in the co-owner’s Neapolitan origins.
Follow them on Instagram: @bottegacaruso.
Learn more about Bottega Caruso
Where: 44 High Street, Margate CT9 1DS
This multi-award winning restaurant serves a mainly seafood menu focusing on fish caught by boat in local ports. Local crab can be served with yuzu mayonnaise while asparagus is served with whipped cod roe and lemon rapeseed oil. They also offer a take-out fish and chip service, Beach Buoys, to eat on the beach.
Follow them on Instagram: @buoyandoyster
Find out more about Bouée & Huître
Where: 19 Cliff Terrace, Cliftonville, Margate CT9 1RU
Everything mixologist Felix Cohen does comes with our strong recommendation, so you should check out his cocktail bar in Cliftonville. It’s the perfect place to watch the sunset and the cocktails are both inventive and delicious. The current menu includes a Tomato Cosmopolitan and an Old Fashioned Popcorn, while bar snacks include a must-have fried Baby Bel.
Follow them on Instagram: @daisy_margate.
Where: 24 High Street, Margate CT9 1DS
Angela’s sister restaurant, Dory’s, is open to visitors only, making it a good place to try if you’re heading to Margate on a last-minute spur of the moment. The menu is also seafood based, but it’s more small plates. Take a seat on the terrace or inside the counter to enjoy spider crab legs or raw scallops with zucchini.
Follow them on Instagram: @dorys_of_margate
Where: 8 Cliff Terrace, Margate CT9 1RU
Forts initially opened with a take-out menu of coffee and sarnies before moving to a restaurant with dishes like nduja fried eggs, black pudding and apple scotch eggs and more on the menu. Right now, chef Antonella Orsino is serving up an evening menu featuring some of her favorite street food-style plates from her Naples home.
Follow them on Instagram: @fortscoffee
Where: 7-8 Marine Drive, Margate CT9 1DH
This seaside bar and deli is an absolute must for visitors to London – first for a nice bottle of wine and supplies for your AirBnB, then later at night for cocktails and snacks. There’s also a trap door for you to take some of their amazing frozen cocktails for a stroll down the waterfront. If you’re feeling really racy, order the Miami Vice, a mix of Strawberry Daiquiri and Pina Colada. .
Follow them on Instagram: @littleswiftct9.
Where: Harbor arm, Margate CT9 1AP
As in Folkestone, the port here has been taken over with all sorts of interesting food and drink adventures. Have a drink at the Lighthouse Bar and try the taco shop Dive (Chef Ben was at Big Naturals) where fish tacos and margaritas are the order of the day.
Follow them on Instagram: @dive.margate and @lighthousebarmargate
Where: The Parade, Margate CT9 1DD
At the east end of the waterfront where the Turner Contemporary sits, you’ll find this modest-looking seafood stall. Look a little closer and you’ll spot a menu that features seafood and champagne platters alongside cockles and whelks.
Follow them on Instagram: @manningsseafoodmargate
Where: 80 Northdown Road, Cliftonville, Margate, Kent CT9 2RE
Designed by the folks at Big Naturals wine bar and deli, this new spot serves up gorgeous bento boxes, perfect as on-the-go lunches, transitioning to an izakaya-style menu in the evenings on weekends.
Follow them on Instagram: @morimori_margate
Where: 12 The Parade, Margate CT9 1EZ
There’s a reason the permanent queue winds its way down the parade from this popular chippy – the fish & chips are excellent. A mainstay of the seafront here in Margate since the 80s, a young team manages to stay relentlessly cheerful in the face of non-stop custom. All you need to know is that it’s worth the wait.
Follow them on Instagram: @petersfishfactory
Where: 7A Market Pl, Margate CT9 1EN
Here, slow-fermented sourdough pizzas are the order of the day, accompanied by a natural wine list. Classics like Marinara and Margherita sit alongside more creative concoctions like their Nutty Date (mashed chickpeas, crushed walnuts, dates and chestnut mushrooms). There are also plenty of vegan and vegetarian options.
Follow them on Instagram: @ralphsmargate
Where: Stone Pier, Margate CT9 1AP
Margate locals were delighted to know that the popular Sargassum spot was reopening, especially when news broke that the new owners were Ed Wilson and Josie Stead of London’s Brawn. It has already received excellent reviews from Jay Rayner and Marina O’Loughlin, so book well in advance. The menu is inspired by European coastal cuisine, roaming both locally and further afield for the best produce.
Follow them on Instagram: @sargasses.bar
Where: 33 Hawley Street, Margate CT9 1QA
Co-owner Britton Logan hails from Oklahoma and brought his trademark American service to this quiet Old Town street. The artisan coffee and pastries are very good and if you like the idea of never being within feet of a Flat White at all times, then they have an Airbnb apartment upstairs too.
Follow them on Instagram: @cissort_tail_
Learn more about Scissors Coffee
Where: Unit 3 Harbor Arm, Margate CT9 1AP
Stephen Gadd, who runs Staple Stores, is a former chef at Odettes and Hibiscus, which should give you an idea of the level we’re talking about when it comes to the pastry and breads of this bakery/café group. It just opened in Margate on the Harbor Arm (in Daisy’s old spot) serving amazing cakes and coffees with sea views.
Follow them on Instagram: @staple_stores.
Map of the best of Margate
where we stayed
A few interesting hotels and bed and breakfasts are set to open in Margate over the next few months, but we’ve opted for the Housing in the old town which you can find on Booking.com. It’s right on the High Street which makes it convenient for both the beach and all the shops and bars (it’s on the same street as Little Swift and Buoy and Oyster to name two). We stayed in No 1 which was a two bed two bathroom apartment, nicely decorated and came with a lovely welcome basket with everything we needed for a cream tea. It was £160 a night and can sleep up to four people.
How to get there:
With a direct train service from South East St Pancras to Margate in just 90 minutes, you’d be crazy to use any means of transport other than the train to get here. A return Advance ticket starts at £25 return if you book well in advance.
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