Margate, British, Traditional Restaurant Guide

This “lovely gastropub in a pretty Kent village” with “well-kept beer and very good food” – including “unusual dishes such as a celeriac and truffle tart” – is part of Saga heir Josh De Haan’s Pickled Egg group. Top Tip – “enjoyed a drink in front of the log fire while looking at the menu”.

“Situated in the covered market next to Canterbury station, this mezzanine-floor restaurant allows you to enjoy delicious food in an interesting setting”, with its “small menu of local and seasonal things” (wholesome soups, tarts, salad bowls) reducing the food miles to about two feet. While, for the odd longtime visitor, there’s a sense that “prices have shot up” of late, the opposing view is that it’s “still as good as it was twenty years ago”, with “wine from a nearby vineyard” to wash down the “locally sourced everything”.

“A real gem by the sea”, this “stunning” family-owned indie of recent origin has a dramatic location under historic York Gate with wonderful views, and a winning interior featuring stained-glass windows and chapel chairs. The “always interesting and varying menu” revolves around a short list of sharing plates cooked over fire: pork belly and fish feature (there are roasts on Sunday) but it’s also “somewhere where they care about the vegetables as much as the meat”. One visiting Londoner who stumbled across it by chance “absolutely loved the place”, which is also “dog-friendly”.