Broadstairs Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: “Spanish-influenced small plates” – “especially delicious fish dishes” – dominate at this well-established venue under the historic York Gate, while “in winter, their Sunday lunch is epic”. “The outlook over Broadstairs beach to the sea is spectacular and sitting at the bar is simply divine”. Next door, the new Flotsam & Jetsam has been split off from the original site, serving “super-creative fish ’n’ chips”.

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”.

2024 Review: Herald of the new, cool, foodie-friendly Margate scene, this Old Town venue (Grace Dent is a fan) showcases the produce of Foglianise, where co-owner Simona Di Dio’s family runs a farm; the food (meatballs, caponata, gnocchi, etc.) is “delicious as are the wines” – and if you want to learn to pimp your pasta, they also run the next-door Margate Cookery School.

“I absolutely adore this place and have been eating here for years” – “it’s perfect for a date night or to catch up with friends”, agree fans of this pizza independent with a sharp focus on toppings made from local Kentish ingredients. Founded in 2012, it has bounced back after being gutted in an arson attack two years ago.

“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.

“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).

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.

“Lovely food in a very relaxed environment” has earned a glowing reputation for Chris Hicks & Alex Bagner’s revamped boozer. “Service is informal but professional”, and “the dishes well executed, with touches of originality in flavour combinations made for taste rather than curiosity”. Top Menu Tip – “desserts of freshly made light olive cake with poached apple and blackberry and raspberry millefeuille with very light pastry and creme anglaise, both to a high standard”.

Simply the “best place to eat breakfast or brunch (the latter fuelled by limitless Aperol) at the end of a pier, with the waves all around and fabulous views of Deal”; “surf and turf menus are also available on weekend evenings” and offer a “good standard in a stunning setting, especially in summer” (but if you visit in season do “be prepared to queue”).

“Definitely worth the drive… always delicious and great to stay over afterwards” – The Bridgen family’s pub with rooms sits in a “lovely village” halfway between Canterbury and Sandwich and wins very consistent praise as “a favorite Kent bolt hole”. There’s a variety of eating options, from à la carte – which incorporates pub classics but where the focus is on more interesting fare – to an eight-course tasting menu for £75 per person – all “innovative dishes, well-prepared and served by the efficient service”. Top Tip – “Their £200 DB&B for two midweek special is exceptional value – as are their Monthly Celebration Dinners”.

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”.

2022 Review: “A good find”, with “surprisingly good pizza” – although perhaps that would come as no surprise to those who know that this pizzeria was the first in the UK to achieve certification from the Associazione Verace Pizza in Naples. There’s also a full list of starters and pasta dishes, and kids get a three-course meal for £7.50. It can be “very noisy when full”… but have you ever been to a busy pizzeria in Naples?

A “beautiful old pub on the river” which boasts a large “wisteria-clad” terrace by the water and big garden. Daniel (chef) & Natasha (pastry chef) Smith have run it since 2017 and successfully established it as one of the culinary beacons in the locality: a haven of “all round loveliness, with cosy surroundings, warm staff and delivering excellence on the plate”. (The Smiths also used to run the nearby Bridge Arms, but stepped back from it this year in order to focus their energies here). Numerous best meals of the year were reported here by its dedicated fan club: “it’s on the pricey side but worth it to taste such flavours. While not an extensve menu, every dish is well presented and well thought out. Gripes? From a good number of reports, all acknowledge exemplary cuisine, and the most critical feedback says: “the food, what there is of it, is fantastic. But we found the portions ridiculously small”. Top Menu Tip – “Trout and quail starters, pork and venison main courses”.

“Outstanding fresh seafood at a reasonable price” and a full range of “authentic Italian dishes” including pizzas and pasta are served by “cheerful, incredibly helpful staff (often Italian)” at this “very well run and authentic” Kent-based operation – launched 30 years ago by life-long friends Vincenzo Esposito & Espedito Tammaro. These days they have a trio of Neapolitan-style venues in Broadstairs, Faversham and Canterbury.

A “lovely little gem overlooking Broadstairs harbour” which “may not look much from the outside but is a revelation once indoors” (namely a “surprisingly serious restaurant amidst the seafront pubs, cafes and ice-cream shops”). The “innovative” small and large plates, overseen by Richard Kebbells, who runs the place with wife Sarah, nod to the Med and “it’s the seafood that really shines, especially the daily specials”. It’s now also “really good for brunch” (“the kedgeree Scotch eggs are amazing”), but make sure to “book ahead for weekends”, when it’s offered.

“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”.

“Utterly delicious French-leaning but more broadly European food” is building a culinary reputation for this recent arrival: a 40-seat back room added on to an established Francophile wine bar. “Front-of-house is run by ebullient owner Natalia Ribbe who makes all feel welcome” and chef Billy Stock’s small plates are “as well-suited to sharing as to having one’s own courses”. Top Menu Tip – “particular highlights (if on the menu) are the chicken schnitzel with Café de Paris butter and rhubarb choux bun… but everything is excellent”.

Hospitality veteran Ryan Jacovides opened this well-received restaurant and wine bar in May 2024 in the renovated The Centre, and – though it’s yet to generate much in the way of survey feedback – has made some PR waves with the Daily Mail’s Tom Parker-Bowles in his October 2024 review hailing its “splendidly laid-back” style and “a kitchen that roams the globe with easy aplomb” with funky sharing plates such as “a skewer of chicken hearts, plump, pert and well spiced” and “a mighty lemon sole on the bone, exquisitely fresh and exquisitely cooked”. He must be doing something right, as he’s straight onto opening a sibling in Folkestone and ‘Pom on The Pier’, in Margate’s harbour.