The revamped Centre shopping arcade still has Peacocks and Poundland, but also has a cool tequila bar, New York-style pizzeria, great coffee shop, indie gig venue – and now this modern bistro, with racing green walls, metro tiles and recycled table tops for comforting small plates from chicken karaage to charcoal blackened leeks and featherblade beef bourguignon. Owner and ex-Jamie Oliver MD Ryan Jacovides is a Margate lad, and passionate about local produce, with Kentish vineyards dominating his listing of sparkling whites especially.    

The Dreamland amusement park is now owned by entertainment giants LiveNation, meaning ever-more serious gigs (like Supergrass with Jake Bugg and The Coral in 2025). Where Else? Is holding up the actual indie side of things, with thoughtful gigs (Anna Erhard, The None) and punchy comedy (Jamali Maddox, Suzi Ruffell), much of it from local promoter Chumps. It’s had financial struggles, so buying a ticket here does more for the town than a trip to Dreamland. 

Ex-London music industry types Kelly Love and Dan Williams reopened the Grade II-listed George and Heart in late 2019, and have created a much-loved pub with rooms that happily sits somewhere between cosy and anarchic – laying on Sunday roasts, pumping Pride events and quizzes over Pink Palomar cocktails with similar panache. Each of the six rooms and two suites is an artful one-off, like the warm-toned, 70s-inspired Poodle and Blonde suite by the design duo of the same name.     

A love letter to rustic Campanian cucina povera isn’t exactly what you expect by the seaside – but there’s no questioning the provenance of this spot run by Harry Ryder and Simona Di dio, who mined her nonna’s cookbook for simple but wondrous staples like the verdura e fagioli greens and beans or bread balls cooked in the family’s rich red sauce. The tiramisu and house-made limoncello cream are sublime, and if you get there early you can sometimes bag an outside seat.