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. 

Okay, Margate has more great restaurants than we can mention here, but at a certain point you need to sit on the steps overlooking the Harbour Arm  with a fish supper from Peter’s, which never fails – even when the deals get eyebrow-raisingly good, like £4.50 for flaky haddock and chips. Don’t worry: as the seagull’s also know, it’s still good. If you want to be classy, pair with a Little Swift cocktail or beer from the Xylo microbrewery.  

Holder of one of the UK’s first Green Michelin stars, everything’s just so at this little Old Town spot with Thonet chairs and tactile recycled plastic tables – not least the seafood caught fresh from local dayboats, from Thornback ray or skate wing to buttery Dover sole with cockles. The pure vision of owners Lee Coad and Charlotte Forsdike, and head chef Rob Cooper, extends to ceramic dishes made from fish byproduct. A stay at one of the three bright Angela’s Rooms above guarantees a reservation. 

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.