When did a museum last make you LOL? The brainchild of brothers Bertie Terrilliams and Ned Suesat-Williams, with their friend Chase Coley, it’s hard to explain this place – essentially an idiosyncratic joke with a serious message, which uses crab facts to explore climate change, capitalism and the history of pretty much everything. Imagine a spotted reef crab moonlighting as a trade unionist, or a video of a human failing to shed armour in the way a crab would. Or just go and see for yourself.   

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. 

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. 

While Angela’s needs booking, its seafront small-plates little sister is walk-in only. The setup may be more casual, but the often pickled or cured dishes are just as good here: silken crab tarts with shortcut pastry, smoked prawns with aioli, raw bream with brown butter and apple. Pair with a Sophie Evans skin-contact Kentish pinot gris and a neon sunset from one of the outside tables looking the Main Sands, and you have something approaching the Margate Dream.