Our guide to Margate: contemporary art galleries, revered restaurants and joyful seaside amusements
“The skies over Thanet are the loveliest in all Europe,” wrote JMW Turner of his hometown, Margate. A subject of many of the Romantic’s paintings, the seaside town has become the artistic hub and haven he could have only ever dreamt of. With Carl Freedman’s namesake gallery, the monumental Turner Contemporary, and Margate-native Tracey Emin’s aspiring plans to open a local art school and residency in the near future, it seems the trajectory of this corner of Kent has been written.
But it’s not just art serving as the primary source of creativity. The food scene too is full of excitement and ambition (alongside the classic fish and chips that give such seaside towns their nostaligic charm). Opportunistic London chefs have jumped on board the move to the area in favour of the generous space and the seafood of the Kent coast. As a result, there are restaurants on par with that of the big city – and the short commute to London only adds to the appeal.
A town with two sides, Margate still retains its grit and authenticity, giving all the more reason to visit. Our guide includes the best seafood for miles, the top places for an antique rummage and a rewarding coastal walk over the chalky cliffs of Kent.
Turner Contemporary has become Margate’s heart, synonymous with the town and visually unmistakable. Designed by architect David Chipperfield, the elegant, modernist gallery rises from the coastline like a ship, and hosts exhibitions of contemporary art as well as progressive educational programmes and workshops. The three-floored space is free to enter, with a light-filled interior and views for miles out to sea. It’s something Turner himself would be proud of.
British art critic and curator Carl Freedman made a courageous hop over to Margate after 15 years of running a gallery in Shoreditch, east London. He sourced a 10,000 sq ft concrete building that used to belong Thanet Press, next door to Emin’s studio, and set up business in 2019. Over the years, his namesake gallery has grown and exhibited increasingly ambitious shows, while still supporting its original roster of artists, including Billy Childish, Nel Aerts and Jon Key, to name a few.
Tidal pools are a rarity in England – in fact, there are just 13 of them. Walpole Bay’s is an impressive example, mainly due to its size. The four-acre pool was designed in 1937, before freshwater swimming was readily accessible, its outer walls making the water much safer to swim in than the sea. It’s a Margate landmark and while you might not be up for braving a cold dip, just to view it is equally as remarkable.
John Henry Iles built Margate’s lido complex in the early 1900s, at the same time as reinventing the theme park soon to be renamed Dreamland (more on that later). By the 1920s, the completed large open-air pool, surrounded by bars and restaurants, was a vibrant part of the town, providing hours of fun for seaside holiday goers and hosting the annual ‘Miss Lido’ contest. It fell out of use in 1980s, but retains many of its splendid Art Deco features today.
It can be said with confidence that Angela’s is for seafood lovers. The hearsay is that it’s the St John’s of the sea, serving anything from monkfish to whole lobster, turbot on the bone to seasonal catches from Hastings fishing boats. The menu gets chalked on to the blackboard every day, and the sea view is an impressive pairing to the food. The restaurant’s mission is to close some loops in the industry – its upcoming partnership with the nearby Windmill Community Gardens will see them turning its food waste directly into compost, used to grow more organic ingredients.
Dory’s is Angela’s younger sibling, situated just around the corner, shares the value that the land comes first. As a result, this seafood bar prides itself on locality and works closely with Kentish fishermen and independent growers to create its menus. It’s walk-in only so try your luck and enjoy a glass of bio-dynamic wine while you wait.
From the team behind London’s Brawn comes Sargasso, an eatery with subtle Italian accents and time to time live music. Serving dinner and a set menu on Sundays in the warmer months, it’s a good spot for a long lunch with a glass (or bottle, perhaps) of natural wine. The yearly menu of small plates and sharing dishes is ever-changing, though unwavering on the Sargasso classic: a plate of deep-fried parmesan fritters.
Bottega Caruso is a classic home-style Italian trattoria that hasn’t strayed far from its Campanian roots. There are only limited tables available, so it’s worth a reservation. When there, try a classic ragù with a glass of wine from northern Naples, homemade passata e fagioli (pasta and beans), or an aubergine parmigiana. And for the sweet-toothed, there’s the delectable tiramisu. If you fancy turning your own hand to pasta-making, keep your eyes peeled for news of Bottega’s workshops – a series of comprehensive classes in authentic southern Italian dishes.
Ocean enthusiast Dom Bridges founded Haeckels in 2012 after a career change. Turning to the coast as a source of inspiration and raw materials for his skincare alchemy, he began by using his beach finds to create natural products for the hair, skin and body. Vitamin-rich seaweed, coastal vegetables and locally distilled botanicals remain central to Haeckels, and its lab on Cliff Terrace, also the original shop, is still used to experiment with new ingredients. There are also pretty pastel-hued rooms where you can receive treatments such as facials and massages. Though the company is growing quickly, sustainability is will always be its philosophy. Take a bag of rubbish cleared from the beach to the shop, with photo evidence, and Dom himself will give you a special Haeckels product as a thank you.
The Margate Bookshop offers a brilliant selection of contemporay reads, second-hand books and lesser-known works from small-scale publishers and writers. While its Twitter feed is a fountain of literal inspiration and tips (we recommend a follow), the bookshop itself, housed in a beautiful Georgian building, is just as marvelous and inclusive. Weekly curations are carefully chosen by the team, while collections of novels by local authors make the store extra special. There’s a book club and poetry evenings, and upstairs there’s even a little writing room for those living nearby in which to think, meet and share.
The words ‘FOOD RECORDS COFFEE STUDIO’ are spelled in unmissable block capitals on the shopfront of Cliffs. They somewhat gave the game away: found in Margate’s Cliftonville, Cliffs is a cafe with a classic and unfussy menu, a hair salon from the faces behind London’s Stirling, and a record store in which to discover music of all genres, with new records added every day. The coffee is roasted in-house, which makes browsing with a flat white even more appealing. Oh, and the brunches will definitely fill a hangover-shaped hole.
Have you really been to Margate without a visit to Dreamland? Back in 1870, Hall by the Sea, as this seaside complex was known, catered to those arriving en masse and was truly the place to be: with a miniature railway, a zoo and amusement rides, it had everything needed for high-summer frolics. Thought to be the oldest surviving amusement park in Great Britain, it was renamed Dreamland in the 1920s when it was refurbished by John Henry Iles. In 2003, it received a generous grant, which saw the restoration of its Grade II-listed cinema and menagerie cages. Today, Dreamland is an energetic hub for live music, evenings of dancing, rides and rooftop drinking.
In the heart of Margate’s old town lies King Street, the best place for an undisturbed snoop and a rummage. Lined with independent furniture stores, antiques and vintage clothing shops and bric-à-brac emporiums, it’s brimming with bargains; you won’t walk away without that special something you had no idea you even needed. Paraphernalia, Whistle Dixie, H.B Smith, Breuer & Dawson, Peony…the list of shops worth a stop goes on. Thank goodness for the ample boozers dotted around the side streets nearby.
Forts is where to go for a good cup of coffee and a proper sandwich. Up on Clifton Terrace – and with a recently opened spot over in Broadstairs too – the menu is revolving and always exciting. Scotch eggs with black pudding and apple, and cheddar-and-kimchi toasties are classics on the counter, or there’s Korean fried-chicken focaccia and a welsh-rarebit sandwich.
If you’re up for embracing the unpredictable English elements, lend an hour or so to the coastal walk from Margate to Broadstairs. The scenic route takes you over the classic low chalk cliffs that are so characteristic of Kent, and via the sandy secluded beach of Botany Bay for a fossil hunt. Every step treats you to wide and sweeping views out over the North Sea. At roughly eight miles (around an hour each way in total), you can get there and back in a day.
