The Best Seafood Near Sargasso, by the Record
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Rank 1. Sargasso
Seafood
A former boat shed on Margate's harbour wall, with the tide doing its thing right outside the window. Sargasso is a seafood restaurant that earns a Michelin Bib Gourmand with a shareable, seasonally shifting menu built around whatever the sea is offering that week. The wine list runs natural and biodynamic, and the whole setup feels less like a restaurant than a very good argument for moving to the coast.
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Rank 2. Angela's
Seafood
A small seafood bistro just off the Margate esplanade where meat never makes an appearance, leaving the whole menu to oysters, scallops, sole, and whatever else came in that morning. The cooking is pared back enough that the fish does the talking, which tends to suit the kind of place that knows its produce is good. Three rooms upstairs with sea views if you're staying the weekend and not quite ready to go home.
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Rank 3. Kebbells
Seafood
A seafood restaurant right on the Broadstairs seafront, with a dining room lined in mirrors, an open counter, and shelves of house preserves and chilli sauce. The menu follows the daily catch, so what you order depends on what came in that morning. The staff are the kind of relaxed but attentive that takes years to pull off without looking like it. The Michelin Guide has it selected.
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The oyster beds sit just outside the window, which is about as farm-to-table as the phrase was ever meant to be. This family-run seafood restaurant on the Whitstable waterfront built its reputation on those native oysters, served natural or dressed up depending on your mood. The rest of the menu follows the catch, kept simple and close to the sea. A big terrace looks out over the estuary, which on a good day makes the whole thing feel almost unfairly pleasant.
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Rank 5. Aquar'aile
Seafood
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Rank 6. Le Grand Bleu
Modern Seafood
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Rank 7. La Plage
Seafood
A small hotel-restaurant wedged into a coastal village between two famous capes, La Plage leans hard into the Opal Coast's larder: sea bream, mackerel, pollack, whatever came in. The chef's plating is careful without being precious, and the menu strays into poultry and slow-braised things when she feels like it. The Michelin Guide gives it a Bib Gourmand, which tells you the math works out well at the end of the meal.