A few days in Kent
Is there any good ice cream in Margate?
It was just by chance that we booked a weekend in Margate during last month’s heatwave. I enjoy a classic British seaside town, rain or shine, but it does help when it’s warm and sunny, and the beaches are sandy rather than pebbly. And it certainly helps when there’s so much good food around.
We rented an apartment in Westbrook, which by all accounts is not as pretty as Cliftonville, where some of the Margate lovers I know tend to stay when they visit. Still, the location and proximity to the action were perfect for a stay with a baby and a toddler. The only supplies we took with us were a bag of snacks for the road, and some Weetabix and bananas for our son’s breakfast. The apartment was wedged between a run down-looking tile shop, decorated with strings of Union Jack bunting, and a pie and mash shop, also decorated with strings of Union Jack bunting. We didn’t try the patriotic pie and mash, but we did eat some lovely meals, of which three were particularly memorable.
When we arrived, we had lunch at Dive on the Harbour Arm before checking into our apartment. It has a tiny menu of three items: fish taco, quesadilla, chips and dip. A dream for a person who doesn’t like too much choice. We skipped the chips and dip and doubled up on fish tacos, plus one order of two-cheese quesadillas for our toddler, who gave it the highest compliment a toddler can give any food: “no, I won’t share this with you!” out of ten.
The tacos were great; a fillet of white fish presented on two corn tortillas, smeared with crème fraîche - a necessary sourness to cut through the rich, smoky adobo sauce the fish was cooked with. The pickled onion, guacasalsa and veil of thinly-sliced radishes were as satisfying to eat, as they were to look at. A perfect snack to whet our appetites for dinner.
Our dinner that evening was at Angela’s on the main parade - a place we’d visited on previous trips to Margate, and exactly as good as I remembered. We booked an early sitting, and they were warm and accommodating to our almost-three-year-old son and our almost-six-month-old daughter, who decided that she wanted to breastfeed every time another course arrived. After all, she’s only human - why shouldn’t she dine while we do? Luckily, I am very well practised in eating one-handed whilst also being a source of food myself, and I appreciate places that don’t make you feel bad for having the audacity to want a nice meal when you have two children in tow. The amuse-bouche was trout pâté and pickles on a cracker. We had starters of mackerel with pickled rhubarb and yogurt, and squid with courgettes and sunflower seeds. For me, squid and mackerel are both at their best when cooked over fire or on a hot hot grill or the like, so the highlight of these was their respective charred bits - the burnished skin of the mackerel, and the grill-mark tattoos on the squid. There was one kid’s meal on the menu, consisting of white fish, potatoes and greens. So far, our son seems to love all food and therefore relished every bit of his plate, before moving on to “trying” (aka “stealing the best bits of”) our meals too.
Next, we had a dish of skate with anchovies, capers and tomatoes, and one of hake with fennel and smoked prawn butter. Greens and potatoes on the side were a must. I can’t resist skate on a menu. Growing up in a fish and chip shop, my parents would often ask the fish man to bring us skate wings for home, which my dad would cover in rice flour and deep fry in the range until its ends curled up, extra crispy. I have always loved crunching on its cartilaginous bones - they are one of my favourite textures to chew through. I’m sure I’m not alone in this, but I always feel self-conscious about doing so in a restaurant, when most people’s skate skeletons stay on the plate. So when they cleared our table, I mourned the sensory experience that I denied myself out of pride. Dessert was lemon posset with blackberries and crumb for me, and a British cheese selection for Tom.
The following day, we had a leisurely lunch at Bottega Caruso, which was the highlight meal for me. Another family-friendly place, but this time our daughter generously slept through the whole thing.
We shared a perfect starter of citrus-cured trout with fried courgettes in mint and vinegar. More courgettes! They are so perfect at this time of year. I had seabass spaghetti with fennel, lemon, tomato and breadcrumbs - the spaghetti chewy in the exact way you want fresh pasta to be. Tom asked me if I was deliberately only eating fish, but I don’t think I was. I just try to choose things I don’t cook much at home. He had ziti with a ragu of salsiccia, nduja and aubergine and, honestly, I could have eaten an entire pot of it. Savoury, salty, fatty and generously covered in a nutty and sweet sheep’s-milk cheese, it felt indulgent. Like something – in the best possible way - that you would want to eat at home while sat on the sofa watching TV - pure comfort. To finish, an espresso for Tom and a tiramisu dessert for me, which he declined to share. I was sure I would only eat half of it, but before I could stop myself I had cleared the plate. I am not sure why I like tiramisu - I drink coffee, but I don’t like coffee-flavoured things, and I really don’t like alcohol with chocolate, but somehow I find the balance of coffee, alcohol, cocoa, and lightly-whipped cream to be really satisfying.
All in all, pretty much a perfect weekend’s eating, but there was one thing missing.
Imagine having three days away at the seaside - during a heatwave - and not having a single good ice cream! Though I searched high and low for one the entire time we were there, it didn’t materialise. It seems bizarre to me that it is difficult to find good ice cream in a place so popular.
Perhaps it’s me. Can any Margate lovers enlighten me? Where is the good ice cream at? Answers on a saucy seaside postcard, please!
Beautifully written and now we know Ramsay & Williams has reopened so there is great ice cream in Margate!
That ziti 😋