A Delicious Long Weekend In Margate

What to eat when you're in town (Moderately Extended Thanet Version)

As someone who lived in London and ate a lot of snacks, then moved to Margate to eat a lot of snacks, one of the most frequent messages I receive from both friends and strangers via every portal of communication imaginable is ‘Hey! I’m coming to Margate! Where do I find the best snacks!?’

Instagram reels give me hives and Instagram captions really don’t have the character count for what I have to say, so instead of DMing 16,542 people a reply, I thought I’d compile a bunch of Kent coast snack tips right here, in my brand new squeaky clean Subsnack. (Sorry. I’ll see myself out.)

The prawn ceviche at Twenty-Seven Harbour Street in Broadstairs. It would be an actual hate crime to miss this place.

In this Extended Guide To A Long Weekend Of Much, Much Eating In Margate I’ve included some non-edible things to do while in Thanet - the far south-east tip of the British coastline containing Margate, Broadstairs, Ramsgate and the surrounding villages - both with kids and without. Plus a few nice places to lay your knackered head at the end of a long day of grub.

Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate are all within a 15-minute drive, a 30-minute bus or a decent coastal walk of each other, so visiting one while you’re in the other is totally doable. In fact, I spent a sizeable chunk of 2024 walking the baby along the coastal clifftops from Margate to Ramsgate (via Broadstairs) during her nap to meet the heavenly friends I made over there - shoutout Baby Yogis and Kat, the best mum’n’baby yoga teacher who ever lived - and can tell you that the walk from my house in Cliftonville to Ramsgate harbour takes just over 2.5 hours, and that on a sunny day with a good podcast and all those uninterrupted blue sea vistas it can actually trump a full loop of Victoria Park, my ultimate happy place.

The walk between Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate is long(ish), sure, but wouldyajust look at the VIEWS!

An aside: Though most restaurants in Thanet - previously a super seasonal town - are now open throughout the year, when you’re visiting, sunshine and warmer weather are ideal. Obviously. It’s the seaside! You’ll want to swim! Plus, February Margate is officially eight times greyer than February London, and 457bn times windier. The first time I ever visited the place was in January 2016 during a howling storm, and Olive, then just three years old, very nearly got carried away on a gale like a kite.

Unless you’re a seasoned cold water swimmer armed with a robust constitution and a Dry Robe, the sea might feel a little uninviting between November and March, though should you decide you simply cannot leave town without a plunge in Walpole Bay’s tidal pool in darkest January, you’ll rarely be totally alone in the blue, whatever the date, whatever the weather. We are, you see, a hardy bunch. It’s all that bloody wind.

And now! Time for snacks.

Olive in Margate in January 2016, the first time I ever visited, and mere moments before she was almost whisked into the frozen sea by a bit of wind