Restaurant in Broadstairs, United Kingdom
Michelin-recognised seafood, easy to book.
A Michelin Plate seafood restaurant on the Broadstairs seafront, Kebbells earns strong marks for daily-catch cooking at ££ prices. The open counter and relaxed staff make it a reliable choice for solo diners and pairs; a 4.8 Google rating from nearly 500 reviews backs up the quality claim. Book it for weekend lunch when the catch is freshest and availability remains easy.
If you are returning to Broadstairs after a first visit to Kebbells and wondering whether to go back, the answer is yes — particularly for a weekend lunch when the daily catch is freshest and the room is at its most animated. This is the seafood restaurant that earns its Michelin Plate (2025) without the formality that recognition can sometimes drag along with it. At ££ per head, it is the most credible seafood option on this stretch of the Kent coast, and it suits anyone who wants produce-led cooking without booking months in advance or dressing up for the occasion.
The brunch and weekend lunch format is where Kebbells makes its strongest argument. The menu rotates with the daily catch, which means what you order on a Saturday morning may not appear again for weeks. If you visited before and had something you loved, do not expect an exact repeat , but do expect the same standard of sourcing and the same careful handling of whatever has come in. That is the deal here, and it is a good one.
Kebbells sits at 8 Victoria Parade, right on the Broadstairs seafront , a position that makes the restaurant's identity immediately legible before you walk through the door. Inside, the visual cues are worth noting: a large open counter dominates the space, mirrors cover the walls in multiples, and shelves are stacked with jars of preserved goods and house-made chilli sauce. The effect is part working kitchen, part neighbourhood deli, and it sets an expectation of food that is considered but not precious.
The open counter is the seat to request if you are returning as a regular. It gives you a direct sightline into the preparation, and it is the natural position for solo diners or pairs who want to eat well without the formality of a full table-service setup. The room is compact enough that there is no bad seat, but the counter anchors the experience in a way that a side table does not.
A Michelin Plate signals cooking that meets the guide's quality threshold without reaching for the theatrical ambition of a starred kitchen. For Kebbells, that is exactly the right credential. The recognition confirms what a 4.8 Google rating across 479 reviews already suggests: this is a kitchen that executes well, consistently, on ingredients that do not need much intervention. The menu is driven by the daily catch, balanced combinations are the house approach, and the kitchen does not overcomplicate what arrives fresh.
Kebbells does not appear to run a fixed tasting menu format, which is worth factoring into your expectations. This is a la carte or daily-menu seafood cooking, not a set-course progression. For the price point and the setting, that is the right call , it keeps the experience flexible and accessible without reducing the quality of what lands on the plate. If you are after a structured multi-course seafood tasting, you would need to look further afield, toward venues like hide and fox in Saltwood or destinations like L'Enclume in Cartmel for that level of ambition.
The staff are described consistently as cheery and relaxed, and that tone matters in a seafood room at lunch. You are not dealing with formal brigade service or a sommelier-led progression. The personal touch that regulars notice is not manufactured warmth , it reads as a small, owner-invested operation that has not scaled beyond what the team can genuinely handle. At a Google rating of 4.8 from 479 reviews, the service is clearly a consistent strength, not an afterthought.
Booking at Kebbells is rated Easy, which is a meaningful advantage over comparable quality restaurants along the Kent coast and beyond. You are not managing a weeks-out reservation window or competing for a specific counter seat. That said, weekend lunch on a summer Saturday in Broadstairs will fill faster than a midweek slot , the seafront location and the Michelin Plate recognition both work against leaving this to chance in peak season.
| Detail | Kebbells | Twenty Seven Harbour Street | hide and fox |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Broadstairs seafront | Broadstairs | Saltwood, Kent |
| Price range | ££ | ££ | £££ |
| Award | Michelin Plate 2025 | , | Michelin Star |
| Booking difficulty | Easy | Easy | Moderate |
| Format | Daily catch, a la carte | Seasonal British | Tasting menu |
For more options in the area, see our full Broadstairs restaurants guide, our full Broadstairs bars guide, and our full Broadstairs hotels guide. If you are planning around the wider Kent coast, Twenty Seven Harbour Street is the most direct local comparison. For seafood further afield, Gambero Rosso in Marina di Gioiosa Ionica and Alici Restaurant on the Amalfi Coast offer a useful international frame of reference for the category.
Kebbells does not appear to operate a fixed tasting menu. The menu format follows the daily catch, making it a la carte or daily-selection seafood rather than a set-course progression. If a structured multi-course seafood experience is your priority, consider hide and fox in Saltwood, which runs a tasting menu format at a higher price point. At ££, Kebbells' flexibility is part of the value.
The large open counter is a genuine feature of the room and the most interesting seat in the restaurant. It is well-suited to solo diners or pairs who want to watch the kitchen in action. Request it when booking rather than leaving it to chance , it fills quickly at weekend lunch.
Contact information for Kebbells is not currently listed, which makes advance communication about dietary requirements harder to confirm. Given the daily-catch format, the menu will naturally shift, so calling ahead is advisable for anyone with specific allergen requirements. Check the Broadstairs restaurants guide for venues where booking and dietary policies are more clearly published.
Yes, provided your idea of a special occasion is a well-cooked meal with excellent produce in a relaxed seafront room rather than a formal set-piece dinner. The Michelin Plate credential and 4.8 Google rating give it enough weight to mark a birthday or anniversary lunch without the pressure of a tasting-menu format. For a more formal occasion, Midsummer House in Cambridge or Gidleigh Park in Chagford operate in a different register entirely.
It is a strong choice for solo diners. The open counter provides a natural anchor point, the atmosphere is relaxed, and the service tone described by regulars is warm without being hovering. At ££, the solo cover is not a budget stretch. Broadstairs as a destination also rewards solo travel , see our Broadstairs experiences guide for context on pairing a solo lunch here with the rest of the town.
Twenty Seven Harbour Street is the most direct local alternative, offering seasonal British cooking at a comparable price point. For Michelin-recognised seafood at a step up in formality and price, hide and fox in Saltwood is the Kent coast comparison worth making. See the full Broadstairs guide for the wider picture.
At ££, it is among the stronger value propositions for Michelin-recognised seafood in the UK. The daily-catch menu format, the 4.8 Google rating across nearly 500 reviews, and the ease of booking all point toward a restaurant that over-delivers at its price tier. For comparison, Hand and Flowers in Marlow sits at a similar quality threshold but at a higher price point. Kebbells is the easier, cheaper, and in many ways more relaxed call.
The room's compact scale and open-counter format suggest it is better suited to small groups of two to four than large parties. For larger group bookings, contact is essential , and current contact details are not publicly listed here. If group dining is your priority in Broadstairs, the Broadstairs restaurants guide will point you toward venues where capacity and group booking policies are more clearly confirmed.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kebbells | ££ | Easy | — |
| CORE by Clare Smyth | ££££ | Unknown | — |
| Restaurant Gordon Ramsay | ££££ | Unknown | — |
| Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library | ££££ | Unknown | — |
| The Ledbury | ££££ | Unknown | — |
| Dinner by Heston Blumenthal | ££££ | Unknown | — |
How Kebbells stacks up against the competition.
The database does not confirm a set tasting menu format at Kebbells. The kitchen operates a daily-changing menu built around the day's catch, which is the format here. If you want a fixed multi-course tasting progression, this may not be that venue — but the rotating menu means what arrives at the table reflects what was worth buying that morning, which is a reasonable trade.
Kebbells has a large open counter as a central feature of the dining room, which suggests counter seating is part of the experience rather than an overflow option. For solo diners especially, the counter is worth requesting — it puts you closer to the action in a room designed around it.
Specific dietary accommodation policy is not documented in available venue data. What is clear is that the menu changes with the daily catch, so options on any given visit depend on what came in that day. check the venue's official channels before booking if dietary restrictions are a deciding factor — this is not a menu-heavy format where substitutions are easy to predict in advance.
Yes, with the right expectations. The Michelin Plate recognition and seafront address at 8 Victoria Parade give the meal enough weight for a birthday or anniversary, and the ££ pricing means you are not overspending for the occasion. The atmosphere is relaxed rather than formal, so if you need white-glove ceremony, look elsewhere — but for a genuinely good seafood lunch or dinner that feels considered, Kebbells delivers.
The large open counter makes Kebbells one of the more solo-friendly options on the Kent coast at this price point. You are not marooned at a table for two — the room is built around the counter, the staff are described as cheery and relaxed, and the ££ pricing means a solo visit does not require justification. Book the counter if you can.
Broadstairs has a handful of seafood-forward options along the seafront, but Kebbells is the only one in the town with Michelin Plate recognition as of 2025. If you want a wider comparison, Whitstable — roughly 20 miles along the coast — has a denser cluster of seafood restaurants including Wheelers Oyster Bar. For the Broadstairs visit itself, Kebbells is the clear quality anchor in the local seafood category.
At ££, Kebbells sits in the accessible mid-range bracket and holds a Michelin Plate for 2025 — that combination represents solid value for a daily-catch seafood menu on the Kent coast. You are paying for well-cooked, carefully sourced fish rather than a production. For the price point, the quality-to-cost ratio is favourable compared to what a Michelin-recognised meal costs in London.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
