Restaurant in Margate, United Kingdom
24 seats, Michelin-noted, book ahead.
A 24-seat wine bar and restaurant on Northdown Road holding back-to-back Michelin Plates (2024–2025), Sète delivers seasonal, French-accented Modern British cooking at the ££ price point. The ever-changing blackboard menu and a curated natural wine list make it the most considered dining option in Margate away from the old town. Book a week ahead for weekend evenings.
Sète is the kind of place Margate locals keep to themselves. A 24-seat wine bar, restaurant, and bottle shop rolled into a bow-windowed former sweet shop on Northdown Road, it holds two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) and a 4.6 Google rating from over 110 reviews. At the ££ price point, it offers some of the most considered cooking in the area — classical French technique applied to British produce, with a menu that shifts constantly with the seasons. If you are looking for a special-occasion dinner away from the tourist circuit, book here before you book anywhere else in Margate.
Northdown Road sits between Margate and Broadstairs, far enough from the harbour to feel like a functioning neighbourhood rather than a destination strip. The room at Sète is compact — 24 seats inside, a few more on a terrace when the weather cooperates , and the atmosphere reflects it. Conversation carries easily at the early sittings; later in the evening, with a full room and wine flowing, the energy picks up without tipping into noise. For a date or a low-key celebration, the intimacy works in your favour. The bow windows let in good afternoon light, and the combined restaurant-wine bar-bottle shop setup means the room feels lived-in rather than staged.
The kitchen operates on a blackboard menu that changes regularly, driven by what the season makes possible rather than what marketing makes easy. Andy Lowe works single-handed in a small kitchen, which keeps the menu short and focused: expect four or five savoury options rather than a sprawling list. The approach is French-accented Modern British , classical technique (braising, confit, brandade) applied to produce that speaks for itself. Dishes cited from the record include braised squid and peas, curried lamb mince, salt-cod brandade with guindilla chillies, pâté de campagne with pickles, confit duck leg with lentils and green sauce, Hispi cabbage with polenta and agrodolce, and Dover sole with salmon caviar and samphire. The vol-au-vents have been on since day one and are consistently praised. Sourdough comes from Oast Bakery at the other end of the same road.
The seasonal rotation here is the main reason to plan your visit deliberately. The menu the week you arrive will not be the menu from last month's review you read online. That is a feature, not a liability , but it means you should not arrive expecting a specific dish. Come in autumn and you are likely to find game and root vegetables; spring and summer push towards lighter fish preparations and fresh herbs. The Dover sole with salmon caviar and samphire reads as a summer-into-early-autumn dish; the confit duck leg with lentils reads as winter. If a particular ingredient matters to you, check what is current before you book.
Wine operation is as considered as the food. The list is short and curated around natural and classic French, European, and South African bottles, with at least some options available by the glass or on tap , a Grüner Veltliner on tap is noted in the record. Natalia Ribbe runs the floor and the bottle shop side, which means the wine conversation is grounded in real knowledge. For a special occasion, the combination of good cooking and a genuinely interesting wine list at this price tier is hard to match locally. The cheese plate and brandy-laced plum clafoutis with vanilla ice cream represent a dessert course worth leaving room for.
Sète sits in an interesting position within the broader Modern British dining scene. It is not attempting the tasting-menu ambition of restaurants like CORE by Clare Smyth in London or the destination scale of L'Enclume in Cartmel, and it does not need to. The comparison that matters more locally is against Sargasso and Angela's , both at the same price tier, both with strong reputations. Sète's differentiator is the wine bar format and the hyper-seasonal, single-handed kitchen. It rewards diners who want editorial cooking over a broader menu, and who value a serious wine list over a more casual drinks offering.
For context on what the Michelin Plate recognition signals: it indicates a restaurant Michelin inspectors consider serves good food, sitting below Bib Gourmand and star level but above the general field. In a coastal town at the ££ tier, two consecutive Plates confirm Sète is cooking at a level beyond its immediate surroundings. Comparable Modern British restaurants in the south of England holding similar or stronger recognition include hide and fox in Saltwood and Hand and Flowers in Marlow , useful reference points if you want to calibrate the cooking style before you arrive.
Booking is direct given the 24-seat capacity and local rather than national profile, but the small room means availability can tighten on Friday and Saturday evenings, particularly in summer when the terrace adds a few extra covers. Book at least a week ahead for weekend evenings; midweek is more forgiving. Walk-ins may find space at quieter lunches, but calling ahead is the sensible approach given how few seats exist. No phone number is listed in the current record, so check the venue directly for current booking options.
For a fuller picture of what Margate has to offer alongside Sète, see our full Margate restaurants guide, our Margate bars guide, our Margate hotels guide, and our Margate experiences guide.
Sète is at 238 Northdown Road, Cliftonville, Margate CT9 2QD , on the road between Margate and Broadstairs, away from the old town harbour area. The venue combines a restaurant, wine bar, and bottle shop in one small room with 24 seats inside and limited terrace seating available when weather allows. Price range is ££. Booking difficulty is low overall, but weekend evenings in summer fill quickly given the seat count. No current phone or website information is available in our record; check directly for current hours and booking availability. Dress code is relaxed and informal.
Quick reference: 238 Northdown Rd, Cliftonville, Margate CT9 2QD | ££ | 24 seats + terrace | Michelin Plate 2024–2025 | Book ahead for weekend evenings.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sète | Modern British | A characterful, bow-windowed former sweet shop is the home for this lovingly run restaurant located on the road between Margate and Broadstairs. In a fairly small space, the passionate team have managed to combine a restaurant, a wine bar and a bottle shop. The kitchen fuses some classical French techniques with a distinctly British, produce-driven approach, where nothing is overworked and the natural flavours of a few key ingredients are the driving force. The blackboard-written menu is ever-changing, but expect the likes of curried lamb mince or braised squid and peas.; Diminutive, delightful and delicious, Natalia Ribbe’s dinky wine bar and restaurant is a place that firmly ticks the ‘intimate’ and ‘neighbourhood’ boxes. Well away from the tourist bustle of the old town, it’s a palpable hit with locals who come for the laid-back vibe, obliging service and Andy Lowe’s simple, good-value French-accented food. The compact kitchen-cum-dining room, with just 24 seats (there are a few more on the suntrap terrace, weather permitting), means that Lowe has to work single-handed within the confines of a small space, producing a short, flexible menu of appealing dishes that vary with the seasons. Everyone praises the vol-au-vents, a fixture since day one. Indeed, our mushroom version was a stonking success and proved good snacking with a glass of Grüner Veltliner (on tap). Hispi cabbage with polenta and agrodolce, and a perfectly timed Dover sole with salmon caviar and samphire (the pick of our lunch), sat easily alongside the likes of salt-cod brandade with guindilla chillies, pâté de campagne with pickles, and confit duck leg with lentils and green sauce. The sourdough bread comes from Oast Bakery, at the other end of Northdown Road, and for dessert look no further than brandy-laced plum clafoutis with vanilla ice cream – though we were momentarily tempted by the cheese plate. The wine list is a short, expertly curated list of natural and classic French, European and South African gems, arranged by style.; Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | Easy | — |
| Sargasso | Modern Cuisine | Unknown | — | |
| Angela's | Seafood | Unknown | — | |
| Bottega Caruso | Italian | Unknown | — | |
| Dory’s of Margate | Unknown | — | ||
| Mori Mori | Unknown | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
Sète operates as a wine bar and restaurant in the same compact space, so the line between bar and dining is genuinely blurred here. With only 24 seats total (plus a few terrace spots in good weather), there is no dedicated bar counter in the conventional sense. If you want a glass and a snack rather than a full sit-down, the format is relaxed enough to accommodate that — but confirm directly with the venue, as the small kitchen shapes how the room is run.
At 24 seats, Sète is too small for large groups — anything above six or seven people would occupy a significant portion of the room and is unlikely to be welcomed without prior arrangement. For parties of two to four, it works well. If your group is larger, Angela's or Bottega Caruso in Margate offer more flexible capacity.
Yes. The wine bar format and laid-back atmosphere make it one of the more comfortable solo options in the area — you can drink well from a short, well-chosen list of natural and classic French wines while working through a few dishes from the compact menu. The 24-seat room and neighbourhood vibe mean solo diners do not feel conspicuous.
Angela's is the most direct comparison — produce-driven, locally focused, and similarly intimate. Sargasso offers a broader seafood-led menu closer to the harbour if you want more choice and atmosphere. Dory's of Margate is worth considering for a more casual, lower-commitment meal. Bottega Caruso suits those who want Italian rather than French-accented British cooking.
It depends on what kind of occasion. Sète holds a Michelin Plate (2024 and 2025) and delivers precise, seasonal cooking at ££ pricing, which makes it genuinely good value for a celebratory dinner. The intimacy of 24 seats works in your favour for a couple or small group. For a landmark birthday or anniversary where atmosphere and formality matter as much as food, the compact, neighbourhood-casual room may feel understated.
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