Welcome back. If you’ve been following Cyclechic’s guide to the joys of the North Kent Coast à vélo. This is the third leg of our mini-tour, so if you’re new to our blog, scroll on down the page to see the first two. Not that our final destination will be a complete mystery to anyone who’s read any fashionable British lifestyle publication in the last few years. Yes, you’ve guessed it (even if you didn’t read the title); we’ve arrived in Margate, a town that has spawned more funky pop-ups than you can shake a bicycle pump at, and can count itself a bona-fide cultural hub since the opening of the Turner Contemporary Gallery in 2011. We can’t promise to cover all that Margate has to offer, but hopefully by the end of this blog you’ll be keen to do some exploring of your own. You shouldn’t have too much trouble finding somewhere to park your steed, but you might consider leaving it at the station and exploring by foot. But if you decide to continue on two wheels many of the cafés and bars we recommend have outdoor seating. You can also hire a rather attractive Pashley for the day from The Bike Shed in The Old Kent Market.
route in our previous blog, continue along the sea wall until you reach the Nayland Rock Promenade Shelter (pictured above). This Grade II listed building on the outskirts of the town was where TS Eliot composed part of his modernist masterpiece ‘The Waste Land’ in 1921. But more important even than that is its proximity to a decent skinny flat white and some mouth-watering nibbles, because after all this isn’t the London Review of Books or Architecture Today, and cyclists need sustenance too. As you approached the Shelter along the sea wall, you may have noticed a bright red, double-decker London Routemaster out of the corner of your eye. This is the fabulous Bus Cafe, an ethically sound, locally sourced jewel of a place. If you just fancy a quick cup of Joe, your beans come courtesy of Kent roasters, Garage Coffee, but if you’ve already built up an appetite and simply can’t wait to tuck in, you’ve a choice of hash dishes (potato rosti based in case you’re wondering), South African fusion-style barbeque boxes, as well as veggie and vegan friendly ‘steaks’ and falafel balls. With ingredients sourced from, among other places, Faversham, Herne Bay and Quex Barn you’ll feel your culinary tour of North Kent has come full circle.
If, on the other hand, all that physical exercise has you hungry for more high-minded cultural delights, you could head straight over to the Turner. It may seem forbiddingly modernist and ill at ease with the surrounding architecture, but once inside you’ll appreciate the skill of the architects at making the best use of light and space. The views from the lobby windows will leave you transfixed, more so now that you can watch the sea covering and revealing an Anthony Gormley statue of himself, though a cargo ship narrowly missed colliding with it a week ago so you may have to hurry if you want to see it. Margate native Tracy Emin is currently exhibiting her infamous unmade ‘My Bed’ next to a collection of JMW Turner’s seascapes and stormy skies, so there really is something for most tastes. Plus there’s a rather wonderful shop and a café with a selection of tasty modern salads and more traditionally decadent cakes.
The Harbour Arms, an eccentric but inviting fishing net and mermaid bestrewn micropub. As well as serving a selection of Kent’s finest local ales, the Arms is situated right next to The Cheesy Tiger, home of Margate’s, and possibly Kent’s, most delicious toasted cheese sandwiches. Best of all, if the Tiger’s full (it is quite a bijou establishment) they will deliver molten cheesy goodness to your table in the Harbour Arms. Once you’re full, you can take a stroll along the Pier walls and watch the local drone pilots trying to avoid ditching their birds in the drink, and then amble into the Old Town for a post-prandial mooch around the antiques shops, retro clothes boutiques and galleries that have set up in the area over the past decade. New ones are literally popping up all the time, but you should try Breuer and Dawson for everything from pith helmets to vintage Thin Lizzy t-shirts, Madame Popoff for cut price couture from all the best houses, and the Lombard Street Gallery for exquisite art, pottery, jewellery, prints, and papier maché cats by Emily Firmin from Bagpuss (for all you young at heart retro-tv kittens out there).
GB Pizza Co. is a must visit. Featured in The Guardian, The Observer, The Telegraph, The Sunday Times (the list goes on) they’re certainly doing all the right things, and one taste of their delicious thin and crispy creations will have you nodding along to all the positive reviews. Roost, at the other end of town opposite the old Lido, is another informal restaurant where you’ll have to book ahead if you want to be sure of a table. Describing their fare as ‘streetfood on sea’, Roost is a place for those who like their food hot, hearty and a little bit messy. An added bonus is the ping pong and table football downstairs where you can work off some of those calories after your meal. The Greedy Cow in the Old Town Market Place offers a modern take on traditional café favourites like salted caramel tarts and gooey butterscotch cheesecake. Then there’s The Old Kent Market, an old converted cinema opposite the Turner Contemporary, housing an eclectic mix of ‘stalls’ and cafés, as well as another double-decker London bus that doubles as a cocktail bar. If you’re hungry you can tuck into authentic southern Italian cuisine at Bottega Caruso, enjoy a warming pho soup at Viet Vibe, or recklessly disregard tradition and eat hot cross buns all year round at Gina’s Bakery. You can even get your fortune told by Miranda of Margate, then get a drink in the world’s smallest pub (apparently) ‘The Little Prince’ if she tells you your life line is about to run out. Finally, if you want a small taste of Margate’s nightlife in as short a time as possible you could start at The Lifeboat pub in the Old Town, followed by the delightfully eccentric Fez on the High St, and finish overlooking the sea at The Two Halves on Marine Drive. If wine and cocktails are more your style, then slip out of your lycra into something more stylish and head to the balconies of the Sands Hotel or Buoy and Oyster to watch the sun set over a artisinal Kentish gin and something.
Well that just about wraps it up, but should you be feeling even more adventurous, might we recommend biking up the Northdown Road as far as Cliftonville, the Fringe to Margate’s main festival. Here you’ll find an even more eclectic box of delights, from the ‘Championship Vinyl’ without the attitude Transmission Records, to Cliffs that manages to cram in even more records alongside a coffee shop, a yoga studio, and even a hairdressers, to Batchelors Patisserie, a friendly, old-fashioned treasure trove for cake fanatics and famished cyclists.
If you’ve been sensible enough to plan ahead, it’ll be only a short cycle back to your sumptuously appointed bedroom at The Reading Rooms on Hawley Square, or a last snifter on your own private gin terrace at the Cliftonville Townhouse on Gordon Road. And as your day ends with a spectacular, Turneresque sunset, this, the last in our short series of blogs on touring the North Kent Coast, is also at an end. We haven’t forgotten Broadstairs and Ramsgate of course, but perhaps we’ll leave them for another day. Until then, stay tuned for some hands-on reviews and seasonal guides to help you stay chic on two wheels as the evenings draw in.
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