Places To Eat In Kent: Seabird, Ramsgate

Cooked piece of white fish on top of a white bowl of Tuscan bean stew.

Unable to get a table at Bottega Caruso, but still looking for somewhere vaguely East Kent for lunch, we ended up booking a table at Seabird in Ramsgate just before Christmas. A wine and cocktail bar that is very into it’s music they cook everything from their tiny, perfectly formed menu Thursday to Sunday outside (regardless of the weather – talk about dedication from the chef!) in an impressive outdoor kitchen.

Picture of the bar at Seabird, Ramsgate.
Carafe and glass of white wine.
Black and white striped bowl of olives with a yellow rim.
Plate with a pile of sliced sourdough next to a pat of black truffle flecked butter.

With a carafe of good house Italian white (a very seasonable £19 also) we had some standardly good bowl of nocellara olives, and a simply excellent bread course: sourdough from the nearby Viking Bakehouse, served with a frankly wonderful pat of black truffle butter which was wonderfully creamy, and did not stint on the truffle at all. Big fan of this.

Seared scallops on a plate of romesco sauce topped with rocket, flaked toasted almonds and fried capers.

My starter was also simple, yet special seared scallops served on a slick of romesco sauce with a salad of rocket and toasted almonds, finished with a generous sprinkling of fried baby capers. The scallops were perfectly cooked (and I really do mean perfectly), the sauce was bold, and the toasted almonds added a beautiful creaminess and texture along with the crispy sharpness of the capers. I loved this because scallops are so often treated with kid gloves, with soft cauliflower / celeriac type purees unless they’re served as a tartare of a crudo, but these flavours not only worked really well together, but were so bold and unexpected.

White bowl of slow cooked ox cheek with mashed potatoes, carrot and cavolo nero.
White bowl of Tuscan bean stew topped with toasted parsley breadcrumbs with a piece of toasted sourdough on the side.

You can tell from the menu that the kitchen is tiny and simply equipped as many elements of dishes are shared, but you can pretty much always be guaranteed something to your liking either with a selection of small plate / starters or snacks, or because the main dishes tend to lean into the traditional meat, fish and vegetarian (well, these days vegan) format.

The slow cooked ox cheek with seasonal vegetables, a very generous serving of mashed potato and pangrattato was rather good, but I was very glad to have ordered the hearty Tuscan bean stew packed with perfectly cooked vegetables (I might have been nursing a bit of a hangover!) served with more of that excellent sourdough and topped with more of the delicious pangrattato: my mother ordered the same, but just the stew topped with a nicely cooked piece of sea bass instead of the accompanying bread items.

Tiramisu served in a glass.

Apparently the tiramisu for dessert was good, and now is a good time to note as was the service, atmosphere, and all together our experience at Seabird: we’ll be going back, it’s honestly a great spot where you can order and eat as much or as little as you like, and always know it will be something good.

You can check opening hours and book a table here!

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