Cool Place of the Day: The Ambrette, Margate
Every day, a new place to discover or explore from coolplaces.co.uk
The Ambrette, perched unassumingly on the edge of Margate's Old Town in what was once an old boozer, is the kind of place you could easily hurry by without a second glance.
From the outside you might mistake it for a standard British curry house, the cookie-cutter kind that can be found on high streets the length and breadth of the country. But look again. The Ambrette offers stylish, modern Indian food that’s leagues ahead of your standard chicken tikka or balti, racking up rafts of accolades and awards in its wake.
Chef Dev Biswal uses traditional recipes, many of them from South India, where there is more of an emphasis on fragrance and flavour than heat and spice. Ingredients, however, aren’t entirely traditional – Gressingham duck or locally reared partridge, may well feature, along with Kentish lamb, and, unusually for an Indian restaurant, beef and pork.
Local veg, salad and even wildflowers play starring roles, all presented with a hint of delicate nouvelle cuisine panache. If it’s on the menu, try the aromatic freshwater Nile perch, grilled with peppers and fenugreek – it’s Biswal's signature dish.
The tasting menus can cater for vegetarians or pescatarians, and they’ve just launched a brunch menu that brilliantly combines Indian and British breakfast classics – think South Indian dosas, Mumbai street food, or the Full English with a spicy twist.
Cool Places is a website from the creators of Rough Guides and Cool Camping, suggesting the best places to stay, eat, drink and shop in Britain (coolplaces.co.uk)
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
About The Independent commenting
Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium. It allows our most engaged readers to debate the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent Premium. The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Premium. Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates.
Delete Comment
Report Comment
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community Guidelines.
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community Guidelines.
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.