The Wellington, Margate, Kent: ‘Worth risking a werewolf attack to get to’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants
The ever-changing menu is a paean to things that make me happyThe Wellington has been drawing crowds to Margate of late, due to a recent takeover by chef Billy Stock and front-of-house queen Ellie Topham,Stock is formerly of nearby Sète, which I loved very much, and also cooked at London’s The Marksman and St John, which is a pedigree that says: “I like feeding people proper food, not fancy, itsy-bitsy suggestions of food,” So with that, I set off to the south-east Riviera on a day when the weather ranged from hailstones to simply freezing gales,Much is said about Margate being freshly desirable, hip and charming, but on a freezing day at the tail end of winter, this seaside town certainly tests the prescription of one’s rose-tinted spectacles,None of the down-from-London brigade cries, “Let’s move to Margate!” as icy hail plink-plonks off their nose while they cower in the door of the Turner Contemporary.
On days like this, you need a centuries-old pub like the Wellington just off the promenade in the Old Town, to dry off with a stiff negroni and a bowl of French onion soup with beef short ribs,Or maybe a slab of country-style terrine with cornichons and, if you’re driving, one of their very good non-alcoholic shrubs: when we visited, there was a lovely, sharp but not-too-tart rhubarb one on offer,As a pub, the Wellington feels like an old warhorse that’s seen many things,Stock and Topham have given it a lick of paint, framed French-themed prints and employed a typeface here and there that might suggest: “We are not a Fuller’s pub; please don’t ask for Nobby’s Nuts”, but there’s still a lovely feeling of nostalgia, like those old rambling Borders pubs of my childhood: part the Woolpack in Emmerdale with a big dose of the Slaughtered Lamb from An American Werewolf,The Wellington describes itself as a “reimagined classic pub” – it has Meteor and Guinness on draft and guest IPAs – with an “emphasis on food”.
But this is a skilful way of describing the way so many glorious old beasts of ex-coaching houses across the UK are now being saved from developers via, well, the power of good bacon-wrapped scotch eggs, duck sausage rolls and solid Sunday roasts.The ever-changing menu is a paean to things that make me happy: cep cream vol-au-vents, plump salted hot fresh rolls with good butter, chunks of brill with glossy peppercorn sauce, plates of chunky chips with hollandaise sauce for dipping.Incidentally, the Sunday offering feels to me like an occasion worth risking a werewolf attack to get to if pigs in blankets, pear trifle, extra Yorkies and after-dinner cognac are your thing.However, what I really want to pay tribute to is Stock’s approach to pies.They are a thing of splendour and ever-present on the menu in different guises: the chicken and leek served in a black earthenware pan with a wonderful, buttery puff-pastry lid is a definite star.
There was a lobster and cod pie that day, too, with a liquor I can’t help but pine for; rich as a thermidor sauce or bisque and thick with lobster meat and perfect flaky cod.It was the type of sauce you weep about as the wasted tablespoons of it head off to the dishwasher, and you fear you’ll never taste its like again.We also ate a plate of fresh, seasonal asparagus simply steamed, oiled, seasoned and served with a rich, pale, silky and not over-eggy sauce gribiche, and a succulent rolled lamb rump with small, plump buttered turnips and a side of nicely seasoned wilted greens.By this point, though, the thought of the sticky toffee pudding with clotted cream felt overambitious, so we plumped instead for a fine portion of airy, milk chocolate mousse topped with candied hazelnuts.Obviously there is comte on offer with at least seven types of sticky, sweet wines, cognac, calvados, La Vieille Prune, and the like.
On a freezing cold day, the Wellington was gloriously toasty and the service even warmer.Topham, Stock and their crew clearly love being here and are proud of what they’ve achieved so far.This is early days for the pub in this incarnation, but I think they’re good for at least another century.The Wellington 1 Duke Street, Margate, Kent, 01843 663803, thewellingtonmargate.co.
uk,Open lunch Fri-Sun noon-2,30pm (4pm Sun), dinner Wed-Sat 5,30-8,30pm.
About £50 a head à la carte for three courses, or £35 a head three-course set menu on Wednesdays, all plus drinks and service,
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