The St Mildred's Bay Bar & Bistro in Thanet

First time went for lunch. Food is amazing.Definitely value for money even if looks expensive. Unfortunately I find service unprofessional, dirty tables and chairs. Also menu is not for the price of food. Need attention to details for the money you are charging. Not happy about 10% service charge which I refused. If they didn’t added in the first place maybe waiters will have some tips. We thought the only person who deserved tips is chef. Who not only provide delicious food but also prepare and clean himself. We would like to come again but only if service, atmosphere and cleanest of restaurant improve. Hopefully the owner will read this review because Set up is amazing

We had an excellent seafood meal here with our two young children. Food and drinks were high quality, the staff were amazing, really friendly and made sure our kids had colouring in paper and pencils to keep them entertained from the start. Great location, great food and top service.

Wow, what a little gem! I can’t believe I haven’t been here until now. Stunning food and views to match! Excellent service. Lovely calm atmosphere. Dogs welcome. Will be bringing more friends and family back to sample these amazing delights. Thank you!

Stunning food with a great view! Always warm and welcoming, dog friendly too. Whether you're just popping in for a drink or having food, you'll enjoy yourself.

Outstanding service, exceptional food and an unbeatable location. As we weren't feeling hungry, we decided to have starters only. We had the calamari which are covered in tempura batter and this is one of the best I've had in decades, tender, tasty, juicy and delicious. We also had the grilled tiger king prawns on sourdough toast, these are truly tiger king prawns cooked to perfection, with a delicious garlic sauce. We finished off on the homemade scotch eggs which were awesome. Highly recommend for exceptional food service and location.

After visiting this restaurant on numerous occasions we decided we wanted to get married here. The food is always very good & the backdrop is stunning! It was a win win situation. Paul is very accommodating & planned everything we asked for. We hoped to marry on the terrace, he made that happen. Along with the manager Gary we had several meetings to arrange the day. Nothing was too much trouble. Paul's recommendation for DJ & a wedding planner was also a good choice. Again very accommodating to our needs. On the day - Wow everything was perfect! The staff helped the wedding planner set the scene & help move the isle from the terrace & serving champagne to our guests. The coordination went unnoticed. Paul's team are so professional but also so friendly. All of our guests mentioned how lovely the staff were. We went for a buffet as it was an informal wedding. It did not disappoint. It was replenished time again & was fresh & delicious! Over all we had the perfect wedding, in the perfect setting. If you are considering getting married here, I would highly recommend it, in every way. If I could go back there isn't anything I would change. That's thanks to each & everyone of the people who work at The St Mildred's Bay. A huge thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Sally & Steve Critchley xx

Lovely place, food excellent and service attentive but relaxed. Beautiful views and option to eat outside in better weather.

The Rotary Club of Margate entertained their visiting guests from the Rotary Club of Worms in Germany. We had a fabulous evening and many thanks to Paul the owner, Gary the Manager and the whole of his team. There was universal praise from all 41 diners. Food, in particular the Heritage fish and chips which proved very popular, service and atmosphere were all brilliant! Highly recommended as a venue. The location is perfect, great sea views and lots of nearby parking.

The Rotary Club of Margate entertained their visiting guests from the Rotary Club of Worms in Germany. We had a fabulous evening and many thanks to Paul the owner, Gary the Manager and the whole of his team. There was universal praise from all 41 diners. Food, service and atmosphere brilliant. Many thanks.

My daughter and I and Poppet our little dog have just had another AMAZING Sunday Lunch with Ollie and the staff looking after us. So good! Hence, regulars!

Just had a coffee but will return to try the food soon

• Stunning /quick service • Cuisine absolutely EXCELLENT! • Favourite sweet - Poached pear and sticky toffee with ice cream - heaven sent! • Extremely welcoming • Fabulous outlook onto the sea • Cannot thank - you enough for an excellent experience 😀

Amazing food very tasty and had a nice sunny day to be able to sit outside. The automatically added service 10% charge is a bit cheeky but apart from that all was great.

Their nut roast is amazing! Portions are big, food is tasty, service is fantastic and the view is spectacular! Great location and great food.

We have been a couple of times and really enjoyed the food. My issue is this trend of adding a service charge to the bill. Nowhere on the menu or when I walked in did I see this was now being practiced. Whilst this can be removed, it being auto added and then mentioned in front of the rest of the table makes it awkward to have removed. Customers should be free to tip if and when they want based on the service received and should not be used as a way to top up the staff wages. If you cannot afford to pay the staff a proper wage then adjust your prices so you can and stop this ever increasing practice.

We have been a couple of times and really enjoyed the food. My issue is this trend of adding a service charge to the bill. Nowhere on the menu or when I walked in did I see this was now being practiced. Whilst this can be removed, it being auto added and then mentioned in front of the rest of the table makes it awkward to have removed. Customers should be free to tip if and when they want based on the service received and should not be used as a way to top up the staff wages. If you cannot afford to pay the staff a proper wage then adjust your prices so you can and stop this ever increasing practice.

We stumbled across this place after walking along the sea front and popped in for a quick 🍸 Beautiful views out to sea. Inside and outside seating. Friendly atmosphere.

Just had the best roast dinner ever. Our waiter Jay was so polite and attentive. I would recommend this restaurant wholeheartedly.

Fantastic food but a little bit pricey.

Not as expensive as expected. Nice food. Nice cup of tea. I'll be back again

Love a nice place right on the beach! Good seafood and amazing atmosphere. The service was a little slow but I guess you’re on beach time. :-)

Lovely lunch. Good selection . Friendly staff. Clean toilets.

had a bag to go from here lovely food freshly cooked and hot friendly staff. inviting/welcoming totally recomend

Lovely cafe nice coffee dog friendly

Nice seafront terrace with good food

Absolutely beautiful breakfast, attentive service and such a beautiful view across the bay

1st visit to the St Mildred’s bay restaurant the food was good well presented The girl serving were excellent helpful and friendly Even got a rare glimpse of Paul the boss doing a bit of work Great job guys👍

Love this restaurant when we come to the beach and lay flowers on my late parents bench, wish we lived closer x

Visited today for lunch, me and my husband, we sat outside (absolutely stunning views) lovely space on the terrace but we had bikes with us so decided to sit out front which was still beautiful, staff were amazing and couldn't do more to help if they tried, were very attentive and any issues were dealt with. Now for the food, we ordered fish and chips, the scotch egg, calamari and the bread and butter platter. 1 beer and a glass of water. Fish and chips, cooked beautifully, crispy and not greasy, only downside was that there were quite a few bones still in the fish, but my husband still enjoyed it none the less. Scotch egg, absolutely bloody beautiful!!! Would 100% reccomend this plate!! Perfectly cooked, outer was crispy, egg was soft and came with a small side salad. Unfortunately I did find a small hair in my food, I brought this up with the manager and he apologised profusely, It didn't stop me from enjoying the meal and I would never reccomend this stop anyone from trying this restaurant as mistakes happen and my food was good. Bread platter, not much to say, presented well. Bread was fresh and soft, good quality butter and nice garlic butter on the side. Now for the only real issue I had, the calamari, I had to send back due to being completely inedible. Was tough and rubery, I brought this up with the waiter, he asked of I'd like it to be re prepared but I wasn't prepared to have the same quality be bought out again so I chose to have the item refunded which they did straight away with no issues. The food I did eat tasted beautiful and everything was presented and seasoned perfectly, I will be coming back to try them out again as I did enjoy most of my meal, the price point is slightly higher than what I would normally spend on lunch and drinks were expensive but saying that apart from the calamari the quality of the ingredients was great and I'm aware good food is going to cost a bit more than a standard restaurant and the way it was presented was amazing.

What a true little gem by the sea. Everything was five star, food exceptional, great atmosphere ,clean . Made for a perfect afternoon. A very pleasing disabled toilet, very clean, lots of hand rails and no clutter ( so many people want to put extras in disabled toilets as there is so much room,reality is that room is needed) so big well done. We will return.

I usually find this bistro excellent in everything although a little pricey though you can eat reasonably if you choose the lower priced dishes. The scotch egg is excellent, and prawns. I had lunch last Wednesday and was disappointed. I thought I ordered smoked haddock rarebit with poached egg with salad. I did check with the waiter it wasn’t on bread he said no just cheese sauce. The tiny amount of haddock was hard obviously had been flaked and left a long time. I would have preferred just a piece of the smoked haddock with the poached egg. Not good for the money either. I will go back but more careful what I order. My friend ordered a smaller fish and chips portion and she said it was good.

Excellent food & location but service was a little slow today understandable due to weather & visitors

A good breakfast, service from pleasant people, but the whole experience from ordering to food arriving was a bit on the slow side. Beautiful place to eat on the sea front. Would we go again if in the area?, definitely !!

Always a pleasant place to stop when out with the dog, nice friendly staff and a great coffee too

I was completely blown away by the kindness of the staff. A massive thank you to the chef for giving my old dog a very special treat on his last day. I was so moved by it. Thank you!

Only visited for a coffee which was good and reasonable value. The place is obviously aiming to sell food but over half the customers when I was there seemed to only be having tea or coffee

“Less busy than usual” and an hour to receive a bacon sandwich and juice. Bacon sandwich was two slices of bread and two rashers of bacon - £6. Asked for sauce, 15 minute wait. Asked for the bill, 20 minute wait…

Excelent sunday lunch , friendly staff . Lovely view of the sea but slightly cafe like atmosphere

Very impressed. Sunday roast. 2 veggie options. They were happy. 2 elderly people had a small(childs) roast. Which was great to have that option, and that was still very generous, and one normal roast beef. Very tasty. Great choice of veg. All fresh, well presented and lovely staff. Also dog friendly which we had a dog.

We have had breakfast here many times. Always good food slightly more expensive but being right next to the beach it’s worth it. Service is always good even when I turn up for ‘just coffees’ with up to 10 friends! Had lunch once and food was delicious.

Great food and service and amazing atmosphere. Food was tasty and well priced and drinks were great. Chips were perfect and the kids meals are very generous. Only complaint was the salmon and burger were slightly over cooked but we’re keen to have another visit. Amazing views around sunset.

Delicious food, beautifully presented, served in a unique setting.

If I could give 6 stars I would - great food with equally great service!

While visiting the area we took a Sunday morning walk along the sea front, we didn't plan on an English breakfast but it was windy...and well, why not. The large open windows make the most of the viewv which is partly what drew is to it. We were seated quickly with no fuss, orders were taken and the tea delivered quickly. The food was really good, top quality and well cooked. They were subtly setting up for Sunday lunch as we left. The staff were friendly and efficient, they were quite busy. They did have a large table reserved for a breakfast group so if you need that assurance then it was available. There's parking nearby if you're not keen or able to add this to a walk.

Great place to eat, brilliant fast, friendly service.

Beautiful place facing the sea..very plentiful and very good

My first visit for lunch. My friend and I walked from West Bay in the pouring rain! We arrived to a warm welcome. The service was great. The lunch was tasty and reasonably priced. The owner even gave the dog tip bits! I will certainly return, but hopefully, next time, the sun will shine.

I've visited this cafe many times. There is a good chef who does great food. If you want a window table you'll need to book in advance as they are sought after.

Views were nice, service was good. Food was good. Price was definitely on the high side but I guess the rent for location is costly.

Lovely Sunday lunch with friends.

Great food and service although very quite. Far too many chips though

My friend & I thought this restaurant was amazing , it was full on the Sunday we visited. The owner was watching over everything making sure everything was run to perfection. We enjoyed our meal of prawns cooked beautifully. We will definitely visit again highly recommended

Very good service. Good food and friendly staff.

Friendly welcome and fantastic food

Very relaxing place to enjoy a good meal with friendly, helpful staff.

Friendly service, great food and fantastic views.

Delicious food but the service is woefully slow!

Good food at a reasonable price

Very good staff helpful and patient

OK for snacks but I wouldn’t like to eat a proper meal here, too informal for my liking. We were sat by the door which was quite cold so it made the experience less satisfying. Food was very average.

Excellent food, lovely experience, maybe a little expensive for a lunchtime Christmas dinner but I thought well worth it.

Had a lovely meal and the staff were brilliant

Food was excellent, staff not so much. Not rude, just a bit disinterested.

Best breakfast we've had in a long time. Great quality produce and real butter that isn't rock hard 👌

Very happy to visit anytime. Friendly staff, good service, great views and dog friendly.

We were a party of 8 adults and 1 very well-behaved dog. Everyone throughly enjoyed all their meals from starters to sweets. Excellent service and wonderful views!

First time here, and I can't fault it. Food was great and the views of the sea on a sunny afternoon are lovely.

Lovely Sunday roast and location will return

My partner had the pot of prawns, i went for the big tiger prawns both of us had sourbread.

Really recommend this place always great food catering for all allergies. Dog friendly, very friendly staff. And amazing sea views. Yesterday had the Roast Dinner amazing, very tasty large portions we will be going back 😋

Took mother to the St Mildred's bay restaurant , had a wonderful afternoon, good food, good service and atmosphere was just right . Mother had a child's fish and chips, cos she doesn't eat much and I had the prawn and crayfish wrap . All in all ,FANTASTIC.

We had lunch today, my husband had the kingprawns, they were mushy not fresh!! 14 pounds for three prawns, they tasted horrible I was happy with my vegan sandwich, it was tasty!! The waitresses asked!! How was the food, I told her about the prawns, she apologised!! We shouldn't have to pay for horrible food, no!! We won't go again!!!

Top food and friendly staff. My family loves it. Stunning view worth to go at the weekend.

October 2023. Called in for breakfast again. Quality of food excellent. Poached eggs were perfect. Waiter was attentive and friendly. Highly recommend.

Very nice, great staff. Wine & Chips the best.

Took our mum here for a birthday lunch. Food was really good and staff very attentive and friendly Lots of choice on menu

Delicious food. Service and food a bit slow but the food was really nice. Cajun chicken was delicious. Definitely recommend.

Came here on a lovely Sunday morning with the dog and sat outside on the promenade. Unfortunately nobody had bothered to have a sweep up of the floor so we were sitting amongst old cigarette butt's,old food wrappers,napkins etc disgusting. They need to take notice of similar establishments on the continent where it would probably have been spotless ! Come on get a broom out.

We all enjoyed our breakfast here. The service was a little slow but it's fine when you're by the beach on a sunny day. Really good veggie options and nice coffee.

Could do with cushions on out side wood chairs . Very dog friendly very lovely people and stunning views

Wonderful food, worth its price, dog friendly and very nice stuff. Highly recommended!

Beach views, classic English food done to a high quality with love and proper wedges of bread with breakfast, food, good portions, and pots of tea , sea views . Definitely worth a visit.

Definitely will go back! Music was just a bit too loud but beautiful setting, lovely food. Xxxx

Our Daughter and her husband took us for lunch here on Sunday. Its dog friendly so we took our babies who were made so welcome. The food was amazing and we had a lovely afternoon. Service was really good by polite staff and very helpful. We will be regulars here now as it's a beautiful bistro with lovely views. There was just one snag... someone had parked right over the accessible entrance and we couldn't get the wheelchair through but that's not there fault. Just someone not giving it a thought. The staff did try and find out who it was.

Can't comment on the food as I just come here for a coffee or a cider on the dog walk, but the young staff here are always superb! Always rushing around trying their hardest - and always very polite, even on busy days.

Fabulous location about as close to the sea as possible, extremely helpful, friendly service and delicious food. We went for dinner and between us really enjoyed the seafood sharer, calamari, shell-on prawns and tiger prawns - really delicious food and nicely presented. Just one suggestion: please replace the smoked mackerel in the seafood sharer with those melt-in-the-mouth calamari. The photo shows the CHILDREN'S goujons and chips plate - generous and delicious enough for the hungriest and most discerning adult!

Great breakfast with everything cooked perfectly

Absolutely brilliant food , atmosphere and service. All of that and an amazing location 🙌

Great setting, incredible food. Went without any expectations and was very pleasantly surprised. Staff were polite and attentive with the food being not only superb but very reasonably priced. My only criticism would be the wooden picnic benches are not particularly ergonomic meaning you sit quite far from the table, quite uncomfortable when eating. The alternative wooden tables do have movable seating but these are limited. We eventually moved over to one such table and found the seat to be wobbly due to fixings not being secure. Otherwise would highly recommend.

Very friendly staff we had two lovely Smoothies and the owner even gave me some ice cream in a tub for our doggy (free of charge) because they didn’t sell doggy ice cream which was very kind and much appreciated. Will come again.

Very relaxing with the most amazing view! We had two seafood starters - Shell on prawns & calamari - both were so fresh & delicious! Mains were muscles - Yum yum... so delicious & so fresh. The wine & prosecco were so nice! A definite 5 * highly recommend this place. The waitress was lovely, great service thank you for such a lovely evening.

Lovely food,service a bit slow today but was busy Would definitely return Dog friendly too.

Nice, dog friendly restaurant on the lovely beach

Each time we have visited recently the service and the food have been slightly worse than the previous visit. This is a terrible shame because the restaurant started so well. Now it seems to have deteriorated massively. Today the waitress seemed more interested in her nails than her clients, confused our order, forgot the cutlery (after a period of waiting, I had to go and get it), muddled the coffees (couldn’t remember which was decaffeinated- really helpful), didn’t bring the bill (could have just walked away and they wouldn’t have noticed). The food wasn’t special either. Looked thrown together rather than prepared on the plate, was tasteless, over salty and not very good raw materials by the look of the salad. So disappointing given that we have enjoyed quite excellent service and food in the early days. It’s such a nice location to overlooking the bay. How sad!

Excellent cafe found when walking along Westgate sea front. Loving prawn sandwich and frittata.

Would highly recommend. Great food & service was excellent!

Lovely service amazing view and great quality food

Fantastic, helpful, friendly staff. Allowed us to decorate a table for a small private wedding celebration. Couldn't have been more accommodating or professional. Great venue for a celebration.

Amazing service! Went above and beyond to get us cake from another of their restaurants! Couldn’t have asked for anything more!

Great food and service. Sunshine atmosphere 💛