Restaurant News

Hurrah! It looks as if the Millionaires' Playground is to get yet another fine dining experience! Not only is the Cannes of Kent home to one of the best eateries in the south east, Age & Sons (dubbed 'the finest restaurant in Thanet' in today's Observer), but now top chef John Burton Race is re-opening Harveys, on Ramsgate's rip-roaring royal harbour, as a fantastic fish restaurant.

According to the excellent yourfannitinnit, JBR has coughed up 250 big ones to transform this formerly hideous boozer, which has been boarded up for the last year, into the dogfish's bollocks of piscine cuisine. The celebrity chef already has Michelin-rated nosheries under his belt. Shame, though, that Thanet College alumnus Gary Rhodes, who was once rumoured to have been in the frame to open up here, seems to have got cold feet. His puddings are yum! Of course, we already have one fish restaurant on the Croisette - Atlantis. But being a Thorley establishment I have to say from experience that that's more like Captain Digby Deluxe.

So, Ramsgate now has two top restaurants to Margate's one (the superb Indian Princess). And as reported exclusively by yours truly, Eddie Gilbert the fishmonger on Ramsgate's 'King Street will soon be serving fish and chips fit for a, er, king. But what about the poor old Dickensians? Surely the betweeded grannies, second homers and perma-tanned builders' wives in Boredstares deserve something a bit better than scampi in a basket? The deliciously delightful Oscar Road Cafe is all well and good for the best crab sandwiches in Kent during the day, but what about sophisticated dining once the sun's gone down? Well, step forward this joint:

Restaurant 54, the new gaff at the top of Harbour Street, opposite the Dolphin meat market. It's had umpteen different guises in the past few years, prompting the double glazing and conservatory millionaires who were leaving as I passed by last night to ponder whether the name referred to the number of owners it's had since the turn of the century.

Still, from what I overheard they appeared to have enjoyed their meal, and of course it was only a short waddle for them down the hill to Harpers wine bar, where they no doubt rounded off the evening by larging it with the WAGS (of other double glazing and conservatory millionaires) before belling the missus to come and chauffeur them back to Kingsgate in the old V8 Range Rover.

Harveys in yourfannitinnit
The Observer raves about Thanet - and Age & Sons
Er, John Burton Race declares himself bankrupt

Tour De Thanet

Whilst some people may be disappointed to learn that I'm not a 'welfare sponger with a political axe to grind', I am, nonetheless, a barely employed celebrity millionaire with an old throbber to thrash. So this afternoon I whipped it out and took a sunshine tour of our lovely tip of Kent.

It seems the old dirt track in King George VI Park has had the tarmac treatment and is now a bit of a cycle path (the old jokes are best). On to Boredstares, where York Gate has now been repaired following lorry damage a few weeks back. Still no height restriction sign there, though. Harpers Wine Bar looks to be in action again until midnight most evenings, after their contretemps with the licensing authorities a while back.

The de-duallling of Fart Hill in Margate seems to be causing the odd jam.

New 3 tonne weight limit signs on the ramp over the underground khazis are presumably there to prevent the town gaining an unplanned, er, bog hole.

Margate sands baking in the sun. A litter picker's work is never done, given that most Margatonians seem to regard anything more than a two foot treck to the bin with their garbage as something only a person with the fortitude and stamina of Sir Ranulph Fiennes might undertake.

Droit House looking its loveliest. What a shame the clock's only right twice a day! Still, on the bright side, I was in Margate for at least an hour and I didn't spot a single fire.

Harpers Bizarre

The debate over whether Harpers wine bar in Boredstares should or should not have been closed down by our beloved council rumbles on.

Two letters in today's Isle of Thanet Gazunder support the move. Meanwhile I see the owners have set up a Facebook group called SAVE HARPERS!!!, which at the last count had 842 members. About the same number as you'd have found queuing for the teeny-tiny toilet at the Harbour Street hostelry on a Friday night.

I have to declare an interest here. I was never a fan of the place. The bar staff were indifferent unless you were a mate, the place was rammed to capacity every night, and the facilities were cramped. I do, however, believe there is something in the argument that this would not have happened to one of the establishments run by the Ile's foremost landlord, if you catch my drift.

Anyway, it's only to be expected on the Dickensian east of the island, where their definition of a late night drink is a mug of Horlicks after Corrie. Now if they'd set up in Ramsgate, I'm sure they would have received a right royal welcome!