The Ambrette - Margate

44 King Street, Margate, Kent, CT9 1QE
+44 (0) 1843 231504
www.theambrette.co.uk

Review: Sarah Jappy

Everyone has a dodgy Indian in their past. (Stick with me – this gets better.) When my friends and I were teenagers, we frequented a local curry house. We went for the comedy – violent red sauces, equally violent decor, and waiters who plied us with Baileys-drenched ice-cream – but also because the prices suited a schoolgirl's budget. That we survived these early flirtations with Indian food is a miracle; I'm sure my stomach is hardier today because of it.

Luckily, this initiation has in no way hampered my appreciation of Asian food. My family loves making curries, and my Sri Lankan aunt teaches cookery classes. So, when I set off to review the Ambrette in Margate, it's with quiet confidence in my knowledge of the genre, and excitement at what awaits – especially since the restaurant has recently received a nod from the Michelin guide.

You might not expect Margate to be the breeding ground for authentic Indian cuisine, but first impressions are encouraging: it's a Saturday night and the restaurant is packed with happy, red-faced diners. The dining room is, reassuringly, simply styled: wooden chairs, white-linen-clad tables, a few exotic tableaus hanging here and there – suggesting that the emphasis is on the food.

One glance at the menu corroborates this. Forget tikka masala, korma or onion bhaji, the Ambrette's offerings are cut from a finer culinary cloth: sardine spiced with carom seeds and ginger; Kentish pork belly with pickled apple; char-grilled wood pigeon with a game-mince patty and a raita of shallots and coriander. (And that's just the starters.)

Mr C and I are in accord, both opting for tender brochettes of Kentish lamb marinated in pickles. The dish is perfect – meltingly soft lamb perfectly complimented by subtly spiced sweet potato, and topped with a sprinkling of Bombay mix-style crispies.

To follow, I select spice-crusted loin of Kentish pork (yes, there's a theme here; master chef Dev Biswal champions local ingredients, so as well as knowing the seasonings of each item on the menu, you'll learn its birthplace). The pork's Goan sauce – malt vinegar and, wait for it, garlic wine – has tickled my fancy. Mr C wants to copy me, but I bully him into ordering duck for variety's sake.

Our mains are magical. Mine is an edible firework: stacked slices of pinkish pork topped with a tall papadum sliver and other crispy tendrils, with a little pressed vegetable cake on one side and a perfect round of steaming rice on the other. As suspected, the sauce is divine: pleasingly acidic and garlicky rich. Mr C could righteously have sulked, but his duck is divine, sweetened with a sauce of oranges, fennel and cinnamon. He takes a long time over it, giving me a chance to appraise the pudding options, and select rose crème brûlée. This, when it arrives, is silky, delicately perfumed, and prettified with a scattering of sugar beans.

I'm racing to the finish line, and yet I haven't even mentioned the succession of tantalising amuse-bouche – fragrant onion soup, crispy spring roll, plump banana fritter – or the delicious deep-fried okra, or the velvety wine, or the friendly service. Despite all these words, the restaurant's wondrousness (I think that's the first time I have used this word in a review, but it's apt) remains elusive. As the saying goes, you had to be there. So be there – as soon as you can, and be sure to go there hungry.