About The Coastguard

A historic sea-side pub and restaurant in St Margaret’s Bay, near Dover, The Coastguard invites you to dive into superb food and drink while enjoying an epic view over the waves.

Britain’s nearest pub to France, the Coastguard has kept watch on the sea-front for more than 300 years – and after its refurbishment means you can take in those spectacular bay views in style.

The pub’s look is inspired by maritime heritage, with a red and white lighthouse-style fascia and boat-shaped planters and lifebuoys dotted around the beautiful front verandah – where an outside bar and barbecue set the scene for summer. In winter, the pub offers a haven for those enjoying a bracing walk along Dover’s famed White Cliffs. Inside, the nautical theme continues, with a warm and welcome offered to all who come aboard.

We are so excited to be welcoming you all back to The Coastguard from 10am on Saturday 4th July. We hope you are all well and have stayed safe over the last few months. We have been working hard on what will be the ‘new normal’ for the foreseeable future at The Coastguard. Please be assured our only goal is to create a safe and welcoming environment for our customers and our team, so that everyone can relax and enjoy the hospitality we’re known for.

We have given careful consideration to every decision we have made in navigating our way through this new normal. Please bear with us, as things may take longer, we may have to make changes – but this is a new journey for all of us.

The Coastguard Team x

Here is a summary of the key differences you may notice when you visit us, if you would like to read our full Company COVID Policy please download it here.

Bookings & Group Sizes
Bookings can be made for our inside tables, but as usual outside tables on both the terrace and in the garden cannot be booked. There will be a host who will greet all our customers on arrival, explaining everything you need to know about your visit with us, this team member will be operating a queuing system for the outside tables, and hopefully you will not have to wait too long.

Please remember the Government guidelines with group numbers – indoor tables should only be in groups of up to two households (including support bubbles). Outdoor tables of 6 people or less can be from any number of households. If the group is more than 6 then they should be from no more than two households (or support bubbles).

Arrival (inc Track & Trace)
On arrival everyone will be greeted by a host – who will be there to inform all our customers with everything they need to know to have a safe and enjoyable visit with us. The host will ask for you to use our hand sanitiser station and guide you to a table.  The host will also take down your contact details, as per the Government’s guidelines to collect information if ‘Track & Trace’ is needed.

Bar Area
Our bar area is unfortunately not open to customers, all service will be table service.

Menus
We will be running a slightly reduced menu for the time being, but don’t worry it still features all the Coastguard favourites! Our host will provide you with a menu, which will be only used once and will be recycled afterwards.

How to order & your table
We will be doing our very best to keep a safe distance when taking orders and serving your table.
We are currently working on an online ordering platform, which we hope to have up and running very soon. Our welcome host will explain this to you.

The tables will look quite bare as they will not be pre-laid. Cutlery, napkins, condiments will be served to you via a tray. For outside tables this tray will be left with the table, as we will be asking you to return your plates & glasses to the tray for reduced contact in clearing the table.
For inside tables there will be a spare table next to you where we ask you to return your plates & glasses, again to help reduce contact.

Cashless
To reduce the handling of cash, we are cashless for all food and drinks. (With the exception of our new ice-cream van)

Cleaning
Please be assured there is regular cleaning going on in the Coastguard. Our top priority will be all frequent touchpoints and the toilets. Our payment machines will be cleaned after every use. There are several hand sanitiser stations around the venue. Tables and chairs will be cleaned after each customer, we have allowed extra time in the turnaround of tables for this. At every point we are following the highest standards of cleaning through-out the pub and in the kitchen.

Toilets
Toilets will be regularly cleaned by our team, wearing PPE and numbers visiting the toilets at one time will be restricted.

Recycling
There will be a lot more single use items now at The Coastguard, we have placed a number of additional recycling bins around the site, please do use these as much as possible.

Children
Unfortunately for now our sandpit and toy area is closed and we sadly can’t provide colouring pencils either, so please do feel free to bring your own.

Garden
We have taken careful consideration in the positioning of our tables in the garden, we politely ask that you don’t move the tables. Thank you.

We hope these answer any concerns you may have but if you have any questions please call us on 01304 853051 or drop us an email at [email protected].

Thank you for your support and we hope to see you soon. Please remember though we need everyone to stay safe to stay open, so if you are feeling unwell please do stay at home.

81 BEACH STREET – DEAL

Why not join us over in Deal on the seafront at 81 Beach Street – a cross between a restaurant and a bistro offering an eating experience that goes beyond the need for nourishment.

THE GRANVILLE – CANTERBURY

The Granville has carved out an excellent reputation for serving modern European food of the highest quality and is featured in The Good Food Guide and other major listings.