Biting into my first chicken heart, I take mental notes. It tastes like chicken but with the consistency of a tiny, round hot dog sausage. It’s unfamiliar (especially if you’re new to offal like me), a little chewy and delicious. For offal newbies, all you have to do is pop one of those little organs in your mouth before your brain processes the thought that you’re eating a chicken heart. Don’t overthink it. Hell, don’t think at all.
I was in Pomus, a 40-cover wine bar within a small Margate shopping centre, hidden from the seafront and with outdoor views of a Poundland. If it weren’t for its bold, green façade and outdoor tables, one could easily walk past the place and into the Peacocks store a few feet away.
I’d easily go back again
Inside, the restaurant is divided. To the right, a strip of half-table-half-booths with plush, green seating. To the left, a burnt orange bar top with views of the small but exciting kitchen: this was originally run by 2015 Masterchef finalist Tony Rodd but he passed the torch to chef Aaron Costen in order to set up his own restaurant, 15 Square Metres, in Broadstairs. Overseeing the wine menu is Pomus founder Ryan Jacovides, the former managing director of the Jamie Oliver Group.
Sadly, the weather was too warm to fully appreciate Jacovides’s selection. In predictable fashion, I browsed the cocktails and ordered the Picante, Pomus’s take on a spicy margarita, and with the jalapeño slice still carrying its seeds within the heavenly liquid, spicy it was. It left my nose running.
Chicken hearts
Whitstable oysters
Charcoal carrots
Pomus’s food menu is based entirely on eclectic small plates with the occasional main dish or two like Pomus’s catch of the day, a pork tomahawk or a large roasted courgette for vegetarians. Most of the dishes are quite meat-forward, whether it be land or sea, but the whole menu is gluten-free, including its focaccia, a glorious, golden-crusted loaf served with two quenelles of harissa and mojo butters. World peace between gluten and non-gluten lies in this bread, with slices so good my celiac dining companion wrapped the leftover slices into her bag.
Accompanying the bread, we ordered a round of Whitstable oysters topped with a strawberry-jalapeño jam that may have overpowered the juicy shellfish, but was still enjoyable all the same. There’s also the pineapple and gochujang popcorn chicken, a crowd favourite and rightfully so. The chicken is plump, crispy and bite-sized, though I didn’t taste any pineapple. Same goes for the charcoal carrots cooked with red onion, elderflowers and zaatar – tender and tasty, but slightly disappointing if you’re hoping to taste more zaatar.
The heartbeat of the entire experience, coincidentally, was the chicken hearts – also known as the Peruvian street food, anticuchos, barbecued, skewered and sprinkled with sesame seeds over a small pile of kohlrabi. Who would have thought the Peruvian delicacy would be found in this small English coastal town?
We ended the evening with another round of drinks and an underwhelming white peach pavlova. Sweet in flavour but rock-hard in texture. A bit of a shame, but we let it slide when we remembered the cocktails, the fantastic bread, the more-than-reasonable bill and those damn, delicious chicken hearts. Maybe it was an off day. I’d easily go back again.
9 The Centre
Margate
Kent
CT9 1JG
September 2025
