Food critic Grace Dent has named two Kent restaurants among her best choices in 2024.

The new Celebrity Masterchef judge, who replaces Gregg Wallace, picked out the Blue Pelican in Deal and Sète in Margate as among her favourite places to eat this year.

Ms Dent, writing in the Guardian, said both the Blue Pelican and Sete were fine examples of how “these days, it’s often not London where indies can let their imaginations fly, not least because the rent is so much cheaper.”

She visited the Blue Pelican in March when she said it had “one of the most intriguing and punchy menus you’ll come across on the entire south coast.”

She wrote: “The Blue Pelican could easily just have served pricey fish and chips for tourists to eat in a seaside setting, but instead they’ve gone out on a limb and set up a very classy, experimental, neighbourhood Japanese restaurant that I expect the locals will not feel like sharing with down-from-Londons.”

The Japanese-inspired restaurant on Beach Street had only opened the month before.

She was also struck with the building describing the toilet at the eatery as “very possibly the prettiest place to spend a penny in 2024.”

KentOnline’s own food critic, Rhys Griffiths, had been similarly impressed on his visit, describing the chef, Luke Green, as “clearly at the very top of his game,” and noting: “There is wonderful attention to detail throughout the menu, and Luke wins extra marks for his willingness to patiently answer all enquiries (about the dishes).”

Sète, an upmarket French-inspired wine bar and restaurant in Cliftonville had already won the praise of the inspectors for the Michelin Guide, who described it as a “lovingly run restaurant” where “nothing is overworked.”

Run by Natalia Ribbe, it opened as a restaurant in July 2023, having previously been run as a wine bar and bottle shop.

Together with head chef Billy Stock, Ms Ribbe has created menus which take inspiration from Europe with heavy influence from France and Britain.

Michelin bosses said: “The kitchen fuses some classical French techniques with a distinctly British, produce-driven approach, where the natural flavours of a few key ingredients are the driving force.”

Ms Dent replaces Gregg Wallace on Celebrity Masterchef after he left following accusations of inappropriate conduct on set. She has already appeared on the show before as a guest judge. Wallace has also left other versions of Masterchef, including the original iteration.