Matt spent his formative years in Sandown, pottering on the beach, playing on the railway and trotting up and down the High Street. Much has changed in Sandown since those days... but much has not. Matt can't quite remember if it had the same name, but certainly La Scala was one of the very few up-market eating-places in Sandown all those years ago: as it remains now.

Intriguingly, all that can be seen of La Scala from the High Street is the eponymous staircase leading down to the cellar in which the restaurant is located. Matt and Cat made the journey down those stairs, wondering what they'd find below.

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Everyone likes to be nosy. The fascination with our fellow humans occupies a lot of our time. You've only got to look through the TV listings to find programmes dedicated to satiating the needs of trunky-want-a-bun viewers.

You can spend half an hour watching people struggle with their hysterical toddlers, swapping wives with the rich and tasteless, or wasting licence-payers' money buying valueless rubbish at car boot sales. The ultimate people watching programme, Big Brother is back on our screens for an interminable three months, throughout which you can watch nonentities laugh, cry, fight and pretend to have sex.

A cheaper and more wholesome alternative to all this goggle-eyed voyeurism, is to buy a nice cup of tea at a beach-side cafe and watch the beautiful people strolling by. Which is exactly what Cat and her friend did in Ventnor one blustery summer's afternoon.

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The Island's landscape is often called 'England in Miniature'. Maybe it is. But if so, it's a bit short on some things. Thank goodness, there are no nuclear power stations, no motorways, no slag-heaps and no international airports. And no pylons.

Or are there? Here's a game you can play to torment Island know-it-alls - ask them if there are any pylons on the island, and if so, where they are. Most will have no idea, as despite the size of the huge metal structures, for some reason they're not at all noticeable. Actually, there is just one set of pylons on the Island, running a short distance alongside the Medina and ending up near Wootton Common. Next to the big substation where this solitary branch of the National Grid comes to its terminus is the Medina Garden Centre and Butterfly World - and inside these attractions is the Hungry Caterpillar café.

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Visit the website: http://www.butterfly-world-iow.co.uk/giftshop.html

Years ago in St Thomas Square, Newport there was a great little Italian restaurant. It occupied the premises that had been vacated by the Niton Bakery (now a mobility shop). It was a super place for lunch; cheap pizzas and fresh tomato-based salads, pouring oil and steaming cups of Italian coffee.

Alas, following a spat with the council's planning department, the venue closed much to the disappointment of Cat and her colleagues.

Cat was reminded of this excellent eatery when she and Matt visited Cafe Maya in Bembridge. OK, so it's not Italian, it's not in Newport and it presumably has all the relevant paperwork to satisfy the council. But there was something about the fresh ingredients and scrubbed tables that took The Cat back about 15 years...

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Yan Woo is on the posh side of Union Street, Ryde: the steep road where novelty shops and eateries tend to close almost as fast as they open. However Matt and Cat predict success for this interesting restaurant. It offers the only Malaysian cuisine available on the Island, so in that it cannot fail to be the best. It's also a good restaurant all round.

Matt and Cat entered one evening and enjoyed a civilised meal in very pleasant surroundings. The modern restaurant was clean and light in style. Details such as the unusual cutlery, the (slightly tired) hardbacked folding menus, and a free bowl of prawn crackers to start, show that the visitor experience has been carefully considered.

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