Matt and Cat aren’t paid to review eateries; they don’t get their meals for free and never announce their arrival to a venue prior to sitting down to eat.

Having chosen this hobby they are happy to bear the brunt of any expense that occurs. But some places are more expensive than others, and usually - although not always - these are the really nice ones. Matt and Cat have to ration themselves, so they were pleased when they had amassed enough dough to review another top-rank place.

Having eviscerated the Matt and Cat piggy bank, your reviewers booked a table at that exclusive celebrity retreat the Priory Bay Hotel to round off what had been a fabulous Bank Holiday weekend. This historic venue had been on Matt and Cat’s ‘must do’ list for simply ages and they were delighted to finally make their way up the long drive to the impressive hotel in its glorious setting.

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Visit the website: http://www.priorybay.com/

You don't need Matt and Cat to tell you, but they will anyway - the Isle of Wight is a really great place.

They love living here and particularly enjoy the varied scenery and disparate local cultures. From the chalky downs and county set to the twiddly coastline with its yachties there's something for everyone - unless you like miles of "boring landscape", in which case you can go to Hull.

One of the pleasures of eating out for a hobby on the Island is that whatever mood you are in, and whatever location you fancy, there'll be an eatery that ticks those particular boxes. Whether or not it's actually a good place to eat can depend on a host of factors, some of which may have naff all to do with the restaurant itself. Such as if, like Cat, you'd unexpectedly had a plate of irresistible food and then gone out to dinner with a full stomach. Noob mistake.

In a month that had seen them eat in a variety of seaside places: indulging at one of the Island's poshest venues; enjoying a sunset dinner with pals and nibbling seafood at the Old Gaffers, Matt and Cat thought they'd round it all off with a revisit to the Baywatch on the Beach. First reviewed in 2006, this third trip was prompted by a succession of increasingly negative comments from visitors to the venue who had chosen to express their disappointment on this website. With so many seemingly disgruntled customers Matt and Cat decided to give the place another go.

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St Helens is a delightful-looking village, arranged around a series of greens to facilitate perfectly the curtain-twitching neighbourliness which village life demands.

Rather carelessly, St Helens has managed to mislay two churches - one is almost entirely fallen into the sea, whilst the other is located in the countryside about a mile from the village. This leaves a vacancy for a local community hub which is filled by the village pub, the Vine Inn.

A modest Victorian hostelry set amongst the houses looking over the green, the Vine Inn has a bit of the town-pub look about it. Would it be nothing more than a few dusty rooms and a dartboard? The lively signs outside suggested otherwise, and so Matt and Cat decided to put the Vine to the test.

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Visit the website: http://www.the-vine-inn.co.uk/

When Matt and Cat go on holiday they like to have all mod cons, luxuries like walls, a bathroom with running water and a nice comfy bed.

Therefore camping is not their thing. Cat has less than fond memories of tossing and turning under rain and tear-soaked canvas at guide camp. Matt's recollections of walking the South Downs Way as a youth are tainted by similar tent-based indignities. The only way they'd be persuaded to camp out these days would be in the most luxurious style imaginable.

However, this is not a tale of Matt and Cat’s well-spent youth, this is the story of a civilised meal at a camp site. All of you who love glamping will know that a holiday under canvas can be more than wasps and leaky flaps. And so it was that Matt and Cat saw the flipside of 1977-style camping, as guests of friends who had pitched up at Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park. This popular site near one of M and C’s favourite beaches was jammed with happy campers.

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Visit the website: http://www.thebestdressedcrabintown.co.uk/

Despite getting about, Matt and Cat can still find new places to visit - and eat - on the Isle of Wight. On an unexpectedly rain-free day in winter they decided to don their wellies and check out the coast at Whitecliff Bay.

With its superb sandy beach, sheltered by the brooding north face of Culver Down, it's an excellent place to gawp slack-jawed at some conspicuous geology. Lines of rocks and clay run in parallel from the crumbling cliff face directly into the sea. Staring along the regular grooves, it's a great place to muse over the insignificance of man and to consider the brain-poppingly intense timescales during which this tectonic wonder was created.

It was mid-afternoon when Matt and Cat made their way hesitantly down the path from Whitecliff Bay holiday camp - the beach can only be accessed on foot - and the place was deserted apart from a lone geologist tapping at the rocks with a tiny hammer. Oh, plus an incredibly disruptive trio of trial-bike riders whose machines screamed up and down the internationally and nationally-protected beach. It seemed that M and C had stumbled across a film shoot which involved a girl on a pink Lambretta being circled by her mates on the aforementioned two-strokes. The stench and row was unwelcome and the sound of Matt huffing and moaning almost drowned out the noise of the bikes' engines. However, walking to the most easterly end of the Island, they were soon out of eye (if not ear)shot of the bikes and were able to enjoy this spectacular landscape in relative peace.

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