Hippies, eh, with their free love and beads. Ventnor's bloody full of them. In the 1960s they say all the beardy-weirdy sandal wearers ended up in this most southerly town because it had the perfect climate for growing cannabis. Whether or not that was the reason, it seems that some of them never left. So today their children, the second-generation Ventnorians, might not look quite so Bohemian but still carry the ideals of the Summer of Love.

The heart of this nest of peaceniks is the Community Café, open every Saturday morning in a well-used space on the corner of Albert Street and Pound Lane. Here one imagines well-intentioned comrades can eat gluten-free cakes and stroke their tufty chins earnestly whilst decrying the state of the planet. But, as is often the case with Ventnor, appearances can be deceptive. The Community Café's reality is not the tediously worthy hippy Elysium one might assume - it's actually pretty good.

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Years ago, Cat used to work in a department store. In a comparison to the fictional Grace Brothers of ‘Are You Being Served’ fame, she was not the perky sales assistant Miss Brahms, played with cockney aplomb by the late Wendy Richard.

Nor was she the blousy Mrs Slocombe, nor even ‘young’ Mr Grace’s buxom nurse. If there had been such a character in AYBS, Cat would have been the printer, sitting in a shack on the roof with a hypochondriac hippy and a leathery lothario producing price tags – ‘Big girls’ blouse £16.99’. Good times.

Of course, this was on the mainland – they do things bigger over there. At a more human scale is Newport’s smallest department store, Beavis in Upper St James Street. A vertical chamber, on the ground floor of which can be found all manner of unusual trinkets, from ceramic unicorns to lenticular bookmarks. The centrepiece of the first floor is Chapel Coffee Lounge, an intimate mezzanine where one can have a light meal or tea and cake.

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On a rare week day away from the coal face, Matt and Cat decided to have a nose around Ryde. Having wasted the morning mooching about on the intertubes and browsing the Isle of Wight County Press, they decided head up to town to fortify themselves with brunch. This was to be the first meal of the day for the pair so they didn't want to spend long hunting for somewhere to eat - they were hungry!

As it happened, the first eatery they came across was the quaintly-named Missy J Cafe, a relatively new addition to Cross Street's ever-changing emporia. Occupying what was once a plate-daubing shop and, prior to that a chemist, this perky little eatery has one of the nicest doorways in Ryde. Curved double doors set into the building's corner afford views down George Street, across the Solent and - on a clear day - of Portsmouth's landmark Spinnaker Tower. Bustling across the threshold, Matt and Cat were warmly greeted by a nice lady who, gesturing to the many tables with a sweep of her arm, invited them to take a seat.

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The transport café is a subgenre of eatery, usually distinguished by its industrial setting, wipe-clean interior and a menu biased towards the fuel of the working man. Whilst for Matthew any time is Sausage Time, Cat has to be warmed up to the prospect of a week's worth of food on her plate. None-the-less, one lunchtime they found themselves on the outskirts of Lake, hungry and with an hour to kill.

Despite it being a clement afternoon, the outdoor attractions of the area were a bit limited (Morrison's car park anyone?) so they ventured into the interior of the old fridge factory to see what what was on offer.

Lizzie's Diner was well advertised; arrowed signs led the way deep into the bowels of this ex-factory, down a gloomy corridor which was painted in a yolky-yellow in an effort to simulate a bit of sunshine. Entering the café was a relief to the nostrils, as the corridor's strange smell of commercial chemicals was replaced by the more welcome aroma of cooking. Although Lizzie's Diner is windowless, efforts had been made to reduce the gloom. It was decorated in a jaunty manner with bright red gingham-look tablecloths and black and white photos of long-dead film-stars adorning the walls.

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After giving it a while to find its feet Matt and Cat finally toddled through the doors of Oceanblue Quay, the new restaurant at Ventnor esplanade, as bone fide customers.

Although in an enviable position at the newly remodelled Ventnor Esplanade, the venue is small, and despite its location does not have much of a sea view. Set in part of the adjacent boat factory, the restaurant overlooks the nearby paddling pool and the haven with its prominent fish processing plant. Despite this potentially industrial landscape the big picture windows do not seem out of place, and the Oceanblue Quay seems civilised, clean and tidy - certainly eminently suitable for a stylish seafront eating-place.

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