Matt was once described by his university professor as having a Rolls Royce brain with Morris Minor engine. Cat, who used to be pretty punctual and organised, has adopted Matt's languorous attitude over the years they've been together. This lackadaisical leaning means that they have never quite managed to book a table for dinner at the award-winning Hillside Hotel, of which they've heard many good things. This is because a degree of premeditation is required to eat at the hotel's illustrious restaurant; admittedly just the minimum of a day's notice but, for slackers M&C, even that has so far proven to require too much foresight. So they were delighted to be able to swing by Hillside's newest venture - Ventnor's Hillside Bistro - without giving any notice whatsoever.

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Matt and Cat both have their birthdays in the first quarter of the year. Cat’s celebrations in January usually involve inviting a group of friends to a conducive location - in 2012 her party was at the spectacular The Mission.

For his birthday, Cat offered Matt the choice of Island-based activities. Rejecting the opportunity to pet a primate at the Owl and Monkey Haven, and poo-pooing Isle of Wight Pearl, he plumped for an all-day breakfast. But where to go? There are plenty of fabulous Isle of Wight breakfasts to be had, with top contenders at Richie’s Diner, Bluebells Café and Besty and Spinky’s but Matt wanted to go somewhere new. So using Twitter’s hive mind, Cat tickled some recommendations out of their followers and Tumblers was picked as the destination for the birthday boy’s big breakfast.

Occupying a corner plot at the top of Shanklin, Tumblers is well-placed to scoop up tourist traffic as it’s by the station and on the traffic main route through the town. Surprisingly, despite its prominence, it’s never appeared on Matt and Cat’s radar. And that’s a woeful omission.

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Have you noticed how Ryde's Union Street is a street of two halves?

Slice it lengthwise and you will find that on the western side the eateries are mostly chain-style fast food franchises: Wimpy, Subway, KFC and the like. On the eastern side of this vertiginous thoroughfare are some more salubrious establishments. Olivo, Joe's and before its much-mourned demise, Liberty's. Obviously there are exceptions: Yelf's Hotel and Black Sheep Bar are on the shadier side and, Domino's has set its stall opposite Wetherspoon's but the pattern is still apparent.

And the trend is continuing. As part of an audacious expansion into Liberty's beautiful old building, House of Zabre fashion department store has opened a bijou coffee shop in what was the restaurant's kitchen. Matt and Cat broke the news about this venture way back in 2011 when Liberty's was hardly cold - and must admit to a certain scepticism about how well yet another café could do in Union Street. So when they popped into Zabre one day to have a nose about the handbags and gladrags, they were inevitably drawn through the shop by the aroma of coffee and a powerful sense of nosiness.

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You know those winter Sundays, the ones where, after months of hiding coyly behind grey clouds, the sun decides to play peek-a-boo?

In that brief moment everyone who has spent the last few months watching old war films and clearing out their cupboards throws on their warmest anorak and runs outside, face turned skywards. On the first sunny Sunday of 2012, the sky was blue and the first flush of daffodils was emerging from the municipal verges. Matt and Cat poked their noses out of their burrow and joined the throngs of promenaders taking the air.

It hardly needs mentioning that Matt and Cat had lunch in mind, and thus their winter walk was a brisk but short one - straight to the door of the Watersedge Café, Gurnard. This seaside perennial stays open throughout the seasons, and has grown up over the years from a glorified ice-cream kiosk to what is now a smart eaterie with more than a hint of the cosmopolitan stripped-pine and pastel shades that characterise lunchtime venues throughout nearby Cowes. If a few jaunty images of boats and seagulls in oversized frames are all that's needed to complete the formula, Watersedge rises to the occasion there as well.

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God's Providence House is in a fine old building in the heart of Newport.

This beautiful and historic tea room has since the dawn of time run on the most traditional lines, and evokes a feeling almost of time travel. One can imagine oneself taking refreshment in a more genteel era; of tweed and hat-wearing men, powdered ladies with patent leather handbags and everyone smoking. Although many people would love England - and especially the Isle of Wight - to return to some imagined 'good old days', the irreversible passage of time makes this unlikely. But at least one can still sample that old-style ambience in a few places such as God's Providence House.

One Saturday morning in early Spring, Matt and Cat were shopping in Newport and looking for a place for breakfast. They were keen to try the new Metro café in South Street, but it was rammed, and so on they went to the always-welcoming doors of God's Providence.

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Visit the website: http://godsprovidencehouse.com/