The Sloop is like the singer Madonna. Old, cheap, inexplicably popular, and always reinventing itself. Every once in a while The Sloop seems to think that people have stopped paying attention, and decides to sell up; reopening in a new guise. Matt and Cat first visited the Sloop in 2007 after a refurbishment, and again in May 2008. By October 2008 another relaunch had occurred, and M & C visited again. All three reviews can be seen here - the older ones are down the page.

October 2008 review
The brash new Sloop makes no apologies for selling its main attraction. Gone are the long menus and pretensions of sophistication - the Sloop is now a carvery selling meals at £3.50!!! Yes!!! Loud signs along the roadside scream £3.50!!! at passers-by until only the most dull-witted would not get the message that they should go there, immediately, and eat meat. So Matt and Cat decided to follow the herd. Sniffing loftily and remembering some previous underwhelming carvery experiences they consoled themselves with the prospect of sharing their derision with their readers. After all, you can pay more than £3.50 for a glass of wine - how good could a £3.50 carvery actually be?

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Being seaside dwellers, Matt and Cat tend to cling to the edges of the Island - except when heading to the megalopolis that is Newport for their day jobs. However, they can be drawn to Vectis' rural innards when necessary. One such voyage of discovery lead them to Rookley's uber-pub, The Chequers.

On its way to the table...

This is not the first visit to this sprawling roadside inn for the dynamic duo. Many years ago, along with their fellow desk jockeys, they celebrated Christmas in true office worker style in the pub's accommodating (and brand new at the time) conservatory. The Chequers coped admirably with the challenge of feeding a horde of office-workers on pleasure bent. Memories are a little hazy, but Matt and Cat can just recall how their colleagues prepared for the event: having started the 'lubrication' process with tins of lager at their workstations, ties were cast asunder and collars were daringly opened by the time they arrived en masse at The Chequers. The lunch descended into the sort of chaos that only cube rats can cause, culminating in a tired and emotional senior planning officer tumbling down the kiddies slide with his shirt off and nipples like chapel coatpegs in December's chill wind. Would Matt and Cat's latest visit also result in nudie-planners and discreet inter-staff fumblings?

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Visit the website: http://www.chequersinn-iow.co.uk/

Occupying a prominent position on the rural outskirts of Ryde is the Ponda Rosa, a kind of roadhouse; pub-come-restaurant. Its Tyrolean style is a little incongruous compared to Ryde's Victorian architecture and red brick terraces. However, apart from night-time illumination which probably attracts the attention of astronauts, as the Ponda Rosa is well away from any other building it looks more like a whimsical folly than a tasteless architectural gaffe.

The Tyrolean-styled Ponda Rosa, Ashey, Ryde

As well as being a venue for evening entertainment, the Ponda Rosa is a capacious restaurant with plenty of parking. Matt and Cat visited on a blustery Bank Holiday in May specifically to try the carvery, a restaurant genre they only have one previous (mainland) experience of.

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