Update: The Wheatsheaf Hotel, Newport was one of this site's earliest reviews so Matt and Cat decided to revisit the venue. The original review, from 4 August 2006, is below the update.

During the week, Matt and Cat regularly meet for lunch in Newport. A light snack of local produce at the excellent Island Images usually suffices although sometimes they only have time to snatch a coffee at the Quay Arts Centre or Olivo. On this particular day, M&C were looking for a place to eat and duck out of the rain - along with most of the lunchtime crowd. And so it was that they ended up outside the doors of the Wheatsheaf - one of three so-named hostelries on the Island*.

Shaking off the droplets as they entered the bar, Matt and Cat were pleased to see that the place had lost none of its charm. Although the patrons were mostly men, The Wheatsheaf had a far more genteel atmosphere than a rowdy sports bar. Pleasingly, there was no sign of a TV; only the faint warble of an eclectic selection of piped music - possibly megamixed by DJ Anachronistic, as Avril Lavigne's Sk8r Boi was segued into some twaddle by The Beatles.

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

Update: Matt and Cat revisited the Pilot Boat Inn in 2010. Had their opinion of this friendly pub changed? Read the original review below this update.

For a change of scene, Matt and Cat decided to cast their net wider than their usual haunts for a Monday evening supper. For once deciding to try something out of their Ryde comfort zone, they headed west to Bembridge and the twinkling lights of the Pilot Boat Inn.

Last time they went to this distinctive establishment, M and C were verily impressed with the excellent food and friendly service. And, so it seemed, were plenty of other people as the restaurant was packed and some of the dishes had even sold out. This time however, there was no need for the reviewing duo to worry about being squeezed out as the bar was undeservedly empty, apart from a few supping locals.

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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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Fish and chips, unlike revenge, is not a dish best served cold. In fact, cold chips, unlike cold pizza, is a meal fit only for seagulls. For this reason, Matt rarely gets to sample fish and chip takeaways unless they are quite close to his home town of Ryde, and he can take the food home to eat before it congeals.

So die-hard Matt and Cat aficionados will be interested to note that this time he's ventured beyond the Island's north-east quarter, as far as southerly Ventnor. And if you think that's surprising enough, you haven't heard the half of it. This time, his trusty fish-and-chip-eating companions Bill and Jack were not accompanying him, nor was he alone. Yes, friends, it's finally happened, Cat has been into a fish and chip shop.

M & C were staying in Ventnor and, in need of a quick meal, decided to make for the nearest takeaway. When this turned out to be the popular and highly-recommended Ocean View, perched high above the town on the edge of Lowtherville, Cat - normally reluctant to consider chip shops as a source of food - showed no sign of wavering in her determination to get a hot dinner, and so into the bright little shop the duo went.

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The famously mis-spelt Long John Eater has spawned a sidekick - and Ryde Esplanade has gained another fish and chip counter.

The Little John Eater is more than a counter opening onto the esplanade - but not a great deal more. For sit-down meals there's the Long John next door, but this new place is obviously intended to soak up some passing trade on that crucial junction at the bottom of Union Street. At such high-exposure locations the temptation must surely be to sell poor quality food in high volumes. Certainly other chip shops in comparable places seem to do this and little else. After all, if your visitors are all day-trippers who might not return for another year, if at all, is there any incentive to cook decent fare?

Because of this effect, Matt and Cat have a rule of thumb about fish and chip quality and proximity to the seaside. In their review of Alexander's (another Ryde chip shop) they posited: "it seems to be a general truism that to get the best chips, you must simply turn your back on the coast and head inland." So by that prediction, the Little John Eater should be pretty grim. But oddly enough, it isn't. In fact, it's not too bad at all. Matt took his fish-and-chip-reviewing buddies, Bill and Jack, down to the new place to try it out - and they were pleasantly surprised.

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