It's been a tough week for Matt and Cat. Having enjoyed a wonderful Valentine's dinner at a distinctive Island B and B, they stuffed themselves with breakfast the next morning and legged it to the ferry. A mainland carvery completed the weekend's eating out but that wasn't the end of it: a trip to the Hong Kong Express, one lunch on the firm and three days of Boots meal deals plus a curry must surely make this one of the most indulgent weeks M and C have had for ages.

As part of this mammoth indulgence-fest, Matt and Cat decided to try out Shanklin's newest Indian restaurant. Despite the earliness of the season, Matt and Cat noted that the Purple Mango was moderately busy as they entered its warm interior. Like its parent restaurant in East Cowes, Shanklin's Purple Mango has been decked out in a contemporary style. Matthew was impressed by the oversized white banquette and Cat's twinkle antennae were drawn to the ceiling's glittering centrepiece, a recessed assembly of pulsing fairy-lights with the words Purple Mango written in a circle. The impressive waterfall, first seen in East Cowes, finished the signature house style. Having been pleased by their meal at Purple Mango East Cowes would M and C be equally delighted in Shanklin?

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NB: The Village Taverna is now closed.
But we hear a new place is opening there (see comments below)

As regular readers to Matt and Cat's Isle of Wight eating out guide will know, M and C are big fans of tapas, El Toro Contento being one of their favourite venues. Therefore, it was not going to be long before they sampled the meze of Sandown's Village Taverna - particularly as there had been a request for a review via their 'suggest a venue' page. Not that the Village Taverna needs Matt and Cat to promote its business; people are queuing to try the food according to the County Press, which also makes the intriguingly cosmopolitan suggestion that the menu is half Greek and half Polish.

So, one evening Matt and Cat headed to Sandown to buy food. Meandering up the High Street they passed Sandown Kebab and Steak House. Matt mischievously suggested that they have pitta and a kebab, but Cat rejected his proposition and walked on to the next venue - the Taj Tandoori. However, this pleasant Indian restaurant was also snubbed as they had already visited it. Topographically next was the Village Taverna.

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Oh Keith, can you ever forgive Matt and Cat? Just a few weeks after this website was celebrated in the Isle of Wight County Press for offering "no high-falutin’ kitchen-speak intended to impress rather than inform", this entry appears, which might cause straight-eatin' columnist Keith Newbery to shake his head in dismay.

Once every couple of years, Matt and Cat rummage down the sides of the sofa for enough spare change to push the boat out for one night. Not just a posh meal out, but also a bed in a hotel afterwards. A luxury which means that a leisurely evening can be passed, safe in the knowledge that nobody needs to drive home; and with luck, a splendid breakfast awaits.

For this year's treat, M & C booked a room at Ventnor's Royal Hotel and soon enough found themselves holding an overnight bag on the threshold of one of the Island's oldest and grandest hotels. Long a watering-hole for the well-heeled, the Royal is also renowned for good food.

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

Ryde Tandoori was one of Matt and Cat's earliest reviews. They've been back a few times, and in the meantime readers have added a mixed batch of comments. So M and C decided to return and see how Ryde Tandoori measured up these days. The original review from March 2006 is further down the page.

December 2009 Review
You know how it is on a Sunday night. You've spent the afternoon burning out your retinas in front of the telly or computer and it's time for tea. A glance at the forlorn contents of the fridge means that you have two options - lettuce soup (it's part-way there, having turned to mush in its bag) or eating out. This is the situation that Matt and Cat found themselves in recently. The answer was a no-brainer.

Scouring the County Press Weekender for somewhere to eat, they caught sight of Ryde Tandoori's advert for a Sunday banquet - three courses for £9.99. The decision was made and, buttoning up their winter coats, Matt and Cat headed off to Union Street.

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Excuse the contradiction, but novelty restaurants are nothing new. Matthew has happy memories of eating at a Mongolian Barbeque twenty years ago; the drive-through has been a staple of the American eating experience for decades and cooking on hot rocks is probably as old as... well, cooking itself.

Matt and Cat have tried this self-scorching method of cooking (more of which later) at Newport's Volcanic Steakhouse. However, that wasn't the Island's first example of this exciting way of enjoying a meal out. For several years, Yarmouth's On the Rocks has been championing the volcanic rock experience, so spurred on by Dilweed and @theordinarychef amongst others, Matt and Cat booked a table and headed west.

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