What glorious weather the Isle of Wight enjoyed in early June! Good job too, as otherwise the music festival would have been a wash-out and Seaclose Park remodelled as a quagmire to rival last year's Bestival mudbath.

Making the most of the sunshine, M and C put on their paddling clogs and tippytoed at the Appley beach's water's edge, cooling their bunions in the limpid waters of the Solent. They interrupted this recreation for a cream tea at Puckpool Tea Gardens, eating their scones under a shady vine.

The leisurely day continued with dinner at Olivo, the new kid on Union Street's block. Situated in what was historically the old post office, the building's previous incumbent was the ambitious Smithfields. Alas, that restaurant closed for reasons not known to Matt and Cat, although they hypothesise that maybe the carrying capacity of Union Street for big, vaguely Mediterranean eateries had been exceeded. Or perhaps it was just too large a building to sustainably maintain. For whatever reason, it would be a brave or confident business that would take on such a vast venue. Now, one such has stepped forward. Does Olivo have what it takes?

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Matt and Cat first reviewed the Wishing Well in spring 2006 when it had just been taken over by new owners. The earlier review is at the bottom of the page.

Writing their food reviews is hardly an arduous chore. Matt and Cat enjoy eating out and part of the pleasure is chatting during their meal about what they might say about a venue. If a meal is good, they get the benefit of nice food. If a meal is dismal they get the benefit of giving a place a good kicking on this very website. Fortunately, the latter rarely happens. Most Isle of Wight eateries are of a very high standard with only one or two exceptions.

So, when they visited the newly reopened Wishing Well at Pondwell, Matt and Cat jabbered to each other about how they could say it's newly opened; and how, when chatting to the bar staff they learned that they had just taken on the venture (rather than it being a straight refurbishment). About how the venue had a clean if slightly impersonal interior, with vast picture windows. However, when reading their 2006 review, M and C were stunned to see that was exactly what they had written last time! So what new things can be said about this cavernous roadhouse?

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Matt and Cat have made several false-starts when attempting to review the food at the Springvale Hotel and Restaurant. Being in their manor, the venue often came up on their radar when thinking about places to eat.

However, when poised on the hotel's doorstep, there had always been something about the place which made them unable to commit.

The location is superb - right on the Island's north shore with panoramic views of the Solent; the hotel even publishes a list of ships that you might see when gazing out of its vast windows. The food prices were clearly displayed and they seemed pretty reasonable. So could it be the menu's contents that put Matt and Cat off? Although there was quite an extensive list of bar snacks and meals, the dinner menu has never been inspiring enough to tempt your reviewers across the threshold. So how were M and C encouraged to eat at Springvale's most architecturally ornate restaurant?

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Visit the website: http://www.iowight.com/springvale/

Shhh, what's that sound? It's the sound of silence - Seaview's streets in winter.

One of
Matt and Cat's
favourites

Just the faint lapping of the Solent could be heard as Matt and Cat bimbled up the village's apparently deserted High Street to the only lighted window around.

The optimism of the flashing neon 'open' sign at Khrua Thai Orchid restaurant was quite heart-warming so, after a cursory peep through the glass in the door at nothing but a descending staircase (very reminiscent of La Scala) they went in. Not knowing what to expect, M and C were pleased to hear voices float up from the crypt and continued on their journey down to the surprisingly capacious basement dining room.

Matt and Cat often eulogise over the unmodernised décor of some of their favourite eateries. The Sportsman's Rest is determinedly a pub of the old school and the Bahar in Cowes has a delightful retro feel, bucking the trend of other Indian restaurants whose laminate flooring and concealed purple lighting has become ubiquitous. However, sometimes an interior makeover would not go amiss and, as they made their way past the dated wallpaper and decidedly 1970s interior, they decided that the Khrua Thai Orchid was a little overdue for a refurb. But they weren't there to give a critique of the paint job, what was the food like?

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Remember the days when garden centres used to sell just seeds and compost? No, neither do Matt and Cat. Like farms, garden centres have to diversify and as well as horticultural essentials, one can often find clay gnomes, coconut-shell bird houses with raffia roofs and singing reindeer like this one, warbling festive tunes in its American accent. At least, you can find these things and more at the Busy Bee on the outskirts of Ryde. Like many enterprising garden centres, the Busy Bee also has a café and so Matt and Cat picked through the pot-pourri to try it out.

Having an eatery on site amongst the pot plants and pond filters would seem to make sound business sense. Enticed in by the cheery waving of the elevated animatronic Santa, Matt and Cat paid their visit along with many others - the centre's car park was almost full, with several of the spaces taken up with coaches.

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Visit the website: http://busybeegardencentre.co.uk/