If you're hungry for lunch and in Newport you're probably in the right place.

From traditional cafés like one-of-a-kind Chapel Coffee Lounge to international identikit fast food franchises, the town has a good range of offerings. Admittedly, in the evening the choice is a bit slimmer, but for the busy shopper or office drone Newport's rarely a let-down for a mid-day repast. If, like Matt and Cat, you'd built up a substantial appetite staggering blank-eyed round the post-Christmas sales in an attempt to shake off the festive cabin fever, you could eat at dozens of revitalising places, each with its own personality.

And of those many lunching-places, none is more central than the Blue Door, located in the shadow of the Victoria memorial in the very middle of town. Most of the year, this busy corner has a little group of tables outside, where Matt and Cat often while away a happy lunchbreak in the sun, watching the world go by and almost invariably passing the time with someone they know. Such is Island life.

Read more »

Years ago, Matt and Cat had a very enjoyable visit to Lizzie's Diner, an old skool café set in a windowless industrial unit in Lake's old fridge factory.

The experience was pretty good - in fact, they described the place as "a perfect example of the genre at its finest". Even fussy Cat, who usually disapproves of so-called 'greasy-spoon' food, was pleased with her lunch there (a mushroom omelette, pictured below).

Since then, Lizzie's Diner has been reborn, occupying a bigger unit with a major new feature - windows! Proprietors Anna and Ritchie Newton wrote to Matt and Cat in 2010 and explained: Not only do we have beautiful new premises with windows but we have also taken the opportunity to finally, after 4 years hard work, let Ritchie have his name above the door. The Diner is now renamed 'Ritchies Diner'.

Now, in some idle discussion on Twitter, Matt, a notorious vegesceptic, was challenged to eat a meat-free breakfast by two of his vegetarian friends, @MattdaWhittaker and @MintyMat. Observant readers will notice that all these three chaps are called Mat(t). They issued an invitation to all other Island folk called Matt to join them. A number of applicants were rejected for quite obviously not being called Matt. Filtering out the non-Matts with this sole yet rigidly-applied criteria, there was a trio of genuine Matts present at the inaugural Matts' Meat-free Morning.

Read more »

It may be the depths of winter now, but imagine the scene: having spent all day on the beach during a rare hot August Bank Holiday, a day-tripping family tidies up their detritus.

Nan is levered out of the deckchair and Dad bounces assiduously on the hissing inflatable banana until it slowly goes flaccid and is packed away. Struggling back up the hill, the whining kids, piebald with suncream, are famished from a long day of throwing sand at each other, and Mum’s thinking with little relish about the prospect of heating up tomato soup on the Camping Gaz stove. Just then, a fish and chip shop comes into view, the tempting aroma of hot oil wafting across the pavement and drawing the hapless tourists unresistingly inside.

If our hypothetical hungry family is in Ryde, they’d do well to stop at the first chippy near Appley beach, Monkton Village’s Chipmunks. Matt and Cat have reviewed that venue favourably, but it is only one of several contenders in the town. The family could maybe step a bit further west. No, no, not to the Codfather, slightly south west and up the hill to Wights. Although a tad more than a hop, skip and jump from the beach, this chippy is well-placed at the junction of Ryde’s precinct, near a pub, cinema and bingo hall - perfect for passing hot-snack-hunters. And so it was that Wights was Matt and Cat’s chosen venue for a fish and chip supper with a visiting relative from London.

Read more »

Matt and Cat are fans of the Hong Kong Express chain of Chinese restaurants.

Starting in Ryde, the brand spread westwards to Newport and Freshwater. Each new venue provided fast, fresh Chinese food in the distinctive Hong Kong Express style. Perhaps not the first choice for an intimate romantic tryst - say - but if you want to eat well in short order then it's hard to beat.

One thing M&C have noticed is that as it gets slicker, Hong Kong Express has got just a little bit more impersonal. At one time it was possible not only to get that great Chinese nosh, but also for the friendly staff to greet you, seat you and even sometimes remember what you ordered last time. These days, sometimes it does feel a little like being on the production line (although some restaurants use conveyor belts to good effect!) . But hey, the food's still good. So it was with some excitement that Matt discovered from co-workers in his office that the Hong Kong Express bandwagon was still on the move, with the opening of a mobile catering unit at Vectawarm on the Dodnor industrial estate, right near Matt's workplace. A lunchtime excursion was clearly in order.

Read more »

French Franks is an enduring feature of Newport; a town where new establishments pop into view more often than Kerry Katona’s tongue at a paparazzi convention.

Way back, when this website was in its stone age, Matt and Cat reviewed this established eatery and were favourably impressed by the quick and friendly service and the excellent range of sandwich fillings. Since then, the venue has changed hands so Matt and Cat visited one lunchtime to see if it was plus ça change (plus c'est la même chose).

Read more »

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