God's Providence House is in a fine old building in the heart of Newport.

This beautiful and historic tea room has since the dawn of time run on the most traditional lines, and evokes a feeling almost of time travel. One can imagine oneself taking refreshment in a more genteel era; of tweed and hat-wearing men, powdered ladies with patent leather handbags and everyone smoking. Although many people would love England - and especially the Isle of Wight - to return to some imagined 'good old days', the irreversible passage of time makes this unlikely. But at least one can still sample that old-style ambience in a few places such as God's Providence House.

One Saturday morning in early Spring, Matt and Cat were shopping in Newport and looking for a place for breakfast. They were keen to try the new Metro café in South Street, but it was rammed, and so on they went to the always-welcoming doors of God's Providence.

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Visit the website: http://godsprovidencehouse.com/

One of Matt and Cat’s favourite places in Newport is the Quay Arts Centre.

Years ago, Cat was a potter with a studio in Jubilee Stores, an artists’ community supported by Quay Arts. Her wares were sold in the Quay’s shop and she even had her work exhibited at the Rope Store. That was all long ago. Since she palled up with Matt, her interaction with ceramics is a lot more as a food substrate than raw mud. She still has frequent trips to the Quay, but nowadays it's almost always to enjoy one of the best lunching-spots in town.

The Quay is nothing if not diverse. There’s still plenty of variety for Cat to get her teeth into, despite the waning of her career as a ceramicist. Not only does the centre feed peoples’ artistic needs with its galleries, craft shop and creative classes, but it also literally nourishes with its delicious and wholesome café fare. And, in the summer, it really comes into its own with the suntrap terrace adjacent to the tidal Medina. Consequently Matt and Cat are regular visitors – and not just because of the Quay’s proximity to their workplaces.

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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.

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Don’t know about the rest of you but when Matt and Cat think about cream teas, Godshill springs to mind.

This quaint village with its gift shoppes, picture-postcard thatches and tea gardens is a mandatory port of call for grockles and cream tea aficionados alike. One sunny October day when mad dogs and Englishmen made a bee-line for the Wight’s unseasonably scorching shores, Cat and a like-minded chum made their way inland to have a cream tea lunch in the scone capital of the Island.

Some of the village’s tea shops have been serving up afternoon delight since the Model Village was all fields. However, Cat and her friend, strolling in the middle of the road as is customary, bimbled to the newest pretender for the tea garden crown, Rainbow Art Café. The last time Cat visited this little corner of Godshill she bought a very nice embroidered coat from the venue’s previous incarnation, Christmas Cottage. Some may remember this side street crystal-mongery which purveyed wind chimes, ambient music and incense. Since then the venue has undergone a makeover; the majority of the produce has been swept away, replaced with chi-chi tables, a vast glass counter exhibiting a variety of tasty-looking cakes, and some incongruous life-size clowns.

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That's it folks! Matt and Cat might as well hang up their reviewing hats as the Isle of Wight's ultimate cream tea has been found.

After years of arduous searching, involving the consumption of gallons of tea, rock-hard to fluffy scones and the butter/no butter debate, the acme of cream teas has been located. Not among the West Wight's rolling hills nor with a view of the county's stunning coastline, but on the outskirts of town on the main road to Newport. For 20 years, on her daily commute to the salt mine, Cat has driven past the Roundhouse Tea Rooms with barely a second glance. However, a recommendation from the Island's primary friend to the stars John Hannam (sorry Den, you're a close second!), led Matt and Cat to the Roundhouse's door one sunny Sunday in October.

Built in 1750, this distinctive cottage was once the gateway to Newport. The road has since been relocated eastwards and the old toll road is now a dead end, providing parking for the tea rooms. Not the most trumpeting of entrances but enticing enough for M and C.

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