Category: West Wight

Warren Farm, Totland Bay

Matt and Cat are not morning people, preferring instead to spend their weekends lolling under the duvet for as long as possible.

Pleasant though this is, it can lead to meal synchronisation issues. For when Matt and Cat are eating their breakfast, the rest of the population is gearing up for lunch. By the time M and C are thinking about lunch, it's mid-afternoon and many places have stopped serving. And so, on a sunny Saturday, this tragedy of mis-timing played itself out yet again.

Their chops flapping in the breeze of the car's open windows, Matt and Cat headed purposefully to the West Wight. This time they were going to eat their lunch in a timely manner. But, like a pair of babies shown a particularly enticing rattle, their attention was refocused onto the new and mighty cleft in the Military Road. And, like this picturesque highway, M and C's intentions fell by the wayside.

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Visit the website: http://www.farmhousecreamteas.co.uk/creamteas.htm

PermalinkPublished: 19th April 2010
2449 views
Categories: We like, Cafes, Family friendly, West Wight

Needles Battery Tea Room

Matt and Cat have made several visits to the Island' most westerly café. Read their latest thoughts on the place below. Earlier review and comments follow that.

Having had a successful - and educational - day out at Hampshire's most southerly fortification, Hurst Castle, Matt and Cat decided visit the Island's most westerly fort the following day. Lady Luck was smiling down on the intrepid pair as the kiosk at Alum Bay car park was unstaffed - which meant more money for refreshments.

Ham and salad baguette

Although there's no public vehicle access to the Needles Old Battery, the 20-minute walk is mostly on level ground. For those unable to manage the walk, there is also a bus. Matt and Cat's walk to the Battery offered fantastic views of the geological wonder that is the coloured cliffs at Alum Bay and, as it started out as a clear day, they could also see the New Forest and Dorset beyond, and of course Hurst Castle. Rabbits bounded fearlessly about on the chalk grassland, sometimes perilously close to the cliff edge. Above them seagulls and jackdaws soared in the rising thermals.

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Visit the website: http://www.theneedlesbattery.org.uk/

PermalinkPublished: 2nd April 2010
2334 views
Categories: We love!, Family friendly, West Wight, Tea shops, Local produce

Rainbow Fish Bar, Freshwater

Matt's got a heavy responsibility to shoulder- he's got to do the chip shops, as Cat won't ever go into them - well, hardly ever, anyway. But the problem with this task is that it does limit his access to fish and chip emporia which are not close to his home in East Wight - because a takeaway that's been in the car for half an hour probably isn't going to get a fair review.

Rainbow Fish Bar, Freshwater

So it was with pleasure that Matt recently took the opportunity to taste the wares of the Rainbow Fish Bar, a prominent feature of Freshwater's busy Avenue Road. Working late out west, Matt needed to grab a bite before he went on to a meeting. He could have been sensible, and gone into the Co-op for some healthy wrap and a carton of juice. Or he could have pulled his jacket over his head and marched down Avenue Road clucking like a chicken - it's about as likely. No, friends, it was straight to the chip shop he went.

On arrival there was a very cheerful welcome - and this amiable chat continued as Matt waited for his order. It was early in the evening so the hot cupboards were well stocked with sausages and the like. Pleasingly all the fish was cooked to order and Matt waited whilst his haddock was given the treatment. The Rainbow Fish Bar is a funny little place, a fish bar of the old school; spotless and gleaming, with a phalanx of smartly uniformed servers just itching to dish out fish.

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PermalinkPublished: 28th March 2010
2213 views
Categories: We like, Take aways, Family friendly, West Wight, Fish and chips

On the Rocks, Yarmouth

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.

Sirloin steak

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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PermalinkPublished: 6th November 2009
3189 views
Categories: Restaurants, We love!, Family friendly, West Wight

Wight Mouse Inn, Chale

The Wight Mouse is a behemoth of pubs - one of a handful of mega-eateries that dominate the family Sunday lunch market on the Island.

Burger and chips

It continues to serve up pub food by the shedload; trading on its unbeatable location on the popular tourist trail of the Military Road. Matt and Cat first reviewed this place in 2006 - and found it wanting. That first, brief, review is at the bottom of the page.

In 2009 they made another foray westwards with junior reviewers Bill and Jack. On the lookout for dinner, they once more found themselves walking through the door of the Wight Mouse. Had things improved? Read on to find out.

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Visit the website: http://www.islandbreaks.co.uk/site/eating-out/wight-mouse-inn-p141751

PermalinkPublished: 3rd September 2009
14314 views
Categories: We don't like, Pub Grub, Family friendly, West Wight, Tea shops

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