Long ago, Monkton Street was the bustling thoroughfare down which hordes of visitors travelled between Ryde Pier and St John’s station – which was until 1880 the nearest railway. A few local amenities still linger en route in what is now Ryde’s trendy gentrification hotspot, Monkton Village. One of... Read more
Ryde, like other Island towns, has tentatively peeped out from behind its hands, dusted itself down and regrouped in the wake of the post-COVID-19 lockdown. Some venues have repositioned themselves. Certainly elsewhere our friends in the business are considering a future not of eating in, but of delivery and... Read more
Guess we could write yet more doom-laden words about the state of dining under COVID-19. But let’s not, eh? Instead we will hold up our recently-sanitised palms to the virus and say, “Talk to the hand, cos we ain’t listening”. We were also not listening to our fellow diners... Read more
After months of lockdown, punctuated with the compassion behind #ClapForCarers and diligent social distancing, girls – and boys – just wanna have fun. And while for some people that might mean the pub, for us it is a cafe. So, on the first day bars and restaurants reopened their... Read more
Our last pre-lockdown meal in a restaurant was an impromptu dinner at Call It What You Want, in Cowes, way back in March. A quick lunchtime drink at Comicoffee, Newport the next day, and after that, it’s been home dining all the way. We have enjoyed some great takeaways... Read more
One of the nicest things to come out of the COVID-19 lockdown is that some of our favourite Island restaurants have started getting their takeaway vibe going. We love to eat out, but the next best thing for us has been enjoying a great meal at our own dining... Read more
There used to be a saying that you could fit the world’s population onto the Isle of Wight. That was true once, but it isn’t any more. It’s academic anyway as no-one ain’t going nowhere, least of all the Island. COVID-19 has curtailed movement of most people, for the... Read more
The Sunday roast: this great British institution has long brought families together to eat meat, gravy and all the trimmings. Whatever trimmings are. We fondly remember gatherings at our own childhood homes, or maybe those of nearby relatives, where grown-ups having started with a thimbleful of sweet sherry might... Read more
We’re going to start this review with an apology. No, not for choosing a national company over a local one. Nor for both of us having meaty options. No, we’re apologising for once again reviewing a Ryde-based eatery. Forgive us – it’s the lockdown, see. If we could go... Read more
The weeks grind on and we’re still here, continuing to participate in our own version of Big Brother during the Covid19 lockdown. Thankfully we don’t have any budget celebrity self-publicists on our team (speak for yourself, Cat – Matt), nor any has-beens, wannabes or nearly-weres. Others among you may... Read more