Matt & Cat's Isle of Wight eating out guide - Latest comments on The Old Fort, Seaview

In response to: The Old Fort, Seaview

peter hall — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:30:03 +0000

Hi,
Have been viewing your site now the summer is over and am very disappointed at the £4.50 glass of wine and the other inaccuracies within the same text. I have owned the old fort for 14years and will admit that the odd problem will crop up, however spurious allegations and self reports/replies to your site have now left it open to abuse,we do not sell any wine over £4.00 even now so you are reporting a gross lie.
Coronation chicken is homemade if you would like the recipe please call in.Looks like purple mango are on the end of maybe some malicious attacks,you need to get the other side of the story before you print before someone takes you to task legally.Perhaps your site has seen its best days maybe you should just enjoy your evenings out. Peter Hall.

Matt and Cat reply: thanks Peter for your concern - and for many fine meals - but don't worry, nobody's taken legal action against us yet... well, not successfully anyway ;) We're sorry to hear that you think we've jumped the shark. At currently about 8,000 website views per day it doesn't yet seem to be a view universally shared; but nonetheless you raise an important question about what sometimes do appear to be attack comments. Our readers' comments are moderated after submission rather than before, which means they are online for a while before we have edited them. We spend quite a lot of time verifying these and there is a process of deletion if the original submitter proves to be bogus or cannot substantiate their claims.

Fortunately the vast majority of comments are constructive. We think a good way for a restaurateur to overcome the inevitable trolls and moaners is not to reply directly but to ensure that the positive views are also made known. If you've got something to say about your own establishment we welcome it; there is of course nothing to stop you making comments yourself, or encouraging your own customers to make comments if they so wish.

In response to: The Old Fort, Seaview

Pete — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:06:58 +0000

We've been visiting The Old Fort regularly for evening meals during the past 3 years and have enjoyed every meal, not to mention the views and atmosphere. Would recommend the green curry, fishcakes or rib-eye in particular. Curry night is very good value but being very popular booking is essential.
It's particularly good to visit off-season when there are some great value meals, unsurprisingly it gets very busy during the peak holiday season.

In response to: The Old Fort, Seaview

Dave Benson-Phillips — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:02:03 +0000

Firstly I'd like to comment on this website as a whole and how I find it unfair that it allows people to come on and vent their frustration, surely a little moderation would be a sensible idea? Just a thought.

I personally like to make my own judgement on establishments and coming on here and reading some of the comments would put me off visiting the Old Fort but as a local and regular I know it better than most and feel some of the comments are more than a little unfair.

I'd like to highlight the fact that the Old Fort offers a far better choice of food than simply a baguette and some ham, egg and chips and I'd like to think, as a man who enjoys my food, that someone with an interest in catering would look further than a baguette when sampling, and passing judgement on, what an establishment is capable of. £6 may seem a lot for a baguette but if you were to go into 90% of take-away baguette shops on the Island you'd find yourself spending around £4 and you'd recieve something of similar size to that served in the Old Fort. That's without being able to sit down and enjoy the views.

I'd never consider coming onto a website like this and venting my anger over a poor experience with a baguette, I have better things to do, clearly others do not. I for one will be returning to the Old Fort many more times in the future and I hope people can see past a poor review of a baguette and go and try the food for themselves.

Matt and Cat respond: Hi Dave, thanks for your comment. We like the Old Fort and, as it's local to us, we eat there quite regularly. As for moderation of the comments on Matt and Cat's Isle of Wight Eating Out Guide - you should see the ones that we don't allow!

In response to: The Old Fort, Seaview

DIsappointed — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:15:30 +0000

Having read these reviews we were a little sceptical about trying the Old Fort but wanted to see for ourselves. I have to say WHAT A RIP OFF!!!

I had a baguette (£6) and my other half had the ham, agg and chips (£6.95) whilst also ordering a small glass of house wine (£4.50).

The baguette was hard, small and came with a stale side salad. For £6 you would expect EITHER a sizeable baguette (no) or if not, then an accompaniment of crisps or chips maybe (no). My other half's ham was packaged, wet, watery ham from those horrible square 'packages' you get in the supermarket. She had one egg, which was nice, and a small portion of chips, which were nice. BUt was it worth £6.95??! Not a chance. Also, the glass of wine....175ml....house white.... for £4.50??? Slightly overpriced.

Frankly, we won't be returning. And living 20mins away, and owning our own establisment, that's a shame. The problem is the Fort charge inflated prices because they CAN! If it was good value, nobody would care. But it isn't. Stale baguettes for £6???????? Raise your game.

Disappointed of Ryde.

In response to: The Old Fort, Seaview

mattfromryde — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:13:16 +0000

We went there for lunch today, which was our first 'in season', as it were. The place was half DFL, but great views. The wife had the ever excellent thai green curry, and I for reasons unknown went for the burger (not having read the last review). I was expecting something gourmet, but it was as previously described. Not recommended. Not withstanding this,the service was excellent and I will return, but will be sticking to that which I know in future.

In response to: The Old Fort, Seaview

Island Visitor — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:30:48 +0000

We visited on Sunday 26th July and ordered food from the bar. The main meals seem to be better value than the bar food. The baguettes were an eye-watering £6 each and when they arrived we were very disappointed. The sausage baguettes - ordered for the kids - contained a couple of cheap split catering sausages whilst the Coronation Chicken baguette looked and tasted like something from Tesco. We also ordered Cheeseburger and Chips (£7) sadly the burgers were the frozen variety which looked as if they'd been pre-cooked and then microwaved to order. The chips were soggy in the middle and were clearly the frozen McCain's type. I'm frankly astonished that anyone would recommend this place. For 3 baguettes and 2 Burgers/Chips we paid £32 - there couldn't have been more than a fivers worth of food on our combined plates. A total rip off and the worst dining experience we've ever had on (or off) the Island.

In response to: The Old Fort, Seaview

Mark — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:55:41 +0000

Hello... we had a horrible experience at the Old Fort this week. We arrived for drinks and food on a Wednesday. All tables but one had reservations on them. We sit at the one table which was open, and then ordered drinks. We were planning on staying most of the evening, and discussed food options with the barmaid. Then, about half way through our first pint, the barmaid comes over and drops a reservation label on the table, and says "you have until 7.30pm" then walks off. I was astounded at this. No asking us our plans, no consideration, no nothing. I have lived around the world, and eaten in literally thousands of restaurants/pubs and have never been told to move once we were seated in this fashion. Literally stunned, I asked to speak to the Manager. A lady came over eventually, and told us basically we had until 7.30pm then a party of 7 were coming in for food. We explained that we were "here first" and no one told us we would or could be ejected. She basically implied there was nothing she could do, and the party of 7 could not be turned away. We left in disgust and had a great time at the Sea View Hotel and in the Thai Restaurant next door. Customer is always right... yeah, unless you are in the Old Fort. Customer Service... obviously means nothing to them. Money money money... cant turn away a party of 7 people! Part of my day-job here on the Isle involves entertaining customers - will certainly not plan on taking them to the Old Fort at any time.

Funny thing is we went into the Old Fort the week before (with a party of 8) and they turned us away as they had no space....

In response to: The Old Fort, Seaview

DFL — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 17:32:06 +0000

We've eaten in the Old Fort at all times of day, days of the week, and weeks of the year - even though we are 'DFL's as you call us...
The food is tasty, honest and there's plenty of it. They're always welcoming, especially with children - the kids' meals are good food too, not just microwaved nuggets.
The view is unbeatable, and sitting out in the summer by the seawall watching the dinghy racing is a great way to spend an afternoon.
Yes, of course, you should book in August, and also on Weds for curry nights the rest of the year. But many times we've nipped in there on the off chance of a meal, and emerged 2 hours later well fed and well oiled.
Thoroughly recommended.