This month’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak‘s face looks rather familiar to us (assuming he is still in the role at the time of publication). Wasn’t he the geezer who exhorted us to ‘Eat Out to Help Out‘ during the summer of coronavirus? At his urging, after months of quaking... Read more
What if a few food wagons got together and made a food court, where you could just go along and choose from a range of takeaway food? This is an idea that is popular on the mainland – even as close as Southsea – but despite a few valiant... Read more
Years ago we proclaimed that Ryde was the international cuisine capital of the Isle of Wight, with at that time Tex Mex, Italian, Caribbean, Thai, Indian, pub grub, American-style steak plus full English on the menu somewhere in the town’s leisure strip. Amazingly, the pandemic has not damped the... Read more
Have you noticed how every Indian takeaway menu in Britain is almost always the same as every other Indian takeaway menu? And probably not even Indian. For reasons too culturally nuanced for us to bother exploring, even Indian restaurant menu writers usually include an unornamented section called something like... Read more
We’d been recommended a curry house in Shanklin as worth a try, so for our next round of COVID-19-safe meals, we wondered if Cinnamon would be willing to deliver all the way to Ryde. It turned out that they would. A polite chap arrived at our door and passed... Read more
Ever been to a restaurant with a seemingly inexhaustible menu? We certainly have. There was one place on the Island which had a twelve page bill of fare crammed with all sorts of dishes from lobster thermidor to fillet steak, with various world food delicacies shoehorned into the pages... Read more
There’s something comforting about a franchise restaurant. There’s a reason McDonald’s is popular; the home of the hamburger sells unchallenging food at affordable prices in a familiar, family-friendly environment. When on the mainland, Cat likes to eat in Wagamama; the Japanese-inspired restaurant has consistent quality fresh ingredients with the... Read more
Although we don’t claim to have our fingers on the pulse of all the zeitgeisty food fashions, a recent trip to Bristol showed us that ‘raw’ food, sliders and nose-to-tail eating are still very much on the mainland’s (artfully-chipped enamelled) plate. Islandside, we’re all over The Rise of the... Read more
Remember when Ventnor was a run-down, dejected town? No, really, it was. And not that long ago either. Just before you moved down, in fact. All of you, too trendy for Brighton and too jaded for London – you gently fell on this dying seaside town like a morning... Read more
We’ve had some agreeable times in East Cowes recently – perhaps the most notable was the impromptu party aboard Floating Bridge #5 as it made its last transits of the Medina before retirement. With music from some passing minstrels and a picnic from Waitrose we enjoyed ourselves so much... Read more
