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
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
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
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
As we took our seats at the sunny dining table, we remarked on what a beautiful evening it was. The sun was making its slow descent to herald the end of another glorious spring day and we were still feeling the warmth of its sinking rays. Our dinner was... Read more
Oh dear. It feels like the end of days, doesn’t it? The Isle of Wight, nay the world, is pretty much closed for business and we are all being asked to hunker down, stay at home and try and ride out the COVID-19 virus as best we can. Inevitably... Read more
