Matt and Cat\'s Isle of Wight Eating Out Guide
Everyone likes to be nosy. The fascination with our fellow humans occupies a lot of our time. You’ve only got to look through the TV listings to find programmes dedicated to satiating the needs of trunky-want-a-bun viewers. You can spend half an hour watching people struggle with their hysterical... Read more
The Island’s landscape is often called ‘England in Miniature‘. Maybe it is. But if so, it’s a bit short on some things. Thank goodness, there are no nuclear power stations, no motorways, no slag-heaps and no international airports. And no pylons. Or are there? Here’s a game you can... Read more

Café Maya, Bembridge

15th June 2008 3

Years ago in St Thomas Square, Newport there was a great little Italian restaurant. It occupied the premises that had been vacated by the Niton Bakery (now a mobility shop). It was a super place for lunch; cheap pizzas and fresh tomato-based salads, pouring oil and steaming cups of... Read more
In a special guest review, Matt & Cat regular Wendy reviews food at the Isle of Wight Festival. Read on for her daily updates! Friday 13th June 2008 Isle of Wight festival food feedback today, Friday! (Just back in, how’s that for dedication.): More varied Island presence than last... Read more
With a population of just under 20,000 (which more than doubles on Cowes firework night), Cowes is a pretty small town. Its heart is pretty compact, with quaint bow-fronted shops and chandleries, pressed into a small waterside High Street. Also squeezed into the town are four Indian restaurants; a... Read more
Brothers fish and chip shop, in Brading, is a novelty on the Island: a chip shop which is not on the beach – or even near it. Hence, like Brading itself, it has much of the charm of a quiet rural town, and is rarely overtaken by hordes of... Read more
Archive review: the Tollgate is now renamed and under new management Even when driving on the Island’s quiet rural roads, it is easy to be overwhelmed with highways signage and, in the towns this pervasive blight is so ubiquitous that the messages merge and homogenise, ceasing to be of... Read more

Caffè Isola, Newport

7th June 2008 1

It sometimes seems that the installation of the eating classes on pavements is the solution to all society’s ills. With tedious regularity politicians and commentators can be heard praising the ‘café culture’ of the continent – where young couples sit at tables scattered casually around the piazzas, generating economic... Read more

The Square, Newport

11th May 2008 1

What a continental sight; Newport’s St Thomas Square on a hot day. The farmer’s market was in full swing, lunchtime drinkers – and smokers – were crowding the tables outside the Wheatsheaf, and Matt and Cat had plonked themselves down at a jammy table outside a little pasty shop... Read more
This is an archive review. The Countryman is now closed. Matt and Cat’s home town of Ryde is positively bursting with places to eat and they’ve tried an awful lot of them. The advantage of such a densely resourced place is that if you don’t like the look of... Read more