Matt and Cat\'s Isle of Wight Eating Out Guide

Baan Thai, Cowes

5th May 2008 7

There seems to be a formula to calculate the number of oriental restaurants in any given area – if you know the number of Indian restaurants, you can assume a similar number of Chinese ones, and, aggregating these two, once you reach a certain number, sure enough there will... Read more
The Isle of Wight is a wonderful place to live and a Bank Holiday weekend is a great excuse to mess about doing touristy things like visiting a National Trust property and having tea in its sumptuous gardens. Fortunately, there is no shortage of pretty villages and tea shops... Read more

Town Choice, Newport

4th May 2008 2

Newport is stuffed to bursting with eateries. Sit down venues, vertical eating places, chip shops, coffee shops, pubs, clubs, doughnut bars and pizza parlours. And, judging by the longevity of some of these places, there is obviously good business to be had feeding the hungry of the Island’s capital.... Read more

Boathouse, Springvale

1st May 2008 34

This is an archive review of a previous incarnation of The Boathouse. For the current review go here. The Boathouse – and Matt and Cat’s previous remarks about it – has proven to be one of the talking points of this website. See the bottom of the page for... Read more
Archive review: China China, Bembridge
This is an archive review. China China has now closed down and is replaced by the Lu Shan.  Somebody once said that the average age of the Isle of Wight’s population could be significantly altered by the flooding of the east and west yar rivers; making the county the... Read more
Bizzy Wok, Ryde
The heavens opened as Matt and junior reviewers Bill and Jack dashed home after a busy day out. Grabbing the nearest takeaway menu that had fluttered through the letterbox, Matt rang the Bizzy Wok, a takeaway in central Ryde that Matt and Cat had never previously tried. A polite... Read more
NB: The Village Taverna is now closed. But we hear a new place is opening there (see comments below) As regular readers to Matt and Cat’s Isle of Wight eating out guide will know, M and C are big fans of tapas, El Toro Contento being one of their... Read more

Copper Kettle, Seaview

24th March 2008 11

According to the blurb in the Copper Kettle’s menu, “Seaview once boasted three banks, a large number of butchers, bakers and grocers, antiques and curiosity shops and was once a bustling centre of commerce”. This is hard to imagine, particularly in winter when the population of the village dwindles.... Read more
Archive review: Cinnamon, Ryde
This is an archive review. Cinnamon has now closed. Heston Blumenthal‘s laboratory kitchen, what’s that all about, eh? Who in their right mind really wants to pay ninety quid for a taste of snail porridge or egg and bacon flavour ice cream? Oak flavoured crisps? Leather mashed potato? To... Read more
The very first review written for this guide was for Sainsbury’s, Newport. It was short and to the point. This was before Matt and Cat even really had decided to do anything more than a single review… 170 reviews later and they’re still going. Now with this review, they’ve... Read more