Dunno about you but we’ve got one of those mates who is not comfortable with eating out. He loves his own home cooking and is consequently unfamiliar with the inside of a restaurant, some of the terminology on a menu and is also not keen on spending money on... Read more
Social media coverage has been blamed for a lot of things – election results, disgraced politicians, a decline in educational standards – but one thing that the coming of Instagram can most certainly take credit for is the the advent of beautiful food. Yes chefs, if your dishes look... Read more
This is an archive review. Courtside Cafe is currently closed. Anyone who keeps an eye on the Isle of Wight County Press will note that, following our favourable review of the Woodman’s Arms, Gordon Pollard from Sandown was compelled to put pen to paper. He complained about our analogy... Read more
We often reminisce about Brading Waxworks. This much-loved tourist attraction closed in 2010, after 45 years. Tantalisingly, if it had hung on just a few more seasons, we reckon it might have seen its fortunes turn. After all, these days post-ironic tourism is big business, and goodness knows the... Read more
You may recall that we declared the island’s national dish to be crab on chips. If you haven’t tried the goodness of chunky triple-cooked chips or sweet potato fries smothered with Ventnor’s finest crab meat then you need to rectify that immediately. Of course, UK-wide, the most popular dish... Read more
KFC Newport has been an Island institution long enough for most of us to get accustomed to its presence. When we last reviewed it back in 2005 we were scathing about the ‘hideous, abattoir-like’ architecture, but had to admit that the food was not unpleasant. Well, twelve years and... Read more
What is it about chain restaurants? We diners profess disdain for them, saying that we prefer small local businesses for our meals out. But clearly we don’t – or at least a lot of us don’t. It doesn’t look as though McDonald’s in Newport is closing down any time... Read more
ARCHIVE REVIEW: Original Phil’s is now closed. We’ve got the idea that at some point, way back, we actually met the original Original Phil. Or maybe we dreamt it. Anyway, he’s long gone, but the diner that bears his name has been doing the Island’s best impression of an... Read more
The Island’s tourism organisation Visit Isle of Wight never misses a trick. Going large in its inaugural year it capitalised on the enduring popularity of ‘terrible lizards’ with a Walking with Dinosaurs tie-in, based around interactive augmented reality meteorites. This was followed up with a Transformers: Age of Extinction... Read more
We were pretty much on the doorstep the day the Garlic Farm Cafe opened in 2009 and had a lovely lunch. Our one gripe way back then was “The menu unexpectedly made no mention of local produce – other than the farm’s own chutney – and hardly any of... Read more
