Matt and Cat\'s Isle of Wight Eating Out Guide
This is an archive review. La Scala has now closed.  Matt spent his formative years in Sandown, pottering on the beach, playing on the railway and trotting up and down the High Street. Much has changed in Sandown since those days… but much has not. Matt can’t quite remember... 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
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
There’s something reassuring about seeing restaurateurs consuming their own wares. Workers need to eat and, whilst many chow down in some back room, others fuel up more conspicuously. It’s not uncommon, for example, to see the friendly staff in the Hong Kong Express at Ryde sitting down to a... Read more
Archive review: The Bank is now closed. Years ago, Cat worked in Shanklin and took great pleasure commuting on the tiny train from Ryde through the fields and woodlands of the east Wight. However, since quitting that job for one in the great metropolis of Newport, Shanklin barely enters... Read more
The Met, Ventnor

The Met, Ventnor

Uncategorised 11

The Isle of Wight is delightfully unsophisticated despite the regular and steady influx of DFLs (Down from London), downsizing to experience the mellowness that is Island living (see Guardian article ‘Let’s Move to Ventnor’). The Island’s esplanades are empty of metrosexual man’s preening narcissism, his skilfully dishevelled hair refusing... Read more
ARCHIVE: Monsoon, Ryde High Street
ARCHIVE POST: Monsoon is still trading (Jan 2020), but as a takeaway only.  Ryde is a curious town in layout – a long, thin chain of shops, pubs and restaurants snakes its way uphill from the esplanade – where the visitor arrives fresh from the ferry – thence up... Read more

The Roadside Inn, Nettlestone

16th October 2007

The fortunes of Nettlestone’s Roadside Inn have been up and down like a bride’s nightie. Matt and Cat first visited in 2007 and, after hearing that things had changed, took another look in June 2010. You can read what they concluded here. The original review from October 2007 is... Read more

Royal China, Sandown High Street

30th September 2007 17

Late on a wet Sunday evening on the last day of the summer season, Matt and Cat imagined they’d be lucky to find anywhere to eat in Sandown that wasn’t closed or nearly empty. So the bright lights of the Royal China were a welcome sight. Even when much... Read more