There are some Island institutions, like Hursts, which provide the same products and service year after year. Fashions change, high street names rise and fall yet some places are so deep-rooted that they are more than a shop front; they, by dint of inertia, become part of the Island’s... Read more
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
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
You come to the Isle of Wight, you want seafood. You’d think there’d be no problem with that, really. After all, we are surrounded by the stuff. Londoners arriving at their cosy cottages by the sea reasonably expect crustaceans to be marching up from the beaches and throwing themselves... Read more
We’ve been around the block. But it’s not just us; hell, even you’re looking a bit crinkly around the eyes these days. Laughter lines or too many late nights? That’s your secret and who are we to judge? We’re usually burning the midnight oil noshing our way to bedtime... Read more
Remember when Ventnor was a run-down, dejected town? No, really, it was. And not that long ago either. Just before you moved down, in fact. All of you, too trendy for Brighton and too jaded for London – you gently fell on this dying seaside town like a morning... Read more
The Old Fort is positioned to take advantage of one of the finest dining vistas on the Island, perhaps only rivalled by the Little Gloster and Ventnor’s Spyglass. On those balmy summer Seaview nights when the sea breeze allows it, you can sit right on the seawall and stare in... Read more
We took the window seat in the Brasserie’s splendid first floor dining room. It was easy to feel the weight of years in this place as the evening light streamed across the spacious table. A cornerstone of St Thomas’ Square; the ancient Wheatsheaf Inn must have seen so many... Read more
