Matt and Cat\'s Isle of Wight Eating Out Guide
Se7en at the Royal Hotel, Ventnor
It’s been an age since we had one of those dinners in which each course delights and confounds our expectations. However, we knew that if we were going to experience food like that anywhere again, then it would be at Ventnor’s Royal Hotel – location of so many memorable... Read more
Cycling Gourmand electric bike adventure
Recently, we were asked by the lovely people at the Seaview Hotel to help curate a series of bike rides which would take in some of our favourite eateries in the north-east Wight. And so the Cycling Gourmand was created. However, these are not just any bike rides. The... Read more
Vegan omakase supper, Stripped
Matt and Cat held another sell-out event at Ventnor’s Stripped restaurant on 22 June 2019, with an even bigger challenge for the kitchen team – twelve courses of vegan food! With nearly 500 individual dishes served up this was a logistical tour de force and a magnificent meal all... Read more
Devon Food Movement at Kynges Well, Brading
We’re used to our favourite bands going on tour, and comedians have been doing the circuit for years. But what about chefs? Chef/founder of the Devon Food Movement, Luke Fearon, doesn’t have his own kitchen. Instead, he make guest appearances at existing venues, and this week he brought his... Read more
Sushi Supper at Cantina, Ventnor
One of our favourite restaurants Cantina is known for its Eurocentric cuisine so we were intrigued and delighted when proprietor Klaus proposed a sushi supper. We love this meticulous Japanese cuisine and so do plenty of others – our first dining event of the year was a sell out!... Read more
The Royal Hotel Heritage Menu
Rebellious chefs. You can’t avoid them these days. Gawd knows who’s responsible for the ‘dirty’ food revolution? Possibly naked chef and school dinner warrior, Jamie Oliver? And what about ‘dropped’ desserts? Newport’s Smokehouse introduced us to the dirty fries concept – their version delivers regulation skinny chips enhanced with... Read more
The Mix Kitchen, Bestival 2016
You remember Bestival 2016, that one where it was mostly sunny but even that didn’t please some people? Well, we spent a day there checking the impermeability of our wellies and the edibility of the food. Cultural commentary we shall leave to others. Us, we like to eat. The... Read more
Isle of Wight Garlic Festival 2016
This is, for us, becoming the year of street food. Yeah, yeah, we’ve been banging on about it for a while now and it’s hardly a new concept, as your nan will undoubtedly tell you. The English are often reduced to the ‘nation of greengrocers’ cliché, and it’s certainly... Read more
Matt and Cat’s Dining Club at Nomad
You know us – any excuse for a banquet. So when the chefs at Nomad offered to create a seven course dinner for our dining club to celebrate the Mexican festival of Cinco de Mayo, who were we to refuse? On the Isle of Wight we’re nearer to vanquished... Read more

Bestival Food 2013

Uncategorised 9th September 2013 5

By this year’s Bestival correspondent, Ian Winter. Our regular Festival food reviewer Wendy was busy enjoying the event this year; so Ian, who managed to eat an impressively large amount of food, agreed that Matt and Cat could pillage his Twitter and Facebook feeds for the following overview, which... Read more