Take aways | Matt and Cat's Isle of Wight Eating Out Guide

McDonald’s, Newport

Reviews 4th December 2018
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People regularly ask us if we are truly anonymous food reviewers. “Surely staff must know when you are eating in their venue?” is oft the cry. They possibly do, but sometimes we keep them on their toes. We might book under a different name, go with friends or, sometimes... Read more

Blue Crab, Yarmouth

Reviews 29th October 2018
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Imagine popping into your local village chippy only to find yourself bumping into a peer of the realm. That was our diverting experience when we were waiting for a table in Yarmouth’s Blue Crab. ‘Takeaway for Michael?’ was called out, and we passed local celebrity Lord Grade of Yarmouth... Read more

Seapot, Ventnor

Reviews 14th August 2018
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At the outer edge of England lies the Isle of Wight; at the Island’s southerly perimeter is Ventnor – and clinging to its shoreline is Seapot. We approached the cafe from the Bonchurch end, pausing to read about how, when Victorian celebrity Tennyson popped into the village, local girls... Read more

Ryde Tandoori

Reviews 23rd July 2018
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Although we don’t claim to have our fingers on the pulse of all the zeitgeisty food fashions, a recent trip to Bristol showed us that ‘raw’ food, sliders and nose-to-tail eating are still very much on the mainland’s (artfully-chipped enamelled) plate. Islandside, we’re all over The Rise of the... Read more

Chessell Pottery Cafe, Shalcombe

Reviews 1st July 2018
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Now that David Bowie has shuffled off this mortal coil, the memory of him will surely eventually fade away. But for old codgers like us, there is no greater shorthand for reinvention than the conceiver of the Thin White Duke and Ziggy Stardust. And, just as the erstwhile David... Read more

Pizza Express, Newport

Reviews 1st May 2018
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One drizzly Newport afternoon, post-cinema, we wandered into town with dinner in mind. Passing Thompson’s we paused, as ever, and pondered the alluring bill of fare outside. Was this the day that the £24 two-course set menu was going to draw us in? Apparently not. The siren of Pizza... Read more

Hong Kong Express, Ryde

Reviews 10th April 2018
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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

Caffe Isola, Newport

Reviews 2nd April 2018
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Has Newport reached ‘peak coffee shop’? Back in 2015 we wondered this in our review of the then brand-new Coffee Room at Skintrade. People probably asked the same question when the venerable God’s Providence House opened its doors back in the last century – yet seemingly the demand for... Read more

KFC Newport

Reviews 11th December 2017
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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

Original Phil’s Diner, Newport

Reviews 20th November 2017
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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 actual American diner for some years. It’s... Read more