Love and marriage, they say, go together like a horse and carriage. Or maybe like Peters and Lee, the interchangeable Ant and Dec, Matt and Cat, and Indian tapas… Whoah there! Indian and tapas? Both spicy, perhaps, but a good combination? The new owners of Sandown’s latest restaurant, SWAD... Read more
Coffee Republic, Newport (Archive review)
Uncategorised 14th December 2008
Coffee republic has now closed, and reopened as Love Coffee. Despite the looming presence of the brutalist-style Somerfield and its multi-storey car park, Newport’s Pyle Street is extraordinarily historic. Many of the surrounding buildings date back centuries; the Wheatsheaf Hotel (allegedly 1693), God’s Providence House (at least 1701) and... Read more
Spice Express, Ryde
30th November 2008 12
Cat and Matt have been off the scene for a week or so; confined to barracks with, respectively, a cold and Man Flu. Without any sense of taste and likely to be felled by fits of coughing, M and C decided that they were not in any condition to... Read more
Black Cat Restaurant, Shanklin
8th November 2008 15
Unexpectedly finding themselves in Shanklin one evening, Matt and Cat scratched around for something to do. Tempting as My Fair Lady at Shanklin Theatre was M and C were too late for curtain up, the library was shut and Shanklin Chine was closed for the winter. So they defaulted... Read more
Purple Mango, East Cowes
2nd November 2008 18
The lights are shining bright in East Cowes these days. Despite SEEDA‘s numinous arrival in the town – now revealed disappointingly as all light and no heat – the brave entrepreneurs behind Saffron in Cowes have thumbed their noses at the economic downturn and opened a stylish restaurant in... Read more
There’s a theory suggesting that if you sit and wait long enough, everything will come to you. If this principle has much currency, there have probably been a few gurus on mountaintops waiting for a very long time for a nice fresh fish supper to come along. What they... Read more
Archive review: Alexanders, John Street, Ryde
Reviews 8th August 2008
Alexanders is now closed. This is an archive review. What’s the way to find good fish and chips on the Isle of Wight? It’s simple – follow Matt and Cat’s easy guide. Are you right next to the sea? No good chips here – and no good prices either.... Read more
Bengal Palace, Newport
5th August 2008 11
As regular readers of Matt and Cat’s Isle of Wight Eating Out Guide may have deduced, the eponymous writers live in Ryde and work in Newport. This geographical predictability means that the reviews on these pages have a tendency to cluster around these conurbations. And, dear reader, you can... Read more
Medina Indian Cuisine and Kebab Pizza, Cowes
13th June 2008 1
With a population of just under 20,000 (which more than doubles on Cowes firework night), Cowes is a pretty small town. Its heart is pretty compact, with quaint bow-fronted shops and chandleries, pressed into a small waterside High Street. Also squeezed into the town are four Indian restaurants; a... Read more
Brothers Fish and Chips, Brading
9th June 2008 6
Brothers fish and chip shop, in Brading, is a novelty on the Island: a chip shop which is not on the beach – or even near it. Hence, like Brading itself, it has much of the charm of a quiet rural town, and is rarely overtaken by hordes of... Read more
