As Red Funnel‘s bulldozer of progress finally subsumed its neighbour the White Hart pub, Chinese takeaway Jade Garden stood its ground. The venue’s little beacon of light shines smack bang in East Cowes’ regeneration quarter. The modern Waitrose, a block of over-fifty-fives’ housing, and, of course, that smooth new... Read more
A town pub can go one of two ways. A few weeks ago we found ourselves in London, enjoying a drink in one of the city’s many street-corner hostelries. The Victorian pub was a single small room with a bar, and that was about it. No food was served,... Read more
Niton used to have two pubs, the White Lion and the Buddle. After some prevarication the White Lion closed for good, and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth amongst the Crab-Nitoners. Left without a pub in the village itself, drinkers were faced with a steep walk down... Read more
Soup of the day at Fox’s was potato and leek. We knew without even asking that it would be potato and leek. Potato and leek soup tells you a lot. It tells you to expect warm, simple fuel. It tells you that you might go away feeling quietly satisfied... Read more
There’s something comforting about a franchise restaurant. There’s a reason McDonald’s is popular; the home of the hamburger sells unchallenging food at affordable prices in a familiar, family-friendly environment. When on the mainland, Cat likes to eat in Wagamama; the Japanese-inspired restaurant has consistent quality fresh ingredients with the... Read more
Who’d have predicted Sandown would be the place where the Island’s newest big hotel would be built? As we walked in town we were amazed to spot not one but two massive cranes at work on the seafront. We pressed our noses on the glass at the under-construction Boojum... Read more
In the week that Ryde was awarded a share of the government’s High Streets Heritage Action Zone fund, we thought we’d visit the town and eat in one of its most venerable venues. We could, of course, have popped into Yelf’s Hotel. The hostelry undoubtedly counts as historic, having... Read more
Did you know Dan’s Kitchen in St Helens had closed? No? You’d been trying to get a table at that popular restaurant for ages, hadn’t you? And you didn’t, did you? Well, now you can’t. And nor can we, which is a shame, because it was good. But hold... Read more
In what is now a regular and extremely popular event in Hampshire’s calendar, the Southsea Food Festival returned last weekend – and, once again, we popped across the Solent to join in the foodie fun. Thanks to Wightlink for the free ride! The weather gods were smiling down on... Read more
Sometime soon, if the futurologists are to be believed, we’ll be shuttled around in driverless electric cars – our every move monitored and tagged by our robot overlords. But until that particular utopia arrives, we’ll have to make do with more prosaic ways of getting about. And, in Ryde,... Read more
