Needles Battery Tea Room
27th March 2010 5
Matt and Cat have made several visits to the Island’ most westerly café. Read their latest thoughts on the place below. Earlier review and comments follow that. Having had a successful – and educational – day out at Hampshire’s most southerly fortification, Hurst Castle, Matt and Cat decided visit... Read more
Playing at grockles one sunny August day, Matt and Cat and junior reviewers Bill and Jack headed west with a plan to have lunch at Warren Farm, a place repeatedly recommended by a colleague. It was closed. Not to worry – something else to eat must be nearby. A... Read more
Kings Manor Farm Café
18th July 2009 9
Another sunny afternoon; another farm café. Yes, friends, it’s hard enough work reviewing the Island’s food at the best of times, but summer is a particularly strenuous season for diligent Matt and Cat, as they dash from one end of the Island to the other in an attempt to... Read more
Waterfront, Totland Bay
29th June 2009 14
Going to Totland Bay at midsummer must be like going to the moon. Matt and Cat blasted off from Newport and headed in a near-straight trajectory. Reaching jowl-bothering speeds of nearly 40mph (except through Shalfleet), they went west towards the setting sun. The light from our brightest star was... Read more
Chale Green Stores
22nd February 2009 32
OK, alright! You’ve spoken up and, as always, Matt and Cat have taken heed. You’ve shone the beacon into the sky and your call has been answered… Chale Green Stores it is! As if the price of petrol was no object, Matt and Cat made their second trip west... Read more
This is an archive review. This venue is now closed. It seems like ages since the Hong Kong Express opened in Newport, and whilst chatting to the staff in the new bar at that time Matt and Cat were amazed and delighted to discover that yet another HKE was... 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: The Countryman, Limerstone
Uncategorised 8th May 2008
This is an archive review. The Countryman is now closed. Matt and Cat’s home town of Ryde is positively bursting with places to eat and they’ve tried an awful lot of them. The advantage of such a densely resourced place is that if you don’t like the look of... Read more
Mottistone Manor Tea Garden
4th May 2008 1
The Isle of Wight is a wonderful place to live and a Bank Holiday weekend is a great excuse to mess about doing touristy things like visiting a National Trust property and having tea in its sumptuous gardens. Fortunately, there is no shortage of pretty villages and tea shops... Read more
Sun Inn, Calbourne
29th January 2008 6
In the increasingly competitive pub and restaurant market, establishments often hang their Unique Selling Point on some small featurette, extrapolating it into an entire theme – see, for example, the Island’s only capital punishment theme pub – the Hare and Hounds; a venue which developed its identity from its... Read more
