|
Gods Providence - Newport
* Life can be full of
disappointments. For me it is going to a restaurant that I originally
thought was good only to find on another visit, that the chef has changed along
with the quality of the cooking – for the worst! This means that the one
thing I'm always looking for is consistency. Whether the establishment is
chef/proprietor- based or the chef is employed, the quality of the cooking is
the responsibility of the owner not the chef. I have been eating in Gods
Providence cafe come tearooms for over 20 years and they are serving the
same food, same quality now as they did then. Things have subtly changed, for
instance the coconut and chocolate slice has vanished and so has the
upstairs salad bar. I am sad about this as I had many girly lunches up there
20 years ago – always wholemeal pastry quiche with a selection of salads. I
remember the grated carrot and coconut salad with great affection. Gods
Providence House is now onto its fourth owner. The second one decorated the loos,
the third one added curtains, the latest one colourful blackboards. But do
not be put off by this slightly garish touch the food is the same.
Gods Providence House is the nearest one can get to tinkling teacups and olde worlde charm, and old-fashioned pre-war food – comfort food. Steak pie and steak pudding, with a
selection of well- cooked vegetables, poached egg on toast, omelettes,
scones, egg mayonnaise sandwiches, fruit jelly and lemon meringue pie. Their
concession to the modern world is cafetiere coffee selection, herbal teas and BLT; and now some delicious looking puddings. Waitresses in black and white
uniforms are quick and friendly. What they create with the catering packs is
worth tasting.
Where is it? – St Thomas Square, Newport
Devonia Kiosk - Sandown
Amongst the usual beach kiosk stuff comes a sparkle of good food from a couple who want to offer more than just cheesy
chips and burgers. I have eaten there the best crab cake I have ever tasted and many wonderful home made soups; including rich mushroom, intense pumpkin with crispy
bacon and mozzarella balls. Island chefs should do themselves a favour and pop along there on a sunny winters day for a warming special.
Where is it? The first kiosk at the beginning of
the walk along the revetement to Shanklin.
Chessell Pottery Barns New-entry
Recommended
Very simple food. Very small
menu. Very fresh flavours. I recommend their fresh homemade pasties and the
soup and scones.
Where is it?
On the middle road to Freshwater just past Calbourne
Brighstone Tearooms New-entry
What I like about this place is
it knows its limitations. Planning for a busy season it is offering bought-in food from local producers, sausages with speciality mashes, ice-creams
and cakes. Blackboard menu offers simple dishes served with organic
vegetables. My parmesan-crusted cod with organic vegetables was just the
ticket and the crumble on my pudding was crunchy.
Where is it? Brighstone village
opposite the church
Outlook - Gurnard
New-entry 2008
Overlooking the Solent this cafe certainly has a good outlook. I love Gurnard with its little cabins and beach huts. A
unique part of the Island. Outlook has a very simple menu, baguettes - one with a Moroccan lamb filling, a daily stew, jackets and a few cakes. What makes them
special is that the chef makes the most spectacular soups. Rich, tasty, creamy and natural. A good bowl of soup and a nice view - what more can you ask for?
Where is it? On the marshes at Gurnard
Apple Tree Cafe - Afton Park Freshwater
The cafe has re-opened with a simplified menu, Delicious mushroom soup.
Where is it? Afton. At the Freshwater end on the central road from Newport to
Freshwater
Fish and Chips We like:-
Junes Fish Bar - Shanklin Corries Cabin - Cowes |
Quay Arts Café - Newport *
We are a world of stereotype eaters. If you are a truck driver you
are meant to eat bacon
sandwiches at a greasy spoon – a pop star, to eat nouvelle cuisine – a pensioner,
to eat over-cooked roast dinners and toasted teacakes – a business executive,
to eat fish – a farmer to eat meat at home – or an artist, to eat vegetarian whole-foods - or that is what every art centre in the country thinks. Whether you are a
practising artist or a buyer of art, this is the menu to expect at such
establishments. The Quay Arts centre is no exception. Most of the customers seem to
be 40–50 year- old women on their own or with a girl friend, and the men are
of the paisley sleeveless sweater types. This is not a criticism, merely an
observation, besides, I pop in there all the time. I like to view the art
then have a cup of tea and a piece of date slice (my favourite). I pleasant
way to spend an hour.
The food is healthy – salads, the SOD (soup of day)
is usually vegetable, quiche,
vegetarian terrines, baguettes using wholemeal bread – an improvement on the
white variety served everywhere else – jackets and homemade cakes.
The café is quite dark but the outside deck on the bank of the Medina
river is a pleasant place to sit.
It can get very busy during lunchtime – particularly during the
winter so be prepared to queue.
Where is it? Sea Street, which is at the bottom of Quay Street
Beach Cafe - Steephill Cove
Can there be anything more special than an Isle of Wight crab
sandwich? Well yes. The Isle of Wight crab sandwiches that are served at the Steephill Cove Café
–so fresh you can taste the sea, so richly packed with meat they are a meal. I probably
go there more than anywhere else in the summer. I take all my friends as there is no better place to impress than with the joys of Island Life. The venue alone is
fantastic and nostalgic, reminiscent of days gone by
– despite the new sea wall. A fishing boat bobs in the tiny harbour and you just know
this is the vehicle that delivers the crab.
Last summer they were also serving huge fluffy-pink
meringues filled with thick cream and garnished with Isle of Wight strawberries.
Where is it?
Proceeding by car from Ventnor, the lane leading to Steephill
Cove is 50 yds short of the Ventnor Botanic Gardens. Cars cannot descend to
the cove, but parking is available on the main road; or park at the top
Ventnor esplanade car park and take the cliff walk. Approx 30 minutes.
Liberty's - Ryde *
Having eaten so many badly-cooked lunches I was relieved to
visit Liberties in Ryde. I went mid-week. Liberties is following the current fashion of café bar society. To be honest I have been there a couple of times
before, not for lunch but for a cup of coffee and their 'to die for' forest fruits crumble tart with a little scoop of honey ice-cream on the side and driddled with caramel sauce. It was so good I went back for
more a couple of weeks later. This is a dangerous thing to do because
consistency, or rather lack of it, can often let a restaurant down. I can
happily say it was consistently good.
Liberty's is modern, young and easy,
yet it has a kind of comfortable-club feel about it. The ceilings are high
enough for voices to be lost yet there is none of that noisy, lively,
canteen echo.
You can wait for waitress service or write your order on the pad left on the table and take it to the
bar. I asked one member of staff about some of the dishes on offer and was impressed that she could answer me and didn’t have to run back of house to ask the chef.
She was also helpful when it came to suggesting a nice non-alcoholic lunchtime drink.
The lunch menu is a good read and many of the dishes are tempting as well as recognisable. My caramelised red onion
and feta cheese tartlet came warm with a little salad garnish. The pastry
was crisp and melted in the mouth and the filling slightly sweet and creamy.
I also had haddock and Parma ham fishcakes with a cold tomato salsa. It was
a nice combination and not too heavy.
As much as I wanted to have the crumble
tart again I decided to try the aissiettes of chocolates. A long elegant
platter arrived with delicate servings of warm chocolate brownie, apricot
sorbet, iced-white chocolate mouse and a scoop of rich dark chocolate
truffle, everything was small, delicate and beautifully presented – the
perfect end for a rich or robust meal.
Where
is it?12 Union Street, Ryde, Reservations 01983 811007 Back
to top |
The Boat House
- Steephill Cove * I magine the tropics, imagine alfresco
eating under the gentle shade of a palm-fringed veranda and you have The
Boat House. What a joy, what bliss. What pleasure and how clever to think of
planting a piece of the South Sea Islands on our own Wighty shores.
Wooden slatted floors, canvas roof, directors' chairs, bits of old rope
twisted around driftwood rails. Stones off the beach, trellis walls and
trees growing through the floor contrast with damask napkins and large glass
goblets for the delicious house wine.
The menu is basically salad, salad and salad. I had the seafood platter
with an almost perfectly cooked lobster. A crab shell-filled with
hand-picked succulent brown and white crab meat and a dozen shell on prawns
resting on a large bed of salad. The seafood was incredibly fresh. The only
thing missing was a dollop of genuine homemade mayonnaise.
Desserts are homemade. My raspberry brulee was completely wrong in terms
of it being made to an accurate recipe, however it was divine in its own
special way.
Where is it? The Boat House is normally open every lunchtime so long as it isn’t blowing a ‘hooly’ outside and some evenings. Next
year they plan to open lunchtimes only.
Proceeding by car from Ventnor, the lane leading to Steephill Cove is 50yds
short of the Ventnor Botanic Gardens. Cars cannot descend to the cove, but
parking is available on the main road; or park at the top Ventnor esplanade
car park and take the cliff walk. Approx 30 minutes.
Old Smithy - Godshill
This is serious catering for
tourism. Plastic table and chairs, huge conservatory overlooking the coach
car park. The place is so popular there is almost always a queue, but it is
worth it for their huge naughty but nice cream cakes and my favourite,
Bonoffi pie the best on the Isle of Wight. If you are local and want to
avoid the crowds (not an easy task), go mid-week when the children are at school
or when it is a sunny day so that you can sit outside. The service is
efficient and pleasant. Amazing when they have to put up with hundreds of
customers every day.
Where is it? - You can't miss it. Turn off the main road in Godshill into the large car park on the right if coming from Shanklin.
Thorntons - Newport
Cappuccino coffee is the one
drink that I get really annoyed about. Most establishments think that as
long as it has chocolate sprinkled on the top that is all it requires. Then
there are those that think it has to have the froth piled on top like a snow-capped mountain. A real cappuccino is 1/3 coffee, 1/3 milk and 1/3 froth all
below the rim of the cup. Milk to the rim is a Latte. A large cappuccino is
never served in a mug, that is disgusting. The chocolate topping should be
cocoa, not sprinkles and this is why I always ask for my cappuccino without
the finish as no one ever seems to use cocoa anymore. Nevertheless, to date
Thorntons in Newport is the closest anyone on the Island gets to a good cappuccino.
You may well ask what am I doing at
Thorntons? The one thing you can be certain about a chain of eating
establishments is that they are always consistent. That is consistently bad
and very occasionally consistently good. Thorntons is the latter.
Throntons in Newport is my preference for service and atmosphere and their cakes are scrummy. My
favourite is the Lemon Tart, lip- puckeringly tangy with a smooth
finish a close runner-up is the Chocolate Alpini cake.
Where is it? - Newport High street, just down form the Post Office. |