I really like consistency. There is nothing more disappointing than having a great meal one week then taking your friends back, having raved about it, only to find standards have dropped, chef has changed, the menu is significantly different. No such thing happens in Dan Maskell's kitchen. A dish this year of Roast Partridge with boudon noir was beautifully prepared and came with perfectly cooked vegetables, excellent black pudding (not the supermarket variety) and the rich sauce reduction. Dan tries the odd unusual thing which I applaud but not always successful such as the cold tomato soup with avocado sorbet. Both were good in their own right but it was a disjointed marriage. I used to make a hugely popular chilled tomatoes and red capsicum soup Recipe below. when I had my restaurant. The trick was that it had to be ice, ice cold, very fresh and strongly flavoured.

I asked him If I could mix up his puddings so that I ended up with soft wobbly ginger jelly with Rhubarb sorbet. This is an obvious and well tried combination and it was a joy to eat. But not for long because the ration was far too small. I like my puds to last more than two mouth-fulls. Small portions are fin e if it is a taster menu.

Chilled tomato and red capsicum soup

1 kilo sun-ripened tomatoes

2 red capsicums (halved and seeds remove

2 large onions

2 cloves garlic

1 hpd tspn marigold vegetable stock

Small carton of tomato juice ( pour the juice into an ice cube tray and freeze)

Garnish

¼ cucumber

1 beef tomato

1 small ripe avocado pear

Olive oil

Roughly cut up the onion, tomatoes, capsicum and garlic. Scoop into a

saucepan and add 1 ltre cold water and the stock. Bring to almost a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until all the ingredients and really soft and squidgy.

Liquidise this mixture and pass through a mouli sieve to remove seeds and skin. Put in a container and chill.

Make the garnish no more than I hour before serving other wise the avocado with “tarnish”

Peel and deseed the cucumber. Peel and de-seed the tomato. Remove avocado from its skin. Dice these three ingredients in to tiny confetti dice and mix together.

To serve. Add the tomato juice to the iced soup mixture. If too thick add some iced water. Ladel into soup plates or bowls. Put a spoon of the garnish in the centre. Put 2 or 3 tomato ice cubes around the bowl and drizzle over some super delicious olive oil. Serve and return for seconds.

Tel: 01983 872303

www.danskitchen,com

This used to be a pub but it now definitely a restaurant. I went with the Foody Four. That is me and three other girls who like to eat good food.

The eating area is small and you are kind of sitting on top of one another. The food was of a traditional restaurant standard. i.e good things to eat without the pretensions of fine dining. Duck with orange sauce, Cottage pie, fillet of beef medallions.,

This is clearly a family run eatery all working together for the common good.

If someone can come up with something between Pub food and fine dining they will be ontp a winner I am sure. Dinning Pubs are close but I am really talking about a restaurant that is in a good venue, is comfortable, pleasant, attentive, restaurant service with a smile.

01983 405585

www.theyarbridgeinn.co.uk

They are definitely back on track. Their menu is small and relatively safe apart from the chef’s obsession with.soufflés. On the starters there is a Gallybagger soufflé. I have had it with a cheeses sauce delicious and on another occasion with a cauliflower puree. The former being superior. Then there is the pudding course. I have had an amazing, fantastic, raspberry soufflé with intense raspberry sorbet and recently a great, tangy cranberry soufflé with pistachio ice-cream and gingerbread sauce. Although tasting good the pistachio ice cream and gingerbread sauce did not marry well with the soufflé. Maybe an orange sorbet would have been a better accompaniment. What is so good about these soufflés is that they don’t taste eggy and I reckon there is more egg white than egg yolk in them.

Years ago I used to make a hot apple soufflé that I turned out of the mould before serving and accompanied it with a blackberry sauce. It had no egg yolk in it at all and never failed.

The menu doesn’t change that often and we the Foodie Five were offered virtually the same choice in December as we were offered in October. In October I had the Belly of Pork (what ever happened to pork fillet and pork loin). Ok so they are more difficult to cook than re-heated belly but I think it’s time to move on or perhaps back to the future. Anyway it was delicious. I also had a pigeon kebab with a parsnip puree. It was so good that we decided to book up for our Christmas do.

A few days later I was there again for a wedding anniversary meal. Cauliflower soup with a seafood cream and lightly diced scallops – fab. Followed by the best Roast beef meal I have had in years. Beef good and medium rare, a small piece of braised brisket, crispy roast potatoes, a great selection of vegetables and good flavoured gravy. In contrast the meal was rustic compared to the delicacy of the evening food. The dessert was a deconstructed trifle. I am not a great fan of de-constructions they are normally a disaster with the body of the dishes flavour lost in the scatterings. This again did not taste of trifle. Nevertheless, as a dessert it was superb particularly the jelly. A plate of the jelly with fresh fruit and cream would have been spectacular. There is a saying “Keep it simple stupid” and all the best eateries do.

01983 852186

www.royalhoteliow.co.uk

When I hear one of my favourite songs about, sand dunes and salty air and quaint little villages here and there suddenly flat through the air, I begin to pray that the food will be good.

At last ( I make no apologies for sexism) a female chef making her way and putting her cooking skills on the line. We have had an overload of male chefs emulating the TV gang. Now here we have a young woman putting her own take on things. Her background is chalet catering so her influences will be eclectic to say the least.

Her watercress soup would send the Roux Brothers (my influence when I was a chef) reeling in ecstasy. Watercress soup is the most difficult soup to make if you want to get it right and involves a lot of sieving. Hers was perfect with her own added touch of a tiny amount of smoked haddock.

On another visit I had confit of duck leg with a little bowl of potatoes cooked in cream. I felt this dish although perfectly cooked needed a little something else - a sauce maybe. I just know that in time this little eatery will become small and very beautiful.

That's two female cooks in Bembridge making their mark - Bring it on.

www.lockslane.co.uk

01983 875233

For those of you that don’t already know this, fine dining is not about going out for a meal it more of a theatrical experience. Many years ago I ate at the Sharrow Bay Hotel in Cumbria when Francis Coulson was at the helm. At the end of the meal the chefs paraded out of the kitchen into the dining room to take a bow. Thompson is not so pretentious but the food is of the sort that warrants it.

I went for lunch on my birthday. So it was a special occasion meal which is what it will be for most people. As you walk in it has a bistro rather restaurant atmosphere. All hard surfaces with a buzzy tone.

The food was without doubt good. My starter of wild mushroom risotto was bordering on perfect Italiano. The Cauliflower velouté with some sort of foam was indeed brilliant with the true flavour of cauliflower and stock to the fore. We both went for the venison with oysters, a few leaves and a driddle of red wine reduction . The trouble with fine dining is you never get enough of the stuff (sauce) that brings the dish together. Part of the joy of eating is to be able to savour the food. With taste buds seperated between sweet and salt on different sides of the tongue and things on the plate the size of a sixpence much of this joy is going to be missed. Thompson mostly avoids this issue and if a reduction is sticky and intense you don’t mind the minute quantity. I would have liked mine a little stickier. The venison was cooked to total perfection, the oyster were warmed just enough to set the protein.. The venison was the most expensive dish on the menu with indeed the most expensive ingredients used , but I felt it was lacking things like game chips or a little potato fondant or a small spoon of braised savoy cabbage or perhaps a puree of celeriac. It would only have cost Robert a few pence more and would have given the dish substance. I am of course nit-picking.

My chum had the rum baba dessert which was somewhat “off piste”.In that it was a rather generous rustic concoction served with a flourish. A reasonably sized sweet savarin bun arrived on a bed of citrus fruit segments. The waiter then cut the bun almost in half and piped cream down the cut. He then poured white rum all over it. It was wow. I asked for ice cream. Two tiny quennells, one of which was bee pollen flavoured a sort of tangy honey taste and was indeed nectar of the gods

I worry for Robert. He has passion and ambition. I only hope there are enough Island residents and visitors willing to regularly pay his prices. Lunch is cheaper with a less sophisticated menu.

www.robertthompson.co.uk

01983 526118

What makes a gourmet burger? Is it the quality of the bun, the freshness of the salad, the juicy beef patty that has not been cooked to death but has a nice char grill flavour. Is it the variety of tomato, the dill pickle. Is it dressed with bought in or home-made mayo and American mustard. Is the bun toasted or soggy. Are the accompanying chips skinny, thick, bought in or home-made. Or is it just the fact you are being charged more for less. The problem with skinny fries is they go cold quick and it is a French concept as is the brioche bun. In a desperate attempt to justify the high cost of a gourmet burger it is has to be de-Americanised and Frenchified. I also think it is an attempt to attract off the street punters into what is essentially a high end restaurant, or is it the recognition that having money does not guarantee good taste so giv-em a burger.

The Little Gloster has a little menu selection. I like this. Large menu choices fill me with dread. How long has the food been hanging around? is it pre- made, frozen then re-heated? Is the eatery so busy that there is a quick turnover of food so a large menu of fresh food can be carried?

The disadvantage of a small menu is choice is limited (not a problem I suffer) so you need to like most things or be prepared to try something new. A slight downside is that their small menu rarely changes.

www.thelittlecloster.com

Emma and Jon took a back seat this year due to the arrival of her first baby – congratulations both. It is a brave person that passes their well-earned reputation into the hands of others. Emma had nothing to fear. Her back-up did not let her down. In fact we didn't notice any difference in the quality of the  food..Emma specialises in freshness. Her food is alive and effervescent just like her. Her staff clearly love her are proud of her food and it shows in their service. Dishes are mostly seasonal seafood. I am only sad that she cannot find the time make her own puddings. Even if it is only a couple well executed creations. I used to serve a fresh fruit salad in half a scooped out charentais melon topped with meringue and grilled. Simple and delicious.

See last years review for more information

www.isleofwightbeachcafe.co.uk

 Polish chef Peter Kwaitkowsvi.has become a constant.

Who has come to the Island with some new ideas and the best scotch eggs I have ever had in my life. He’s not just a chef he can cook. Orange Polenta cake, pear and chocolate cake have a continental twist with lots of layers. Quiche with interesting fillings such as feta and olives, hereby adding a Mediterranean flavour to an intrinsically French dish. The vertical pear salad reminds me of a starter I used to make in my restaurant called Roquefort Pear where I hollowed out the centre of a peeled packham pear filled it with a creamy mixture of Roquefort and cream cheese then coated the pear with a soured cream and lemon dressing and garnished with toasted pine nuts and chicory leaves. He is good at the traditional British too and makes a mean cottage pie.

Going back to the scotch eggs, the sausage meat has a herby Mediterranean flavour and, this is so exciting for me, The yolk of the egg is still runny. And going against British tradition they are served warm. Fantastic!

Hands up if you can remember Hard Times in Shanklin? It was the Island’s answer to the then ground breaking Hard Rock Cafe in London. It was the gourmet answer to the Burger with traditional sesame bun and hash browns.

Posh burgers have been back for quite a few years namely in restaurants trying to appeal to the common man (that’s me by the way) and pubs trying to add value. Cow Co specialises in beef. The clue’s in the name. The menu is small – tick. They use local beef – tick, Service is excellent – tick. (I arrived seconds after they had taken an order from a table of 20. But they got me in quick and delivered my burger pronto so that I didn’t have to wait while the big table was cooked for. When you specialise in burgers at a price they need to be good. The smoky one that I ordered had masses of potential. It came with the now trendy brioche bun – un-toasted - no tick, the dill pickle mayonnaise was inspired and delicious the meat patty was the thickness of two thin ones stuck together. The whole stack would have been delicious but for one thing. I guess the chef had thought ahead- knowing there was a large table booked the burgers had been cooked in advance and put in an warmer. So, rather than being freshly cooked and juicy the patty was on the dry side. I forgive them this if was a temporary solution for an unusually busy situation. As I said at the beginning it was potentially a great burger. My crème brulee was very good and was served with a buttery shortbread and red berry compote that as more like a conserve, Its flavour was lifted with the touch of cinnamon. A compote which is more like a fruit stew would have been better, conserve is for bread.

They have only been open for 6 months so it is early days and they have made a good start. The restaurant has been well designed, modern rustic barn set up with great views over the Solent.

01983 758725

First of all I love the venue. Twitchers, birders or what ever you call yourselves will like too. They can gaze across wetland with or without binoculars (a scope available for customers use would a nice touch) while drinking iced coffee in the summer and hot chocolate in the Winter.

It has been a bit hit and miss this year. I had a fabulous pea risotto beautifully cooked. A a really good burger with their special herby chips. Then a couple of months later a salad that looked as if it had been dragged out of the scraps bin. Consistency is the most difficult thing for a chef to offer. Leave the Comis in charge while you have a day off and your reputation can be in ruins. It is all abut the training.

Tel: 01983 761 600

www.offtherailsyarmouth.co.uk

Her baking is consistent. Scones just right and not spoilt with too much baking powder as is the case at many other places on the Island. I adore her ginger cake.

Her capuccinno can vary from perfect to not quite right (i.e too much milk) However the coffee itself has a good flavour.

The cook - who used to work at the Royal Hotel is certainly putting her mark on the place. The display of cakes makes you want to buy something. She keeps it simple but good. I particularly liked the summer fruit scones. Everything is super fresh and any left over scones are sold in bags the next day for people to take home and toast.

They have now opened an excellent coffee shop in Yarmouth. More on that later.

The Winter Gardens - Ventnor

Travelling through a chequered history of concessions, town council run, then concessions it is now run by the group that owns the Pond and the Hambrough. The view from this venue is panoramic and worth a beer or coffee just for that. The chef currently in place is enthusiastic and likes rustic dishes. I have enjoyed large opne caped mushrooms stuffed with peppers and baked with salad and most recently ham hock terrine with a very good broccoli piccallili relish and toasted brioche bread. The eatery shows promise.

I used to make a ham and parsley terrine and served it with salsa Verdi. Recipe follows.

In a pan put ham, peeled onion/s, couple of cloves, 4 cloves of garlic, bay leaf and large bottle of cider. Bring to the boil, skim the scum off the surface. Lower the heat and simmer until the ham falls apart. Strain the ham through a sieve reserving the liquid. Make the liquid up to ½ litre with water. Put this liquid in a saucepan with eggshell and egg white. Whisk to make a foamy egg white filter. Bring the liquid slowly to the boil then reduce the heat and gently simmer until the liquid is clear. Strain through muslin and while still hot melt in a leaf of gelatine.

Mash the warm ham with a fork. Finely chop a bunch of parsley.

In a terrine layer the ham with the chopped parsley and scatter with a few green peppercorns in brine. Pour the liquid over the ham and put to set.

Salsa Verdi

In a blender put, bunch of parsley, a tablespoon of capers, 4 anchovy fillets and 2 tbls of good olive oil. Blend to a puree. Serve with a slice of Ham terrine.

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 brûlée was completely wrong in terms of it being made to an accurate recipe, however it was divine in its own special way.

A small café in Steephill Cove serving nothing more than ice cream, cake and coffee. So if you don’t want Victoria Sponge pop along to Cove for coffee and cake or vanilla ice-cream and coffee -(deconstructed affogato)

Their summer salads are a delight and are a perfectly balanced fit for the garden surroundings. As I hate my food served on a wooden board they kindly served my meal on a plate. Cakes are home-made and tempting. I recommended that they used the ham from Farmer Jacks on their salad which has a good flavour.

I am amazed they manage consistency. Since opening there has been many changes of chef yet the food remains consistently good. The menu is a boring read, paninis, cibatas, soup, a few specials. But the cooking and presentation raises it the food to a higher level. They buy in their cakes but they are very good. I particularly like the chewy lemon bar and the special Quarr cake which is like a simmnel cake. Soups are hearty and flavoursome. I refuse the bread so they give me a few chips instead. This winter I had the baked camembert with a dressed side salad and again with French fries instead of bread – a very posh sort of cheesy chips.

The waitress service has gone much to my relief

Please read previous reviews for more...

01983 898543

www.quarrabbey.org

The menu is small so a 20 min wait (in the cold) for a homemade burger when they are not busy is excessive. Everyone sat with their coats on. I like the fact that their burgers are home-made but if they want to serve them rare/medium rare they still need to be warmed through to enhance the beefy flavour. Not, as mine was very well cooked on the outside and raw and cold in the middle. The fries come in a tinfoil tin with a sort of cajun spice dressing - very nice like all French Fries where ever you go they were stone cold in less than 4 minutes. I am not sure why anyone bothers to sell them. The coleslaw which is a chargeable extra has a hint of mustard and is good. They are a young, enthusiastic team who need to get serious and stop thinking they are having a party.

The atmosphere is young and trendy and reminded me a little of Hard Times in Shanklin. What great times we had there. I do recall one evening getting rather wobbly as I ploughed my way through their cocktail list. The owner Steve was the perfect host out to please and make sure we had a great, fun experience.

Cooking tip - Beefburgers cooked rare or medium rare should be put into an oven (150-80c) to warm through. The length of time depends upon the thickness but generally peaking a home made burger will be thicker than a bought in one and its edges will be curved rather than straight. Then remove from the oven and cooked on a hot heat either in a pan, clean griddle - that has no residual black bits - or under a hot grill.

Where is it- Holroyd street- Newport - opposite Hursts

These days wherever you go menus are totally predictable, gourmet burger, slow cooked pork belly (reheated yuk), crab cakes, cod with chorizo, goats cheese with beetroot, sticky toffee, panacotta, brownie and so on. Whilst this is more acceptable in a pub than in a restaurant

I expect a higher level of creativity as well as first class cooking in a restaurant.

What makes The Taverner’s exceptional is that Chef Roger does offer the odd run of the Mill dish (oddly he no, longer makes his own burgers but buys in local lamb burgers) the majority of his menu consists of eclectic dishes. Yeh! why waste your time on moulding a burger when there is so much more to be created in the kitchen. Indeed all the so called gourmet burgers that I have eaten this year are only better by a very narrow margin. The Brawn who has got fed up of eating out with me recently told me that he prefers a thin rather that fat home made burger because the beef is browned/charred over a greater area and therefore more tasty. I think he has a point.

Roger subscribes to an Australian Gourmet magazine and leaves them lying around for obsessed people like me to read while I am eating one of his creations. You always know a good chef/cook when they say I read a cookery book like it is a novel. It suspect Roger does just that.

I remember that when I ran my restaurant foody magazines were far more sophisticated than the publications of today which have dumbed down.

is it a pub, is it a cafe is it a restaurant? it's difficult to tell so at some stage this review may move to a different page.

Apparently the current in-place for Cowes visitors and locals. For years this place has struggled from one owner to the next to make a go of it. At last the establishment has found someone who has, made a go of it. The interior is reminiscent of a London wine bar. A sort of home from home for our city visitors. The menu is good and short with the ubiquitous gourmet burger, goats cheese with beetroot salad, sticky toffee and chocolate brownie. However, the menu is interspersed with few couple of “chef’s own”. My visit was brief but I had a rich and silky cream parsnip with a touch of honey soup.

A second visit with the girls gave a greater insight. it was busy and the menu was reassuringly short. Even so they were running our of certain dishes. Chef Gabriella made me a delicious Fish stew with a fresh tomato base, and excellent lightly cooked pieces of fish. Burgers came out on a board, thank goodness I didn't order that, as you know I hate my food served on a wooden board. One of the other girls had the fish pie and claimed it to be a success.

NEW

We all know that the Island is world famous for The Needles, Cowes Week, the First America’s Cup Challenge, the 70’s Music Festivals and for living in the past but did you know it is world famous for table dancing at the Folly Inn on a Saturday night. As a minor traveller to normally to America and Newzealand I can vouch for this. I don’t know if they still do dance on the tables because Andy and Cheryl have now moved on to the Little Wight Mouse Inn. This is a dream for them both. I have known the couple for more than 25 years and their passion for good food has always been curtailed by the fact they have run tied houses where the type and quality of food has been out of their hands. They tried their best by adding “Andy” flourishes but now they are in full control.

Andy and Cheryl are great hosts. They welcome you, chat to you like old friends. They understand the true meaning of hospitality and generosity. They are hard workers just like all the other successful people that I know.

So the food, basic pub grub that is very well done. Portions are generous. I have enjoyed a snack of cheesy sweet potato fries – not on the menu but they were delighted to oblige when I asked for it. I loved their Chili con Carne. Real chunky bits of minced beef, properly cooked long grain rice and a thick dollop of soured cream. I returned two weeks later just to make sure I had got it right and enjoyed pork with creamy mushroom sauce, really fresh veg, and chips.

I have started to pick my Mum up from her residential home and drive her out there, she loves to see the trees, the fields and the sheep and because the seating is easy for her.

The food images on their website do not do them justice.

www.wightmouse.co.uk

It probably doesn’t matter what I have to say about the Ocean Deck. They are in one of the busiest holiday resorts on the island and are no doubt rushed off their feet and make a buck or two. But I would just like to say how nice it is that Sandown now has another eatery that is worthy of a mention in this guide. I went with a friend who also likes nice food and we had a fantastic cottage pie. The mash was smooth and creamy and the mince layer was rich, meaty and not hidden under a blanket of overblown gravy. One of the best cottage pies I have had in years. I went back a week later and had the pan fried sea bream on a bed of seafood risotto. The bream was nicely cooked and the risotto very tasty albeit it on the stodgy side.

A risotto should be slightly soup like and the rice cooked through but still with some bite. Too many eateries pre-cook risotto and re-heat it. It is bound to become stodgy.

I have big issues with risotto and I have begun to order it wherever I go on a quest for the chef/cook who knows how to make it. At another eatery that I went to I was served risotto that tasted of vinegar. I asked the chef if he had put vinegar in it. He looked at me as if I was nuts - of course not he was thinking. Then he told me he had added sweet pickled onions. This chef was totally unaware that sweet pickled anything has vinegar in it.

If you are going to make risotto you have to have the time to pay it constant undying attention. Measurement are generally imprecise and it is literally a play-it-by-ear - so to speak dish. Soften finely chopped onions in olive oil. Add the Arborio rice and gently and briefly fry in the oil then slowly add the stock and if using, white wine, stirring constantly like you would a fresh egg custard, add more liquid as required until the rice is just cooked and the dish is like a thick soup. Stir in cream or parmesan for a creamy texture and serve immediately.

Some pubs are now charging restaurant prices but offering pub service. I do understand that with the drink driving laws it is difficult for a pub to make money unless they serve food that is somewhat better than chicken and chips in the basket. So, taking all of that into account do I recommend a pub that serves a percentage of bought in dishes or a pub that claims everything is homemade – bearing in mind home- made does not mean well made. Or a pub as a pub that is more like a restaurant.

I love the Bonchurch Inn for its refusal to be pushed into the world of up-grade. I have been a customer on and off for more than 30 years. One memorable visit was new years eve 1989. We only went for a drink to see the new year in but typical Italian sociability we were fed superb pizza and champagne.

I have never had a meal here that I have not enjoyed.

Their small menu Is uncompromisingly Italian and clearly home-made with passion. I recently had herby meatballs with gluten free pasta. superb. Their Tiramisu is also one of the best I have ever had. They serve few desserts. The Zabliogne is for two people but next time I go I am going to order it regardless. I have to do a similar thing in Spain. My hubby doesn’t like rice so I have to order paella “para dos persons”.

There are rules. If you sit in the bar area you will be asked to move, this area is reserved for their regular locals of which there are many and they like to show their appreciation. The kitchen is across the courtyard so if you go when it is raining your meal might arrive wet. You have got to like quirky.

It is so nice to find somewhere ahead of the game. The Three Bishops has grasped the market and what their customers want. In the 80’s eateries were required to cater for vegetarians to a point where it is now standard practise. In the 90’s it was nut allergies. Now with a growing elderly Island population it is food intolerances such as wheat and gluten that demand attention. Soon all eateries will be specialising in this dietary requirement to the point where it will be easier to make all food apart from the obvious, gluten free. The Three Bishops have already converted big time (by the way Mojacs in Cowes also caters for gluten free).

Earlier in the year I enjoyed a simple dish of perfectly grilled fresh mackerel with salad which allowed the fish to speak for itself. Soups are fresh vegetable.

Where is it - centre of Brighstone village