Mighty oaks from little acorns grow, or so the hackneyed saying goes. Matt and Cat's Isle of Wight Eating Out Guide started in 2005 as an idea on the back of a napkin and, last month, the website welcomed its one millionth viewer. Hurrah!

Likewise, Fox's in Bembridge is a great little venue which feels as though it might have started with humble beginnings as a tea shop before evolving into a grown-up restaurant - licensed and open in the evenings - but still retaining the charm of an intimate and homely eatery. Happy to accommodate a late booking by Matt and Cat in the height of the Christmas party season, how did it fare?

M & C first visited God's Providence House in Newport in 2005. The (very short) review they wrote then can be found at the bottom of this post. Meanwhile, the most recent review follows here:

December 2008 review
Matt and Cat don't announce their arrival at a restaurant. They try to be discreet about the whole reviewing business and don't want any different treatment to any other visitor, so they always try to keep a low profile. But the business of reviewing food does necessitate the occasional bit of unusual behaviour, and once in a while they get spotted by the staff - and now, for the first time, by the one of the customers.

Thinking they ought to update their review, M & C popped into God's Prov for a lunchtime break. On their return home they found in their inbox the following message from sharp-eyed reader Rod Andrews:

So, there I was, sat in that holy of eating places, God's Providence House in Newport this lunchtime and my wife said to me... "Don't look round now but there is a couple sat at the corner table and he is photographing his lunch would you believe!" I paused mid-way through my delicious steak pie and thought, I wonder, is this place being Matted and Catted? So... was it? Regards and thanks for a great website.

Rumbled! It was indeed - Mr and Mrs Andrews were correct. And here is the subsequent review.

Remember the days when garden centres used to sell just seeds and compost? No, neither do Matt and Cat. Like farms, garden centres have to diversify and as well as horticultural essentials, one can often find clay gnomes, coconut-shell bird houses with raffia roofs and singing reindeer like this one, warbling festive tunes in its American accent. At least, you can find these things and more at the Busy Bee on the outskirts of Ryde. Like many enterprising garden centres, the Busy Bee also has a café and so Matt and Cat picked through the pot-pourri to try it out.

Having an eatery on site amongst the pot plants and pond filters would seem to make sound business sense. Enticed in by the cheery waving of the elevated animatronic Santa, Matt and Cat paid their visit along with many others - the centre's car park was almost full, with several of the spaces taken up with coaches.

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 Indian Tapas, seem to think so. Matt and Cat, initially sceptical about this cross-cultural culinary collision, decided on reflection that actually, the idea of Indian tapas sounded pretty good. After all, who hasn't looked at some bizarre item on the bottom of the menu and wondered if they'd like it. With tapas one can speculate a modest amount of money on a small dish and try new food experiences. M and C skipped to the seaside town one evening to find out what SWAD was all about...

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 the relatively youthful Newport Minster (1854). Even Somerfield's architecture attempts to replicate the brick-built houses that once stood on the site. And, respectfully, a plaque has been erected describing the candle factory (1650) and grocers, Upward and Rich (1703) which plied its trade there some considerable years ago.

Guys, another old business in Pyle Street, closed its doors for the last time this year. The naysayers shook their sage old heads and tutted about the demise of this historic market town. However, from the metaphorical ashes of Guys, rises a new kid on the block - franchise eatery Coffee Republic. Will it make its mark and prevail for years to come?