Insular eating

[Gammon from M&S Epsom, greens and potatoes from Tesco's Ryde. All good. But the strawberries from Tesco's were not quite as good as those taken previously from M&S]

As was our custom, BH had prepared a piece of gammon and a light fruit cake at home to get us started on holiday. And, as it turned out, we did a fair bit of cooking at the cottage: nothing very exotic, just beef stew, beef mince, various concoctions involving lentils. As snapped above and below. There were also picnics.

[Beef from Tesco's. Gravy made out of the stew by draining off the liquor towards the end of the process, working it up with some flour and then adding it back in. Cherries to follow fine, as was Tesco's finest 2020 Barolo]

[Pork lardons. A relatively new discovery]

[Smoked bacon lardons. Another relatively new discovery. But we had more or less run out of greens by this point. Down to leftovers, plus some white at the back]

[Greens back online. Plus some infant corn, presumably air freighted from India. Container carriage, despite the remarks about oranges in the previous post seems a bit unlikely. Ask Gemini? Taken with a 2022 Riesling from Trimbach. Imported by Enotria Winecellars of 23 Cumberland Avenue, London NW10 7RX. Their large and modern sheds are revealed by Street View, sheds which, as is revealed by drinksbusiness (of RPPL fame) were bought earlier this year by the commercial arm of Majestic. See reference 7]

Then a couple of meals at the Bugle, an establishment which has served well in the past but which, somehow, seemed a little flat this year. The first of them had been designated as the meal at which we would celebrate the capture of trolley No.900, but that rather fell by the wayside and the moment passed. Hopefully we will do better if and when I make it to No.1000.

A teetotal lunch at the Da Vinci of Newport. Much better.

The starter worked better than might appear from this snap. Apple juice left rather than something more interesting.

Paella with lots of mussels for him, naked mussels for her. A good feed for both of us.

Winding up with a fancy sorbet. BH's portion being the supplementaries. All very satisfactory - and I dare say we would have been back, had getting there without the car had been a realistic option. There was a bus, but it would have been slow and not very convenient.

A couple of noodle lunches at the two branches of Hong Kong Express, one at Newport and the other at Ryde. More or less the same order on the two occasions, although we thought we detected some slight differences of emphasis. The mixed meat noodles (Singapore style) of Ryde snapped above, with chicken & sweetcorn soup taken before and pineapple fritters after. I liked the soup better than the fritters - which were not in the same league as the toffee'd apple we had had once in Chinatown in London. Thin crinkled strips rather than lumps, served hot as a sort of open plan nest: neither Bing nor Google offer anything like it this afternoon.

And while I am in picky mode, I might also say that the Singapore style noodles were not as exotic as those I used to get, say fifty years ago, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. There, as I recall, the mixed meat included flakes of liver, about the size of a potato crisp.

A more substantial lunch at the Yarbridge Inn. Our one and only venture into crab salad. BH was slightly miffed that I did rather better on the crab front than she did - but she got my lemon by way of consolation. Mixed bread before OK, although probably not long out of the freezer. Plus a pint of an island bitter called 'Beachcomber' plus some 'Coast to Coast' Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.

A light lunch, built around a bit of seabass at the Beach Shack of Sandown.

Bacon and egg baps at the café in Puckpool Park. I was convinced that these had been prepared for delivery by warming them up in a microwave, as is the custom in many London cafés, even quite fancy ones - whereas in the past they had been freshly cooked. BH was not so sure about this at all.

And last but not least, the big breakfast at Yaverland, noticed at the end of reference 7. Perhaps even more important, the occasional rock cake, best of breed on the island. And I have no idea where one might get them in London.

And while I think of it, I might complain about not being able to get the currant buns of old; a fluffy white bread bun, livened up with a few currants, a bit of sugar and flavouring. About the size, if not the shape, of the rock cake above. Everything in Tesco's and Morrisons was a lot more complicated and involved a lot more sugar.

References

Reference 1: https://thebugleinnbrading.co.uk/.

Reference 2: https://davinciiow.co.uk/.

Reference 3: https://www.hongkongexpress.co.uk/.

Reference 4: https://www.theyarbridgeinn.co.uk/.

Reference 5: https://beachshackbar.co.uk/.

Reference 6: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2025/07/yaverland-one.html.

Reference 7: https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/04/majestics-bold-bet-on-the-on-trade-inside-the-enotria-coe-acquisition/.