A New Wave of Coastal Cool: An Eating and Drinking Guide to the Isle of Wight

Once upon a time, the great British seaside getaway was practically synonymous with Cornwall and Devon: sun-washed cliffs, pastel beach huts, and fish-and-chip shop queues winding lazily along the promenades. But the tides are shifting, and a new contender is stepping into the spotlight. The Isle of Wight has always had a reputation for cycling and walking, but it was also often associated with older tourists seeking quieter, traditional British seaside experiences. 

With its boutique hotels, and a blossoming food and wine scene that blends rustic charm with modern flair, the island is shedding its sleepy reputation and emerging as a fresh favourite for weekend wanderers. Crucially, it’s far more accessible than its established rivals: just a two-hour train to Portsmouth followed by a 15-minute ferry ride. The Isle of Wight offers all the nostalgia of a classic British holiday, but with just the right dash of reinvention.

My friend and I travelled there at the end of November and – somewhat unusually – were welcomed by bright sunshine. Apparently this is common year-round; our taxi driver proudly told us they’d had three straight months of 25-degree weather last summer. But rain or shine, summer or winter, if you’re planning a little British-island escape, these are the spots you need to know (and places I will myself happily return back to).

Where to stay

The Terrace Rooms & Wine, Ventnor
We spent most of our stay in Ventnor, which locals now call “the hipster town” of the island thanks to its lively cafes, galleries, and new restaurants, as well as a younger demographic. 

The Terrace Rooms & Wine is located just by the esplanade and is run by Ashley and Tom Fahey, a glamorous couple, both sommeliers, who restored the Victorian property in 2021–22 and transformed it into a boutique hotel. The property is equal parts villa, wine refuge and supper club, running private dinners for hotel residents where they distinctly tailor food to wine, using all Isle of Wight seasonal produce. The hotel’s most cinematic spot is a pergola overlooking the esplanade, where a four-course breakfast is served each morning. The menu is seasonal and includes home-baked soda bread with fresh butter and compote, a handmade bite-sized sausage roll with house brown sauce, yogurt and poached apples with granola, and a sort of minimalist, deconstructed English breakfast of cherry tomatoes, bacon, a soft-boiled egg and mushrooms. It was all delicious, but the soda bread and butter has my heart.

With only six bedrooms, The Terrace Rooms & Wine is perfect if you’re looking for something intimate and curated. Our bedroom had a free-standing bath and a bay window perfect for reading while watching the waves crash below. Every element of the décor – from the fabrics and bed linen to the colour palette — is both chic and cosy. Downstairs, a plush lounge with velvet sofas, sheepskin rugs, and a fireplace invites guests to curl up with a glass of wine and a plate of cheese and crackers. The wine comes from their impressive cellar of over 1,100 bottles, which is the hotel’s most prized possession: a room adorned with deep green walls that resemble a library and featuring a grand table hewn from a single slice of oak. Tom, whose knowledge of wine is expansive and who has recently risen to No. 12 on Harpers’ list of the UK’s Top 100 Sommeliers, hosts daily 5 p.m. tastings for hotel guests: we had Champagne on our first night (the Black Chalk Sparkling Rose was delicious), and a good selection of reds on the second. Ashley and Tom’s cellar boasts the UK’s largest selection of New Zealand wines and the largest rosé collection: overall an eclectic and exciting haul, and including plenty of the “natty” bottles which are currently all the rage. 

Between the thoughtful interiors, the couple’s personal touch at every turn, and the focus on food, wine, and excellent coffee, The Terrace Rooms & Wine perfectly exemplifies the new wave of younger, “coastal cool” beginning to sweep the Isle of Wight.

Where to eat

RT Grill
The island is larger than many expect, and the ferry arrives in Ryde, just a five-minute walk from RT Grill, Rob Thompson’s restaurant, where we stopped for lunch. Thompson was once the youngest chef to earn a Michelin star, and his talent and passion for flavour endures. RT Grill has an upstairs dining room with a daily menu and a downstairs space where a high-end tasting menu is offered once a month.

We planned to have something light, but quickly changed our minds, after Thompson sent out a selection of starters. Highlights included boquerones with a fresh mint twist, smokey taramasalata with cuttlefish-ink crackers, and some irresistible cheese puffs. Then the oysters came three ways: au naturel with mignonette, deep-fried with chorizo, butter beans, rosemary and local honey, and a foamed, pâté-style version that I’m still thinking about. For mains, we had butterflied sea bass with perfectly crisped skin and a lemon-caper-olive oil dressing, plus a roasted beet salad with orange, blue cheese, bitter leaves and crispy fried pheasant which was nothing short of excellent.

Smoking Lobster
For dinner, we headed to Smoking Lobster, a seafront restaurant beloved by both locals and visitors. The dining room is simple and pared-back, while the menu blends seafood and meat with a Japanese twist. We had planned to try the full omakase but were ultimately swayed by the seafood platter: a glorious mountain of freshly caught fare.

It arrived with spiced furikake fries and yuzu coleslaw and included fried local sea bass, seared scallops, tempura ebi prawns, tobiko katsu maki, freshly picked crab with wasabi, tuna ceviche, and a half miso-grilled lobster. I’ve got a soft spot for scallops and I always order them but these ones, plump and lightly caramelised, were particularly delicious. The crunchy katsu maki and buttery, umami-rich lobster were close contenders for my favourite dish. The owners have chosen to pair the food with a cocktail list that is wonderfully inventive: my friend ordered the lime and cucumber gin martini, and I had the spicy raspberry margarita — both excellent.

The platter was enormous, and we barely made it through (would be closest to truth to say it defeated us), but we couldn’t resist dessert. The treacle tart came highly recommended and lived up to expectations. It had an oat-and-treacle base with a dulce de leche top and charred poached apples, served with lemongrass cream. The base had the chew and slight saltiness of an Anzac biscuit, perfectly balancing the sweetness, while tart apples added freshness and cold cream tied it all together. Truly a perfect pudding. I paired it with a miso caramel espresso martini – a true gran finale. 

Where to drink

The Spyglass Inn
Ask anyone on the Isle of Wight where to grab a good pint, and they’ll almost certainly say “The Spyglass” — so that’s exactly where we went on Friday night. It’s not fancy and it doesn’t try to be, but in terms of atmosphere, it’s hard to beat. It would rank high on my list of the cosiest pubs I’ve ever visited: there’s weathered wooden beams and maritime memorabilia on nearly every wall. The pirate‑theme and nods to smuggling lore are strong (there’s a skeleton somewhere near the bar) — after all, for centuries the waters around Ventnor Bay were a haven for smugglers bringing contraband across from the continent. Soft lighting, candles, a Christmas tree, and seasonal decorations gave the place an inviting, festive charm — especially when paired with a good ale.

Bonchurch Inn
On Saturday night, after a lazy afternoon enjoying the outdoors and a cosy fire with wine and cheese at our hotel, we fancied stretching our legs and wandered over to Bonchurch for dinner at the Bonchurch Inn. Tucked just outside Ventnor, this pub is delightful: modest and unpretentious, it’s located inside a sheltered courtyard, and has tons of old‑world charm. 

The kitchen serves pub classics but leans Italian‑style, a legacy of the family‑run Besozzi stewardship since the 1980s. We tried their famed lasagne and yes, it’s easy to see why they call it “life‑changing”. But the real surprise — for someone like me who usually goes savoury — was dessert. The sticky toffee pudding was something else: pillowy sponge drenched in a caramel sauce that was sweet but not cloying, topped with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Can’t beat it. 

Where to relax

Tapnell Farm
Slomo Sauna at Tapnell Farm isn’t just a sauna, it’s part of a whole‑site retreat designed for slow living, nature and uncomplicated relaxation. Located at near Yarmouth, on the west end of the Island – roughly a 30-minute drive from Ventnor – the set‑up includes a wood‑fired “temple” sauna (for around ten people), the UK’s first floating sauna on a lake (for four), a pair of rustic Dutch‑style hot tubs, showers and changing facilities.

Visiting Slomo Sauna on a crisp November afternoon was nothing short of magical. Despite the sun shining, the air was sharp, and the lake’s water hovered around a bracing 8°C – needless to say, the cold plunge jolted every sense awake. And emerging from the icy water, the contrast of slipping into the hot tubs or climbing into the floating sauna was blissful (the enveloping heat, the smell of wood‑smoke… ). It’s the sort of winter escape that makes you forget the city, and remember the raw, elemental magic of being close to nature.

Maddalena Vatti is a literary scout and freelance writer based in London. Her writing has appeared on Review 31, Lit Hub, Il Tascabile and other magazines. Read more of Maddalena’s work on Something Curated here.

Header image: The wine room overlooking the sea, courtesy of The Terrace Rooms & Wine.