I last visited the Isle of Wight on a family holiday when I was a baby. My Portuguese mother wasn’t impressed with the British summer, but she did love the abundance of fresh crab, and ate so much of it while breastfeeding me that she insists it’s where I developed my lifelong love affair with the crustacean. As you can imagine, I was looking forward to tasting the island’s seafood for myself.
We travelled from Portsmouth to Fishbourne on Wightlink Ferries. Unlike the usual waiting around of airport queues we drove straight onto the ferry thanks to number plate recognition, and had just enough time to have a cup of coffee before we arrived.
Our base was The Terrace in Ventnor, a boutique wine shop and stylish B&B run by Ashley and Tom Fahey, helped by their lovely rescue dog Ronnie. It’s housed in the iconic St Augustine Villa on the edge of Ventnor Bay with its famed microclimate, steeply sloping town with Victorian villas, and large shingle beach.
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The elegant rooms are decorated in soft, muted colours
(Image credit: Sunday Club PR)
Ashley and Tom also run the Michelin-recommended bistro The Terrace in Yarmouth and continue the focus on food and drink here, showcasing the 900-bottle wine cellar with four-course breakfasts, cheese and charcuterie boards on request, and Friday-night banquets prepared by Tom and served in the wine room.
The striking Italianate exterior is echoed by the elegant interiors. Comfortable rooms with sea views in muted, relaxing colours flow into a lovely sitting room with a fireplace, a large orangery overlooking the sea, and a fantastic wine room where guests can have wine-tasting sessions and those Friday-night banquets with an accompanying flight of wine.
Eating and drinking
(Image credit: Sunday Club PR)
The evening commenced with a rosé wine tasting led by Ashley. She enthusiastically explained what to expect and the aromas and flavours of the wines, culminating in Les Grenadines 2022, Domaine D’Ansignan, Côtes Catalanes. This wine straddles red and rosé with cherry notes and a lovely freshness that set us up perfectly for Tom’s dinner. His cooking was focused on local ingredients cooked simply to bring out the natural flavour, and paired with perfect wines.
We started with a tartar of Ventnor Haven bass with new potatoes and a fresh salsa partnered with a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. This was quickly followed by a tomato stuffed with scallop and lobster mousse in a lobster bisque. The courses moved through skate, roast lamb, and an amazing burnt butter and honey tart with a clotted cream parfait. Of course, this was accompanied by a pudding wine: the delicious Château Les Tourelles 2018 Cadillac. Each menu is designed around fresh, local, seasonal ingredients, and given the care and attention that goes into it, entirely cooked by Tom, it’s no surprise the five-course meal is available only on Fridays.
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There’s no shortage of other places to eat in the area if you miss the Friday dinners. This includes the award-winning Smoking Lobster nearby, which specialises in Asian-inspired seafood. We opted for The Basque Kitchen, up the very steep hill from The Terrace. This small popular restaurant serves a surprisingly authentic selection of Basque tapas including excellent croquetas, braised octopus and fried hake cheeks served with aioli.
Things to do
With colourful beach huts and clear swimming waters, Steephill Cove is a great place to spend a day
(Image credit: Natasha Langan)
Of course, you can’t be in Ventnor’s famed microclimate – on average five degrees warmer than the mainland – without exploring the area. We walked to the nearby Ventnor Botanic Garden, which offers 22 acres of garden trails. The microclimate ensures that over 30,000 rare and exotic plants from around the world can thrive.
Take a moment to have tea in the Plantation Room cafe, where feeding stations are put out for the red squirrels that are daily visitors, according to the regulars.
On the way back, we walked down to Steephill Cove, a small village at the foot of the Ventnor Undercliff area, and accessible only by foot. With colourful beach huts, clear swimming waters, and rock pools, it’s a great place to spend a day. The water wasn’t warm enough to have a dip, so we instead opted for chilled wine and hot crab pasties from The Crab Shed, while we watched the sun sparkle on the sea. The Shed is open Wednesday to Sunday lunchtimes, weather permitting.
It was a short (albeit steep) walk back to The Terrace, and the views were incredibly worthwhile. We rewarded ourselves with a cool drink at The Spyglass Inn, a popular local pub that may have gone slightly overboard with its pirate theme, but more than made up for it with its stunning location at the end of the beach.
The verdict
The Terrace is a stylish B&B run by Ashley and Tom Fahey
(Image credit: Sunday Club PR)
After walking and eating, it was a welcome relief to return to our guesthouse. We sat on the outdoor terrace with an excellent glass of wine, and looked forward to a comfortable night in our room, with the sun setting over the beach.
A great night’s sleep and a four-course breakfast followed, but I couldn't leave without stocking up on that wonderful local crab from the Ventnor Haven Fishery: a family business on the esplanade open seven days a week.
That seafood souvenir was the perfect end to an incredible weekend, and just what I needed to feed my lifelong addiction to the king of shellfish.
After reading politics at Sussex University, Natasha Langan spent a decade in social care before completing a University of Brighton postgraduate course in health promotion, which led to freelance work as a health researcher and sexual health trainer for both the local council and Terrence Higgins Trust. In 2000, she began working as a freelance journalist for the Daily Express, Daily Mail and MoneyWeek, where she then became picture editor. She continues to write the property pages and travel pages for MoneyWeek and for The Week online. She has a particular interest in nature and food, with a love of seasonal and regional produce around the world, especially the cuisine of Vietnam and Thailand.
