Dairyman's Daughter, Arreton

We were invited out to lunch the other day, at short notice, and ended up at The Dairyman's Daughter at Arreton Barns. I bagged a large table, and, once everyone had arrived, we ordered food. I ordered a fish pie with fresh vegetables, the teenager ordered sausage and mash, and others ordered pork schnitzel, cottage pie, and steak and ale pie. Each portion was huge, and scrumptious. Somehow the children managed to consume ice cream for dessert! I would definitely eat there again, post diet of course!

 

After lunch we wandered down to the 'penny' arcade (10p a go) and played on the ancient machines. These included fortune tellers, shove penny, one armed bandits, and duck shooting. This was much more fun than I imagined and everyone was giggling by the end. Some of us went and looked round the gift shop, then went and watched the glass-blowing until the rain started again. At this point most of the party went home, but teenager and I stayed to watch a glass panda being created. The heavens opened during this, so it was nice to be in the warm and dry.

 

Arreton Barns is always a safe bet for an afternoon out with visitors, especially if they have smallish children.

Nammet

We've been eating out a bit recently. Earlier this week I took my Mum to Bluebell's Café at Briddlesford Lodge Farm for birthday lunch. This is usually very good, and today was no exception. I had a chicken and bacon club sandwich with salad, and Mum had a toasted gammon and cheese sandwich with salad. Both were made from 'doorstop' slices of granary bread and were scrumptious. The teenager had sausage and mash with gravy, which was also delicious, but such a large portion that even she was outfaced! After lunch we waddled across the farmyard to the farm shop and had a look round. Lots of delicious goodies for sale which were most tempting.

 

This evening I went to Ryde with a chum and we ended up eating at 'Ada Mediterranean Kitchen' in Union Street. Delicious! We had a selection of mezze, including pastry wrapped feta cheese, deep fried haloumi, falafel, lamb kofta, stuffed vine leaves, aubergine and other vegetables, and a sausage and tomato dish. We finished with coffee. Overall we were very satisfied, and the meal was good value for money, with excellent service. I shall go there again!

 

 

*nammet is an Isle of Wight word. I use it to mean any meal, but that may be a bit broad.