Edulis - Isle of Wight

We booked Edulis for dinner on Friday evening. We were really looking forward to having a meal in the beautiful botanical gardens at weekends there is meant to be live music as well. Sadly, this did not turn out as expected. No live music not the fault of Edulis apparently the musician didn't turn up . The menu is very limited only 2 starters and 4 main courses to choose from. No dessert menu. The very young service team were keen and enthusiastic but spent most of their time papering over the cracks. A warm bottle of white wine was presented to us and only fixed using literally every once cube in the building upon this being pointed out why was the white wine not chilled? but the generally the food was not good at all. Main courses was just a choice of 4 curries. The rice was overcooked and watery and more to the point just American easy cook rice apparently not easy at all the stuff was diabolical Three of the four dishes the flavours were very bland. The chicken curry was clearly made using a well known brand of curry paste and a tin of tomatoes. We did mention this to the manager who was very good and took on board our comments and to be fair was very understanding about the whole situation. This could be such an amazing venue for an evening meal. Shame that the meal did not include locally grown produce. I hope that the management take on board our feedback and work towards making this the go to dinner venue in Ventnor at the weekend. This place could be fantastic if it tried.

Nice selection of lunch items food was delicious what more can I say. Would definitely go back and try evening menu once able.

Went here on Sunday 16th Feb for an afternoon tea 70th birthday celebration. (Private function). The tables were beautifully decorated ready for our arrival. We were greeted by the head chef and his staff, and directed to our tables. We had tea and coffee while the sandwiches and other bits were laid out on separate tables. There were a selection of sandwiches, crisps, salad, tomatoes and other bits to start, along with continuous tea and coffee. Then we had a short break of about ten minutes whilst the left overs and tables were cleared away ready for round two (the cakes). The cakes were laid out, there were large sultana scones, plain scones, lemon drizzle cake, chocolate brownies, cream and jam, small macaroons and sponge cakes. The cakes were so light and fluffy, The staff were so attentive, nothing was too much trouble and overseen by the head chef that made pretty well everything. This was some of the best food that I have eaten in a long time. My family would like to compliment the head chef and his staff for their efforts in making the celebration so wonderful.

We visited the gardens yesterday and decided to have a much needed lunch at the Edulis restaurant. The restaurant itself is pleasantly presented and in a lovely setting. However after sitting down we noticed the crockery and glasses were marked/dirty and perhaps we should have taken this as a hint of what was to come. Three of us ordered the soup and the other a sandwich which came with wedges. After ordering, paying and sitting down, a good 5 mins or so later we were subsequently told that actually there was no soup available and they shouldn’t have processed our order. We ordered sandwiches instead and weren’t charged for the small extra cost. Our sandwiches arrived minus the advertised wedges. The waiter said nothing and was about to walk away when we queried the absence of the wedges. He responded that there were none available and they had been substituted with crisps. A few measly crisps and a rather bland cheese and tomato sandwich I have to say. We vowed not to return, but just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse a large tray of potatoes was brought in from the kitchen and one of the servers proceeded to start chopping them up in front of us presumably to make wedges!! The toilets were smelly and not very pleasant and we noticed the glazing in the lobby areas was absolutely filthy. A very disappointing experience that we will not be repeating. Such a shame as this could be a lovely restaurant if someone actually bothered to care and respect their customers. Instead it appears to be a complete shambles where custom is taken for granted as they effectively have a captive audience. Next time we’ll be taking our own sandwiches and finding a nice place to sit in the gardens. I’m local so will be spreading the word. Simply not good enough!!!

Still waiting: we sat down to eat almost one hour ago. Lunch time this is not a restaurant it’s a cafe but not a very good one!