The Cow Co. Isle of Wight Reviewed

Set on the Isle of Wight and on the beautiful Tapnell Farm, The Cow Co Restaurant and Bar claims to be one of the island’s best restaurants of its kind. The menu takes influence from the farm setting with a Beef & Dairy inspired menu, featuring locally sourced ingredients with options for lunch and dinner. Plus, there is a fully licensed bar with cocktails, a range of wine, coffees and even cakes on offer!

The location of The Cow Co. really is stunning. Set in the east of the island overlooking Tennyson Down and The Solent, there is green for miles all around.  Matching the appealing setting, service is amicable, friendly and efficient, therefore making for a relaxed and welcoming destination for our visit.

 To the food!

The Cow Co. specialises in burgers and steaks, obviously taking lead from their bovine influence and name. Looking for something a little different on the menu, I opted for the special Spider steak (£16.95), this highly marbled steak is defined by smalls striations of fat which flow throughout the cut.

Full of flavour and seared perfectly, this steak oozed everything you want from a steak. Delicious. The steak worked well with a well priced Malbec and The Cow Co’s choice of beers.  Steaks are accompanied by grilled tomatoes, roasted flast mushroom and rosemary salted fries. Although, if truth be told, we could have done with a lot more rosemary! For just £2 you can add a rich, velvety sauce of your choice – the port & blue cheese working wonderfully well for me here.

Unfortunately, my partner’s fillet steak didn’t quite live up to the spider. On the first occasion it had to be returned to the kitchen, as it wasn’t cooked as requested. Plus, and this contrasted the perfectly cooked spider steak, there was zero searing on the meat. For us, this is a big no no when it comes to steaks, as it effects the taste and aesthetics greatly. On the plus side, the steak is locally sourced from Isle of Wight Combley farm and it was tender! 

Dessert was a hit all around. Continuing my desire to try different things during the meal, I opted for the exotic sounding Pineapple carpaccio. Thinly sliced pineapple was served with ginger syrup, chilli, mint & gin & tonic sorbet. Although the ginger and pineapple worked well, the real triumph was the sorbet. As a huge fan of gin, the combination of taste and refreshment was excellent! 

My partner, looking for something a little more rustic and less refined, went for a couple of scoops of The Cow Co. ice cream and she was not disappointed. Rich, creamy and a delicious way to end the meal.

Find out more about The Cow Co. here. Or, read our review of Tom’s Eco Lodge here. Looking for a slightly bigger booking? Take a look below.

More information

The Cow Co can provide a range of flexible spaces, with venue hire packages ideally suited for a variety of events, conferences, meetings, weddings and parties.

We are located at Tapnell Farm, on the Isle of Wight, where other facilities on-site include accommodation, clay pigeon shooting and adventure activities. The Cow Co. can help you combine these with our conference venue facilities, to create the perfect packages for team building, training and group away-day events.  Just minutes from one of the Isle of Wight’s main ferry connections, it is ideally located for UK businesses looking to impress clients or inspire their team.