Isle of Wight Crab Shed gets Matt and Cat seal of approval

This 'secret' little bay is an Instagrammer's dream — coloured tangles of fisherfolks' trappings (literally in the case of lobster pots), rustic thatch and sun-bleached driftwood structures enhance the south-facing beach's photo-geniality.

Although open most days in summer, The Crab Shed only operates for three hours a day — yet the production line of pasties was still going strong when we arrived shortly after 2pm.

Both of our pasties were presented to us piping hot in paper bags — we'd watched them emerge from the oven as we made our orders at the hatch.

The Crab Shed in Steephill Cove (Image: Matt and Cat) Pasties worth the walk to try (Image: Matt and Cat) For the avoidance of doubt, the crab pasty was branded with a pastry crab, the salmon with a pastry fish.

There are no side dishes or garnishes available, so we shared a packet of Kent brand Ashmore cheese and onion crisps.

What we should have done — and will do next time — is order one each of the seafood pasties, plus a third, the plant-based option, to double as our vegetables.

The vegan sweet potato pasty was promoted as lightly Thai-spiced with coconut milk, lemon grass, coriander and lime leaves.

Sounds lovely, doesn't it?

The crab pasty was absolutely delicious. Its pastry was light and flaky, with a great texture.

And inside the steaming parcel was a goodly portion of moist crab meat, mixed with lemon, leeks and butter — rich, tasty and the perfect snack for eating by the seaside.

From the first bite, we were blown away by the dance of flavours in the salmon pasty.

Pasties worth the walk to try (Image: Matt and Cat) (Image: Matt and Cat) Significant chunks of tender fish fillet shared the space with gentle cream cheese, asparagus, aromatic dill and lemon — possibly zest, as it was fabulously zingy.

Having exclaimed with delight as we started our lunches, we then ate our pasties in satisfied silence — enjoying the summer bustle from our seat overlooking the bay, and the English Channel twinkling beyond.

You might imagine that a café with an unambiguous name like The Crab Shed would deliver no surprises, yet our lunch was far from basic.

The quality, flavour and freshness of our pasties was beyond our expectation.

With heroic amounts of meat, and well-curated flavours in the accompanying herbs and vegetables, these wholesome morsels were worth beating a track to again.

(Image: Matt and Cat) (Image: Matt and Cat)