When it came to eating, we found much of the island’s food game to be London-level — just without the traffic and snobbiness. At Braai, a huge open cattle shed with a fire-roaring open kitchen on the ancient Nunwell Estate farm, we shared blackened whole chicken, seabass, grilled peaches, flatbreads, charred cabbage and pillowy brisket. The long wait for food didn’t matter, the kids ran wild in the adjacent field. It was a similar set up at Isle of Wight Pearl. Before we chomped on our crisp, homemade hash browns glistening with wild mushroom and truffle, piquant beef with zesty lime guacamole, and salt-and-pepper chicken, the children escaped to the lawn, which had been set up with sports-day games pitting young against old.
