When my husband and I were trying to decide if we should move back to the Island a few years ago, we challenged each other to list five things that we would miss about London once we left.

It was difficult to come up with five reasons to stay without them becoming trivial.

Friends, of course.

Easy access to world-leading entertainment, whether that be musicals on the West End or low-key (but very funny) comedy nights that cost £10.

The Garden CowesThe Garden Cowes (Image: The Garden/ Facebook)

And finally, the last thing we agreed upon before struggling to finish our list, was that we would miss great, international food.

From a hidden Mexican restaurant (the front was an adult-magazine/video shop), to Korean barbeque in New Malden, to eating duck and waffles in the early hours of the morning in one of the tallest skyscrapers in the City, we loved exploring the restaurants and food markets that our capital had to offer.

Some moments, I wish I’d tried to be a food critic instead of a reporter.

But while our small island will never be able to match what is on offer in a big city, there is certainly no dearth of great food to try.

Just look at Cowes High Street — it could easily become a bit of a “foodie” haven over the next few years.

There was a time when The Coast felt like the only “go out for a nice meal” place that had a buzz around it.

Then up popped Moocow, a funky mezze bar situated in a council car park but which transports you to the Mediterranean with its sun trap of a garden.

Call It What You Want made a name for itself with great food and Toninos, the Italian stalwart of the high street, was still a great place to go for a meal.

At this point, Cowes definitely had a few good spots.

But then suddenly great restaurants from elsewhere on the Island (Smoking Lobster and Heron) decided to open up shop in Cowes, too, and the clever people behind Captain Pizza opened The Garden and House.

You can get The Garden’s good grub at the Island Sailing Club too, the only place in Cowes where you can have a drink right on the water, and they’re expanding their restaurant on the high street into the next building.

If you fancy a takeaway, you don’t get much better than Thai Hom Mali, a Thai trailer situated in the Horseshoe’s car park, which sells some of the best dumplings I have eaten anywhere.

And finally, we can get our Mexican fix after The Prickly Pear opened its doors. Try one of their egg dishes for brunch — trust me.

I’m sure there are plenty of places I’ve missed (please write and tell me via editor@iwcp.co.uk), and that’s without mentioning all the other cool eateries popping up across the Island.

So while the choice of restaurant is smaller than what we were used to back in London, we’re certainly not short of choice here, either.

All I need is the falafel van at London Bridge to relocate, then I can cross “food” off my London list altogether.