A thick blanket of clouds had begun to block out the sun by the time I parked the car in Port Erin.

Despite the fact that it looked like the weather was about to take a turn, I was determined to enjoy one of my rare ‘free days’ by the seaside.

And everyone else had the same idea it seems - the village was heaving (and it was great to see).

The idea behind my last-minute jaunt to the south was to do a bit of walking (definitely), catch some rays (hopefully) and possibly a bit to eat (ideally).

My stroll along the seafront led me to the patio area of The Cosy Nook cafe where I decided the slight hill beyond was too much for my day off.

I knew that Foraging Vintners and Noa Bakehouse were operating from the site but the revelation that Smoky Sam’s BBQ had joined the party took me by complete surprise.

The restaurant launched at the south end of Port Erin Promenade on Shore Road, again in partnership with Foraging Vintners Winery and Bar, earlier this year and has garnered rave reviews since opening.

The business’s menu at the Cosy Nook site boasted slight variations on the sit-in options - seemingly specialising in ‘food in bread’ (as my dad is often fond of saying with slight disdain) as well as light bites.

This is presumably so that customers can take their grub and sit on one of the benches on the patio, the deck chairs on Port Erin beach (out when it’s sunny of course) or anywhere they like.

Practically salivating while looking at the menu, my partner and I decided to share a few dishes, you know, for taste test purposes.

We were both mulling over the signature burger when the friendly server behind the counter mentioned that the Reuben Sandwich was a firm favourite.

That was enough to convince me to give it a go and despite the fact that I used to play football with a guy called Reuben who I hated, I remained optimistic.

We were given a ‘buzzer’ (I’ll get to that) and plonked ourselves on one of the Foraging Vintners branded deck chairs on the nearby chairs to await our food.

About 15 minutes later, my little snooze in the sun was interrupted by the little vibrating device in my jacket pocket - a signal from the Smoky Sam’s mothership telling me that our dishes were ready.

However, I immediately thought they’d made a mistake.

The menu said firecracker buffalo chicken wings - these must have come from a pterodactyl, and a big one at that.

Coated in a spicy glaze and accompanied by a liberal serving of blue cheese sauce, they were not only massive but also absolutely delicious.

Freeing the mains from the cardboard containers made me realise the ‘food in bread’ were no different when it came to portion sizes.

The Reuben was arguably the biggest sandwich I’d seen in my life and had everything on it.

Oak-smoked brisket pastrami, chunky sauerkraut, slices of Swiss cheese, layers of gherkins, a healthy dollop of Russian dressing, Blackbeard’s treasure and the lost city of Atlantis (ok, I was exaggerating on the last two but they might as well have been in there!).

All of this sandwiched between two hefts of Noa Bakehouse bread which did an admirable job of holding this behemoth together.

I took my first bite and was immediately glad I’d taken the server’s advice.

Packed full of flavour, it made me think that if Reubens can be this good, I should maybe get in contact with my old pal and apologise for that dirty slide tackle in ‘08.

The size of the signature burger was no different.

A six-ounce beef patty covered in brisket, cheese, pickles and smokehouse BBQ sauce.

This was equally fabulous, particularly the 16-hour smoked brisket - the last time I’d seen something that had been smoking for that long was on a night out to a Wetherspoons beer garden (and it wasn’t anything to do with the food).

I had hoped to finish this all off by sampling the smoked brownie ice cream Sunday but alas, I couldn’t manage another morsel.

All I could do was lounge in the deck chair, watch the sun try and peek through the clouds and revel in contentment.