The Ivy

A great Classic but which its quircks

Now the Ivy, of course is the quintessential “place to be seen” restaurant and has been for longer than most would like to admit having been around to remember. Now, few people – still today – dare say anything remotely negative about it for these reasons. I was not a great fan of the launch of the Ivy Club next door, as I felt it kind of defied the idea of the place, which I had understood to be a Club without being a Club formally. However, surely there is commercial justification in both. Both the Ivy and the Ivy Club are beautifully maintained and have a certain glow which modern fine dining places do not have and the menu is truly fun as British classics sit alongside more serious dishes. Service can be sketchy, but if you look at the length of the services there are other places in London who have less justification for this. The most important think is to go with people you like, as it may be a bit slow, a bit noisy and a bit cramped but if you are having a good time anyway, the Ivy is a very good backdrop for a good time.

I was lucky enough to be taken for lunch at the Ivy as a complete surprise. I was over the moon to finally be experiencing one of the most iconic restaurants in London. There are quite strict time slots for the tables so we arrived promptly at midday for the first lunch sitting, there appeared to be no rush and the dining room was yet to fill up as it was so early. The service is professional but bordering on stiff and i would have liked a little more focus from our waiter but unfortunately his eyes were elsewhere whilst talking to us. The venison on the menu caught my eye immediately and i wasn't disappointed, the meat was cooked to perfection and tasted absolutely delicious. My Mum had the Ivy's famous Shepherd's pie and said that the flavours were wonderfully rich and that she thoroughly enjoyed this classic English dish. The restaurant quickly filled up with a healthy mix of business meetings and social gatherings which only added to the atmosphere. We were mostly left alone during our meal and didn't really want for anything so were grateful for the lack of intrusion. We didn't have time for dessert (our timetable, not theirs), and just as well as our main meals had been just right. It was short but very very sweet and i would go back again ensuring i made time for all three courses.

Given all the hype around this place (nowadays less so than it used to) you'll be surprised the fist time you go there (after having managed to get a table – again somewhat easier today than before). Why ? Because inside you realise it is basically an upscale brasserie type restaurant. The menu offers you decent food offerings which are well made and cooked – but this is not a gastronomical experience. A great place to go for pre/post theatre/cinema and people watching (although again slightly les so these days)

I dined for the first time at The Ivy for my Birthday last year. It was a surprise, so once my shock & horror dispersed at my attire I found I had nothing to worry about. The relaxed atmosphere was welcome along with the superb service and the food was, it has to be said, the best I have ever eaten. I was also surprised at the pricing. For a top London restaurant I was expecting double the cost. I will be back!

After a ten years hiatus today we went back to the Ivy for lunch. It was the wife's birthday and we were with the children. I must say that in the past I was never impressed by the “fame factor” of the place. I just always found it a very good restaurant with a great atmosphere. Well ten years on…nothing has changed. Everything is just as good as I remembered it. Actually even better. The service today was impeccable, unfussy, precise, friendly and efficient. As in the past the menu carries the old stalwarts. You go to the Ivy for the big meaty, comfortable dishes, because the portions are good size and the textures and flavors are huge and for no other reason. The kids had burgers and in their opinion the club sauce was the best thing in the northern hemisphere. I had a starter of pumpkin soup and the toasted pumpkin seeds floating in it were a nice touch. The wife had the iceberg salad with blue-cheese dressing and she gave the thumbs up. As main I had the veal rump with cepes and polenta and it was all you would ever want for lunch in a lovely autumn day. My wife had bangers and mash which I tasted and they were absolutely lovely. Sweet tender sausages, supported, not smothered, by a tasty onion sauce. Since it was a big occasion we went for the puddings with a vengeance. The apple crumble was by far the best I ever had, my son's syrup sponge was fluffy and delicate and the mint and chocolate ice cream accompanied by a slab of dark chocolate that popped on your tongue was a kid's dream come true. With coffees and two glasses of red, the bill was not outrageous for an establishment of this quality and history. Actually I think prices haven't changed much in ten years. In conclusion: well done Ivy. We will be back more often.

So there was about a seven year gap between my first visit and second visit and I am happy to report The Ivy is as good as it has ever been. Managed to get a Fri lunchtime slot for me and my guest with literally only three days notice. The dining room is as buzzy as ever and as some other diners have reported, the tables are a little too close together… The food however was excellent. Starters were duck salad and poached salmon with horse radish creme – both really good. We decided to go for the rib eye and all the trimmings. It's a steak and It's the staple of many restaurants however this was exceptional to say the least. Highly flavoursome and melt in the mouth medium rare perfection. Better than the Hawksmoor or Gaucho in my opinion. The deserts were Creme Brule – yes another omnipresent dish. However again, possibly the most delicious example of this desert I have ever tasted in any restaurant – that nearly took the score up to 10 out of 10! Not sure why this place has attracted so many complaints of being over-rated as we had a great meal, The service was also spot on, attentive and not over bearing. Well worth a trip I think although for me it's not the type of place I'd want to spend an entire evening in, probably best used as a lunch venue.

Seen alot of people complaining about the service at the Ivy but my partner and i went there today for lunch and had a lovely time, the service was great couldn't fault it at all, we were seen straight in and had our starters within 15-20mins, then our main came about 15 mins later we did wait abit longer for our dessert but that was fine as we had time to digest the starter and main :) the food was lovely and the waiters where friendly and very helpful. We didnt see any celebs but was busy and had a good atmosphere, will definately be going back at some point.

Let’s face it; nobody really goes to the Ivy for the quality of the food, do they? They go for the atmosphere, the effortless service, the chance to bask in the (fake tanned) glow of a D list celebrity, although celebs were pretty thin on the ground this Friday eve.

Nonetheless, the Ivy has sailed through many decades of fads and fancies and remained solidly true to its roots. Or has it? Why would you want to have sashimi here? Or lamb Masala? I mean why bother even putting it on the menu? No, I want steak tartar; I want whole lemon sole, fish cakes, calves liver. In other words, I want comfort food, for it is this that has been done so adequately here over the years. It is there, but maybe the nod to the modern fripperies (gladly no foams) has dulled the focus of this once perfectly average restaurant.

The evening started badly – Chicago with Christine Brinkley. The things we do for love. The restaurant continued this theme where (and this has never happened to me before in all my years of dining) we had a Date Night moment. No, I don’t mean the scene where Tina Fey takes her braces out or (much to my wife’s chagrin) the one where Mark Wahlberg is dressed in just a towel – somebody stole our table! We walked in, presented ourselves to the maitre d’ and were informed that we had already arrived and been seated. I was all for going to find out who had the temerity to want to be me, but we were instead ushered to the bar and given menus. No free glass was proffered as a compensation for the restaurant mucking up, just a seat and a twenty minute wait.

At least this meant that we had the chance to look over the menus so that, when we were eventually seated (in the frozen wastelands by the maitre d’ station) we could order straight away. So why then did have to chase up on the wine that we had ordered but which had failed to materialise? People often complain about bad service. Generally this means rude waiters, snobby sommeliers and maitre d’s who look down their noses at you as they ostentatiously run their finger down the booking list to see if they will deign to allow you to grace their restaurant with your credit card. In my experience, London is an awful lot better than it used to be about this sort of service. The service at the Ivy wasn’t bad in this sense, it was just comically inept. Things didn’t arrive (the table, the wine), they were out of things (cauliflower gratin) and the whole effect was less professional than a Britain’s Got Talent contest.

When the food did arrive, it was actually alright: the duck egg was nicely cooked and came on a crunchy sourdough toast, with a smattering of girolles and a serious slab of bacon. The broad bean soup was a nice mixture of smooth soup and mashed bits of beans, although not a particularly strong taste. Mains too were comforting: whole lemon sole on the bone and a Vienna Schnitzel, with some anchovies and capers.

The cover charge is annoying, and it is far from cheap for the food, but the room is still magnificently oak panelled, the nieces still much younger, thinner and blonder than the uncles treating them to a nibble and there is always the chance to see actors who have taken out super injunctions (sorry, who allegedly have taken them out) at the table next to you.

What's happened to this once great restaurant!
The menu has changed and they have taken off such iconic ivy items like the crispy duck salad and the bangers and mash! Poor understaffed waiters running around like headless chickens and head waiters taking your order in a brisque and quite rude fashion!
Not the same anymore!

All great restaurants have their day, and the Ivy has done well to hold-on as long as it has. I've noticed however that it is getting noticeably easier to get a table here – and harder to celebrity spot (admit it, we all do it !).

I suspect that most of the celebrities have been tempted by membership of the Ivy Club round the corner, where the food is simillar to the expensive end of the Ivy menu, and people can be sure that the others spotting them are there to be spotted as well.

I've been to the Ivy “proper” many times over the years and a couple of times in recent weeks. The food is as good as ever – in other words good, not great. My tip: the duck salad, followed by the corned beef hash with a glass (or shared bottle) of one of the relatively inexpensive white wines available. That, or one of the simple pasta dishes with one of the lighter starters are perfect for a lively and surprisingly good value lunch with a friend or for schmoozing purposes. Just don't expect anyone to notice if you've been there many times or not, or whether you tip well or not: the reception staff will be equally (in)attentive and the service (good or bad depending on the day) unaffected. Sensitivity about which table you have been given will only spoil your enjoyment – I suggest you do as I do, be glad I haven't paid the sub to join the Club so as to pay even more for my meal. The room itself has great atmosphere, especially on a sunny day and I normally emerge happy and envigorated to face the afternoon's work, so I suppose it shows that if you approach the Ivy with the right expectations it rarely disappoints.