The Ivy Reviews 597

This review is for The Ivy Asia, St. Paul's, London.

Looks flashy, but sub-par food.

Single diner, set-menu.

Was sat at the bar, which is fair enough as they place was very busy. Loud, repetitive background music was irritating. The jazz sax soloist wandering the floor was quite good though.

Food quite quick to come once ordered, but getting the order taken took a while. Had to refill my own water glass.

Chicken skewers starter was ok, but tepid.
Sea bass main was actually quite tasty, but way too much pak choi; some variety with vegetables would have been good.

Panna cotta dessert was disgusting. Lurid colour, unpleasant taste and sloppy texture.

Having tried several Ivy restaurants now, the focus clearly is on looks and volume with mediocre food and variable service.

This was my first Ivy Asia, just to try it out to see it would change my perception of the chain, it hasn't.

With a £50+ bill, you can find much better.

We visited the Oxford Ivy yesterday for lunch. Table 31 @ 1pm. On arrival we had a very friendly greeting and were shown to our table. Bloody mary and Passion fruit martini were fabulous. We are in hospitality and pride ourselves on customer service so we were looking forward to the experience. The two ladies next to us had their food delivered and spent along time trying to get the waiters attention as the peas hadn't arrived but they did when they had finished..........
We ordered our food. Sea bass fillet and fillet steak and I must say cooked to perfection A1. however they missed out on up sales. No offer of sauces, side dishes and I asked for French mustard and ketchup which also arrived when I had finished. English mustard was given. We also spent time looking for service for more drinks but the service was very slow. Our bill came to £150 but you could have easily had another £100 from us............. This is not a negative review just constructive. I could not fault the food, drinks or ambience in the slightest and the cutlery was well polished. We would return undoubtably and the venue was spotless!

My previous review of the ivy Chichester was a true reflection at the time. It didn’t meet the expectations and standards on our wedding day that I’d expected, and had previously experienced at this top end restaurant.
Following my review I received an email, and phone call from the acting assistant manager Tristan. Tristan apologised and offered us a gesture of goodwill, which we accepted. He booked us a table for our first wedding anniversary in this restaurant. What can we say the service was totally wonderful, on arrival we were created with best wishes at reception, and was shown to our table by Harvey. He was very nice, polite and helpful, making us feel very comfortable and relaxed. Hannah and I couldn’t have asked for a better welcome. We then met Elouise our waitress,who was great, very professional and attentive to all of our needs.
Pedro, the restaurant manager introduced himself and thanked us for giving them another chance to change our minds on our poor previous experience.
From being contacted by Tristan with his personal, professional customer service, this time round it was a first class experience. It just goes to show with the right people in place, and working hard to meet the customers expectations, you can turn things around.
So I would now recommend using the Ivy Chichester with the current management structure in place As for my wife Hannah and myself, we will be going back for certain to celebrate special family occasions in the future.
Kindest regards Martin Baxter

It’s been at least 10 years since I last ate at the original Ivy and it will be much longer before I go again. What has happened to this icon is a real tragedy as Caprice milk it for everything it’s worth. Tables are crammed together compared to the past, the food is mediocre at best and our waiter seemed bored and gruff. You can’t ignore the beautiful decor but the restaurant now feels like a parody of its former self, geared to attracting unsuspecting tourists who must leave so disappointed. The spark has gone and the it is now just another chain worth avoiding.

What a rip off. The Cambridge restaurant looks nice and staff welcoming. Went in during the week and ordered champagne £50. Ordered the same bottle on a Saturday evening and it was £80 because it was Saturday. The food was ok but nothing exceptional. Do yourself a favour and give it a wide birth

The Ivy, Norwich. Afternoon tea for four, booked weeks ago and dietary requirements made very clear upon booking. Arrived, my dairy free guest was told “we don’t cater for dietary requirements” we asked why they hadn’t told us before, “we did try calling” turns out that was on the day of the reservation and no message left. They told us they cannot adapt the menu so couldn’t offer a sandwich without butter. They didn’t know how to handle this nor could they think on their feet. After about 45 mins, My guest ended up being served some fried chicken in brioche (contains dairy) they couldn’t even offer a side of sourdough for her to chew on as “it has milk in it” the only saving grace was the vegan pumpkin spiced espresso martini (how random) and ALL they could offer was a bowl of almonds and olives. It was farcical and we did laugh a lot until I had to fork out for the tea - which, btw, was the worst I’ve ever had at an Ivy. We won’t go back, which is a shame - please let this be a warning to you - go find somewhere independent.

Birmingham -- Nav served us ---he was excellent so attentive - so polite - a credit to the Ivy - nothing was too much trouble --food was excellent - high recommend

I had been looking forward to visiting the Ivy,Spinningfields,Manchester for a long time.
My son bought me a voucher for my birthday and off we went.
I had booked the rooftop garden restaurant on the top floor.The reception there was so welcoming and we were shown to my requested table by the window.The staff were lovely and very polite.
I was surprised that we could only choose food from the a la Carte menu.It was the only one available. At no time,when booking by telephone, was I made aware of this.
We ordered sirloin steak. I had it with salad, my husband had fries.
We were looking forward to a delicious meal and experience.We were very disappointed. The steak was as tough as old boots and streaked with grizzle and fat.I could only eat half of it, my husband’s was a little better but not much. I did complain and I received an apology and the chef would be informed, nothing more. We were going to have a desert and coffee but I just wanted to leave so we asked for the bill. We were given complimentary drinks,larger and orange juice, so that was better than nothing. The steaks were nearly £40 each which definitely were not worth it as the quality was so poor.We left feeling very disappointed and still hungry.
Would we go again? No.

Very disappointing restaurant. The atmosphere was extremely noisy, mainly because of the loud and inappropriate music – we even had to ask them to turn it down. I had to send back my burger because it was inedible, and the fries were soggy and tasteless. Honestly, it seems like this place is living only on its reputation and name, because the quality and experience were far below expectations.

Afternoon tea at Ivy Asia Mayfair:
Pleasant restaurant, nice food but the service was way below par and frankly awful!

Our waiter was frankly uninterested and not once checked on us. We asked for a vegetarian afternoon tea, as one person was vegetarian and the other did not eat fish or shellfish. He kept referring us to the allergens page by scanning a code, but we were confused why if we asked for vegetarian options. When the food came he did not explain what was on the trays, just walked off. We celebrated a birthday, which the restaurant knew, and no effort at all was made about it. We had to wait and ask for spoons be able to eat our dessert. Not to mention that our plates were not changed and had to eat our desserts off the plate used for dumplings etc.

I had afternoon tea celebrating mums birthday at Ivy Asia St Paul’s last month and the experience was not comparable. Friendly staff constantly checking on you, couldn’t be more helpful and even went to an effort to present my mum with a little bday treat, which was not expected! None of this was the case at this restaurant :(

We will not be returning to Ivy Asia Mayfair and certainly won’t recommend it to anyone.

Please can you reply to my email regarding my ivy card

We went for the ‘Downton’ experience. Apart from the picture on the menu I have no idea what was Downton about it. The price advertised was £27.95 for two courses but a three inch round of shepherds pie is not a course even for the lightest of appetites. £10 extra for two small veg portions. Extremely disappointing. A bit of imagination with music and staff uniform could have made it a bit more of a Downton vibe.

Went to the original Ivy last night. Service was terrible. Sat there for 45mins. We complained, then the bread turned up along with the one drink we were missing. They then bought complimentary glasses of champagne which was flat. The steak tartar had far too much worster sauce, tasted vinegary and the toast was cold. The rib eye was medium not medium rare, the salt beef was bland and the veal Holstein was like rubber, overcooked and cooked in oil not butter. I used to be a chef by the way. It is definitely not what it was, last time we went was 15 years ago, we won’t be going back. Mark Vincent

Went to Ivy in Tunbridge Wells. Have been a few times. Great for occasions, as atmosphere a good mixture of busy, and yet can easily hear conversations, as good space between tables. All a bit glitch decor wise, but hey, all in all it ticks the boxes - except for the food!!’

Have to say that the last 3 times I have been, the food has been stone cold! Fish & chips, COLD, burgher COLD, Shepards pie COLD. Just extraordinarily odd. Had to laugh; even the butter was soo COLD, you could barely cut it in half, let alone spread it!

It’s just so disappointing, as I just have to conclude they really don’t care, and just think the name alone will keep the punters coming - and to be fair maybe they will. I mean I’ve been back despite what seems like a terminal issue.

That said, with me and mine it’s definitely a case of 3 strikes and you’re out!

PS. They did unhesitatingly get me a new burgher and the waiter was unfailingly polite - but of course that’s not the point.

I have just visited the Ivy in Exeter. What a fantastic venue. I would say that it’s the best in Exeter and the best Ivy I have eaten at. We were a group of seven and service from James and Kiara was first class. Food also very good so all in all we had a great time and I will return.

The food was not particularly good. Cheese soufflé informed very flavoursome -bland. Cod Goujons were inedible tough and chewy really not nice at all. Minute steak with peppercorn sauce the steak comes with water cress and smothered in peppercorn sauce, tasted like chillies and red pepper just the look of it put me off so gave it to my hubby instead. Was so looking forward to our meal as the Ivy always looks great. The service was good though.

I am not normally one to leave reviews but feel like I have to comment on an experience I had at The Ivy Asia St Paul’s branch. I did not eat so cannot personally comment on the food or service but would like to raise a concern I have. A few nights ago I got off at St Paul’s tube station as I was meeting a friend in the area for a drink; I do not mean to share TMI but I suffer with health conditions that cause me to experience urgency issues and as this was the nearest place I saw to the tube station exit I planned to ask if I could use the restroom quickly. I was greeted by the staff at the door who I found to be quickly dismissive and was turned away being told the restrooms were for customers only. I do not know any names and do not wish to blame anyone in particular - simply to raise awareness of invisible conditions like this which can cause people to become very distressed, as I was on this occasion. I understand that restaurants and other establishments have ‘customer only’ policies due to the need to pay bills etc. but I am writing this review with an understanding The Ivy is a well-off chain and I felt like there could be more done from businesses to help someone in my position who can be visibly distressed.

I can only speak about the visit we recently had to The Ivy in Chichester which was brilliant. Excellent range of drinks and food with equally excellent service, mainly from Sophie. Perhaps a little pricey but worth it especially as our visit was with a special friend from America who was equally impressed, We will go back again.

The service is a bit icy but reasonably swift. We had the Ivy breakfast which was excellent. Booking a table on line is tedious, I gave up.

Food was bland and nothing special. Quality of the Ivy has declined over the last few years. Overpriced and over rated. Much better food and better value in offered elsewhere.