The Ivy, my post lockdown return to the West End

People who read this column regularly will know that the Ivy has long been one of my favourite places to do. This is not so much because of the great food (though it usually is very good,) but more because of the atmosphere of the dining room…this is one of the best places in London to experience dinner as theatre.

I was so excited to be returning to the West End, I was even willing to make allowances for the weather, with late-May once again putting in an Oscar winning turn as mid-October. I even stoically endured the now standard COVID health check where they did nearly everything but shine a light up your nose to see if there was any virus hiding up there.

It was just after that though that I heard the words that made my heart sink lower than a submarine in a depression, ‘Ah yes you’re sitting in the gallery, upstairs.’ I didn’t even know the Ivy had an upstairs, having never previously been banished to it.

As my friend and I trudged up the stairs to fine dining’s equivalent of the naughty step I wondered what I had done wrong. Was it because part of the meal was being funded by a Christmas present gift voucher, had I previously ordered the wrong wine with fish or was it because last time personally I’d left stewed to the gills and probably needing an attendant to escort me home?

The gallery was not as bad as I’d feared, it was nicely decorated, and our table was in a good position. The atmosphere though was reminiscent of the party I attended where the marketing team had put the wrong venue on the invitation and only about 4 people made it.

The menu when it arrived was full of familiar favourites. My friend started with the bang bang chicken whilst I opted for a trip down nostalgia lane with a prawn cocktail. The bang bang chicken was pronounced a triumph with just the right mixture of heat and spice. My prawn cocktail was good, but I can’t say exceptional…the most important ingredients are of course the prawns, these were fine, and the sauce…this lacked an element of bite that you get from the best sauces (like the one I make) and so I was a bit disappointed.

For the main course, my friend went with the Duck Massaman curry whilst I opted for the Ivy burger, now with whizzy new rarebit topping, cheese and Worcester sauce if you’re interested. Again, the curry was declared a triumph, this time of peanuty Thai style spiciness. The only complaint was that there perhaps wasn’t quite enough of it.

Ever since rival thesps favourite Joe Allen started putting theirs in a brioche bun, it seems like all signature eateries have been trying to find a different take on how to serve burgers. The Ivy burger has always been rated highly due partly to the idea that it’s made up of yesterday’s steak tartare.

As mine arrived it now transpired that the Ivy burger had now undergone a rustic makeover, appearing in the sort of bap you associate with the health food section of Tesco’s than with the container for a meat patty. The topping was good, but the burger was actually a bit tough even if tasty.

The main courses cost about £19 and £17 respectively, the wine £66 for a Chablis. The Ivy had always been expensive for wine, but this seemed to set a new standard for seeing how far the punters credit card could be pushed.

So rather than desperately try to sort out a bank loan we called it quits after the main course and made our way poorer but wiser men to a pub around the corner. I will always go back to the Ivy, the bill without wine at about £100 was towards the top end of OK (the wine pushed it up to £170.) Next time though I’ll just order whatever my friend’s having.

The Ivy

www.the-ivy.co.uk/

1-5 West St, London WC2H 9NQ