The Ivy, 1917

Friday night, I had no plans and a small bout of mild seasonal depression, alongside a voucher from Christmas for the Ivy, who has a new set menu called 1917, so the stars aligned.

As a fussy foodie, set menus bring excitement and anxiety in equal doses, but despite few options, the menu was relatively varied.

In my opinion, the best part of the Ivy is the experience, the décor, the service, the cocktails. I love the food, but is it the best food ever, probably not? Is it consistently an enjoyable and luxurious experience? Yes.

So, to start with, like most Ivy frequenters, we immediately went for the zucchini fries, which I’ve had so many times before, and they are the perfect thing to pick at whilst you’re waiting on your starters. Also, I low-key feel like a health queen ordering them even though they are battered and deep-fried. Anyway, I highly recommend it; perfectly seasoned, the batter is light and crispy, the zucchini isn’t soggy, and the chilli lime sauce that it comes with brings the entire thing together perfectly. You get a relatively large portion for the price, but it’s not filling, so you can shovel them in without worrying about filling yourself up. Well, I can, anyway.

There were three starters, and I went for the white onion and truffle soup. When it arrived, the bowl was empty except for a scoop of truffle mascarpone, and then the waiter poured the soup in, which was a nice fancy touch. It was a smooth texture, with only a couple of whole pieces of onion, which I enjoyed. I’d rate the soup an 8 out of 10. I loved the flavour, but I am obsessed with truffles and feel they could have been more truffley.

Then, for my main course, I got Chargrilled Halloumi with mixed grains, avocado, and edamame with a red pepper sauce. Now, I did enjoy this; however, I’ve got a few notes. I love the saltiness of halloumi, but the tastiest halloumi dishes have a sweet, sour or spicy element to lift the saltiness, and that’s what this dish was missing. There were pomegranate seeds, but not enough to have a little in every bite. The other slight fault, I’d say, is the amount of mixed grains; I very much thought that the mixed grains would make up the majority of the base of the meal, but the avocado was the base. I’d have liked more carbs on the plate, but maybe that’s just because I was starving.

Also, I cannot go to the Ivy without getting a portion of the Truffle and Parmesan fires; they are consistently tasty. Perfectly fluffy inside, crispy on the outside, sufficient parmesan. If I had to critique, and you know I can’t help myself, I’d appreciate them spreading the parmesan more evenly over all the chips and, you know, actually drowning them in truffle. I’d want the chips to be so trufflely that dogs in Italy could smell it. But I order them every time nonetheless.

Finally, I’m not a big dessert eater, but my partner got the rum baba as recommended by the waiter, and of course, I had some because I’d have my female citizenship taken away from me if I didn’t say I didn’t want dessert and then steal some of his. The actual dessert was a light sponge with Chantilly cream and strawberries. I loved the sponge; I’m a whore for Chantilly cream, I would lick it off the floor. But I felt this dessert was closer to taking a shot than eating a cake. It tasted like Jack Sparrow had been invited to the Bake Off.

Now whilst it may seem like I’ve just criticised every element of the meal, I did really enjoy it. Was it perfect? No. Was it tasty? Yes. Would I go back and order the same again? Yes to the soup, chips & zucchini fries, no to the main.

For £19.17, though, for those two courses on a Friday night in the Ivy, I thought it was relatively good value for money. Also, due to the deal, we got the dessert for £5, so all in all, I’d say good value for money. Especially if you weren’t drinking, but I’m Scottish, so I am physically incapable of turning down the option to share a bottle of wine. I won’t even attempt to pretend I know anything about wine, I choose the second cheapest white wine on the menu and enjoy it every time.