Candid Outlook : The Ivy Chelsea garden

The Ivy Chelsea Garden, Chelsea

Firstly, I would like to commend myself and my dinner guest for making it to this restaurant. On this very day, it was 36 degrees in London. Whilst there are cabs with air conditioning, mini handheld fans, ice cold drinks and even the rare cooler feeling tube, the heat was unbearable and really tested the formulation of my fave cosmetic brands.

On arrival, we was greeted with friendly smiles and appropriately temperature checked and issued hand sanitizer. 

All the front of house staff wore red dresses which was very handy to spot help! My guest did not want to sit outside so we was moved to a table inside with no issues. On a cooler day, it would have been lovely to take photos in the garden. I definitely plan to go back once the Ivy restarts its afternoon tea menu again. 

So, how was it? Well, I’ve been to a few Ivys now and this is probably the nicest one. The decoration is very Instagrammable and whilst fairly full, the restaurant doesn’t feel loud or packed. The ambience was maintained with light background music and prompt table service. Pictured below, this is the table napkin which tells you which Ivy you’ve arrived in. 

The menu is full of British dishes - very easy to understand and simple flavours. Nothing to out of the ordinary. I chose the scallops as a starter which was lightly seasoned and tasty. The purée was manageable- nothing special and didn’t have a particular taste. But it went well as a basic dish for a lunch starter.

For my guest, they had opted for the duck salad which I had for mains a day before at The Ivy Asia, St Paul’s! The menu between the two restaurants share some similarities and I was informed that the duck salad was exactly the same! So, I can say that it was adequately seasoned with a lot of flavour. I prefer this dish as a main for a light dinner but equally, works well for as starter for a hungry diner.

For a main, I opted for a different salad which was necessary in the heat. Honestly, I wouldn’t eat this again. The concept didn’t work well for me as I ate the crab, watermelon and greens separately. Eating it together tasted like someone’s bad cooking like burnt risotto textures. I definitely didn’t want a heavy meal so I managed through but it wasn’t for me. 

You can see a close up of all the ingredients. The watermelon is very refreshing on a warm day. The crab is slightly salty but quite nice on its own. The greens are great on their own. The sauce was a bit strange - heavily tasted like balsamic vinegar ?! I mean - yeah. Not for me.

I didn’t get any desserts but my friend chose the chocolate bombe as part of the set menu. It was pretty basic with no real special effects. The waiter was a bit too fast and didn’t warn us about the pouring off the sauce. This did let the dish down and felt very rushed. 

Ultimately, for photos and light drinks, I would go back. But, not for lunch or dinner as I don’t feel like the food is worth the travel.