the ivy chelsea garden

i went to theivygarden for sunday brunch. the modern british menu includes international dishes and has a comprehensive all-day dining selection ranging from breakfasts and weekend brunches to afternoon tea, vegetarian, healthy and some tempting deserts. for brunch, i had theivybreakfast with truffled scrambled eggs instead of fried. i also had a side of arancini. my meal was exceptional, as was the friendly service and relaxed atmosphere. the interiors are beautiful and the garden and orangery is charming. i would love to make this a regular if not for the 3 month wait list for a table. reserve now - it's well worth it!

like it's sister restaurants in covent garden, the originalivyand the newerivymarket grill, the menu is a mixture of hearty british comfort food and a healthier options. the choices on the menu looked awesome and kelly and i agreed we could have easily eaten our way through the whole menu!

we both wanted two courses, and as i prefer savoury i chose to have a starter while kelly chose to save herself for dessert. my scallops were cooked just right and were served with grapefruit, fennel salad and citrus dressing. the combination of grapefruit and citrus dressing meant the dish was very acidic and i would warn you against it if you don't like bitter flavours. however, i loved the flavour combination and i happily munched on it whilst chatting to kelly and sneakily scanning the other patrons for made in chelsea cast members.

excellent service, friendly and professional staff, great food, and a pleasant atmosphere. theivyis one of the best places i’ve been to in london and sates one’s thirst to be in nature without having to deal with all its drawbacks!

thank you for a wonderful experience!

we visited theivyduring the “chelsea in bloom” week and all of it was covered in a bed of flowers.

this place was packed with people but luckily we didn’t have to wait too long to be seated.

we ordered:
summer berry cooler
green juice
truffle arancini with hollandaise sauce
duck liver parfait
roast squash
sweet potato side

the berry cooler was nice specially since it was a very sunny day. the green juice was befitting for the diet conscious.
the duck liver stayed on the plate, not very appetising.
the vegetarian dishes were good but i just had one complain.. they all tasted similar in terms of the condiments used. the coriander in them made it single toned .
the arancini was ok but very greasy.

the service was rather slow and we had a long wait between dishes. the sides took longer than the mains but apart from that the service was ok.

i had nice delicious breakfast in theivychelsea garden. nice ambiance and welcoming staff. good high quality service and food. highly recommended and make sure to do early booking as it’s required.
we had scrambled eggs with baked beans and hallomi cheese, poached eggs and pancakes with strawberry and berries and greek yogurt.

the kings road has been off my radar for years. i used to work over this side some 10 plus years ago at a hotel near south kensington. i had a friend who worked at reiss on the kings rd, so there was the odd visit to a local pub but nothing much more than that.

fast forward to 2017 and i now work for a company which has a site on the kings road, so i have been reintroduced. so recently i stopped off at the chelseaivybrasserie which is essentially a chain these days. opening new branches at a dizzying speed, before the paint is dry at one, there goes another one popping up. this will be my thirdivyvisit having done kensington high street and liverpool street.

this visit was not offensive, but not mind blowing either. whilst good service, decent food and reasonable prices make an appearance, it feels souless. the team hit all the service cues but with little personality. the food is ok, but as it's from the strong original celebrity brandivyin covent garden, there is an expectation that it should pack more. that said, it is still a nice place to visit every now and then.

to start our dining experience we went for a starter of tempura prawns with green papaya, cucumber, edamame and matcha tea sauce to share. for our main course, i was feeling the pan asian vibe so went for blackened cod fillet, not to be confused with black cod. it was baked in a banana leaf with baby pak choi, shaved radish, toasted sesame and yuzu mayonnaise. the code melted in the  my mouth and its sauce was not too over powering. my guest went for something a little bit more traditional and opted for the fish and chips. the cod was in a very delicate bitter, with chunky chips. what was also quite nice, was the fact that it came with a wee bottle of vinegar. we also shared a side of tenderstem broccoli with lemon oil and sea salt.

it's a big menu, but with a lot of classics from all over the place. not quite british, not just french, not asian - just something for everyone. what you definitely have to check out when you visit is the sprawling garden towards the rear. i suspect in the summer this is a beautiful space.

brunch is one of my favourite meals. it’s that wondrous middle ground where it’s acceptable to drink alcohol with your first meal of the day, gorgeously runny eggs come with everything and you can have dessert with your breakfast. what’s not to love?. last week i spent the weekend visiting my cousin sophia patricia mai in chelsea where she introduced me to brunch at theivychelsea garden.

theivychelsea garden is a restaurant and a cafe located in kings road. the distinctive and superb christmas decorations on the outside of the restaurant make it conspicuous and easy to be found. it's the breathtaking view that no one should miss out on. the garden is full of wonderful plants and colourful flowers. the food on the other hand was quite good. the cheese omelette was delicious and juicy. the spinach benedict was good but it had a bit too cream. the avocado toast was a let down unfortunately; it didn't have a distinctive taste. the service was great and the staff were really helpful. the place is more about the view than the food itself.

theivychelsea garden is a beautiful rose that popped up in a former plot of manure.  it’s so different from the bar/restaurant/blackout location that used to be there, i was skeptical. how could something so awesome exist where so many horrendous smells and bad decisions had come from?. apparently before you get married you need to take every opportunity to drink out of penis straws.

if you are in london on a sunny day, then you must go the brunch at theivychelsea garden. pick a table a the terrace and sip away on champagne and enjoy the weather and the food. the lobster benedict is superb very juicy and filling. pancakes are a great pairing as they have some orange zest in them and the best part they come with crispy bacon that are divine. it's a great outdoor venue and great for a sunday brunch.

you need seriously influential contacts, it seems, to get into the newivychelsea garden, a robert caring owned sister restaurant to the shepherd’s pie haven of fame in soho. one of london’s it restaurants of the moment and supposedly a celeb haunt, getting a table here is a definite and desirably flauntable mark of high society status.

if you care about people watching and a great ambiance, theivyis a great spot for it. even more so if you can score a table at their garden patio which is absolutely lovely. if you love food as much as i do and quality of your meal is the most important element, theivyshouldn't be your first choice. the food is average and service is ok.

despite having lived in london for over 20 years, i have never been to one of the city’s most iconic restaurants, the ivy. and i still haven’t been however i have been able to try their newly opened, west london branch  on the kings road a couple of weeks ago. occupying what used to be local american style bar and grill henry j bean’s, i visited theivychelsea garden on a crisp but very bright april morning with my friend and fellow blogger and photographer giulia aka mondo mulia (her post here). the venue inside has been completely revamped: gone are the dark wood, pub-like panels and the 90s style trestle table i remember. the large dining room is now elegantly decorated in period parisian bistro style with opulence and plenty of gilded mirrors and plants. the bar itself is grand and takes centre stage in the indoor space however the piece de resistance is certainly the garden at the back. a very large space, it has now been furnished like picture perfect outdoor entertaining areas, with striped cushions, log fire and wide canopies interspersed with shrubs and greens.

theivychelsea garden is a beautiful rose that popped up in a former plot of manure. it’s so different from the bar/restaurant/blackout location that used to be there, i was skeptical. how could something so awesome exist where so many horrendous smells and bad decisions had come from?

theivychelsea garden opened up last month on the old site of henry j beans on the king's road. i used to be a huge fan of henry j beans as it was where i had my first ever date (many years ago) and also the venue of many fun nights out. however now as theivychelsea garden, it couldn't be more different…..it looks amazing! it really has the wow factor - very light, luxurious, lots of green and plenty of mirrors everywhere and the la piece de resistance is the beautiful garden and terrace at the back.