Do you have a special celebration coming up? Do you want to go somewhere impressive that won’t completely break the bank? The Ivy Café is be the place for you.
Well patronised by stars past and present, the original Ivy restaurant is located in the heart of London’s theatre-land. Opened in 1917 on West Street, it has acted as a key hub for aspiring actors and has been flooded with agents as well as celebrities. Older generations will certainly be aware of the star-studded clientele which has frequented the West End venue, and the name is synonymous with glamour. Although you are unlikely to rub shoulders with the stars of stage and screen at The Ivy Café in Wimbledon village, you may still need to book ahead to secure a table at the time of your choice. When it opened in 2016, The Ivy Wimbledon was booking months in advance. Now it should be possible to secure a table a week or two ahead of time, but you may need to think further ahead if you are booking for 4 or more.
Last weekend I was fortunate enough to celebrate my mum’s birthday at The Ivy.
The art deco interior with a modern twist provided a luxurious ambience: all mirrors, pendant lanterns and leather seats – also with noticeably dim lighting. This was very impractical when ordering as the ‘mood lighting’ made it very difficult to read the menus. Even teenagers were compelled to use their phones, not to check Snapchat, but to use the torch app in order to read the menu. Therefore, if you are planning on visiting The Ivy with older generations, it is highly recommendable you take them for lunch or tea, rather than subject yourself to ongoing commentary on the light levels. It is also quite noisy, which in some cases caused our conversation to rise to a shout especially in the presence of my grandfather.
However, the service was faultless: every table had prompt and personal waiters who provided useful recommendations on how much to order and what to order. The only problem we encountered was the fact they were almost too accommodating – my mum found her sparkling water topped up with tap water.
The food we ordered was delicious, and not extortionately expensive compared to other restaurants in the area. However, something you should be aware of is that it is easy to rack up a bill quickly even with the standard drink, starter, main and dessert. Even giving the starters a miss, we didn’t manage to escape for less than £40 per head. And the food, although nice, wasn’t anything impossibly memorable.
Overall, I would definitely recommend The Ivy Café Wimbledon to anyone looking to treat themselves or family members, but I think visiting once is enough for me.
