The Original Ivy, West End

The amazing decor makes everyone think that this restaurant is very expensive but in reality is normal pub prices.. The food was great(the aubergine was exceptional,never had something similar), the service amazing, and the live music was the cherry.. highly recommend it

Top 5 restaurants I ever went!!! The food was exceptional y great and the service too. I’m so thankful to our server Rafael that recommended us really good food and gave us the best of service. 100/100 ✨🤍

ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE HERE!!! This has to be one of the most beautiful restaurants I have seen, and the food was unbelievable as well as the service. I ordered the curry and it was perfect. I also recommend the hot chocolate 😍 10/10. You need to go here!!

Stylish, elegant and cozy art deco style restaurant with high quality and comfortably furnished seating, gourmet food and friendly service. It's recommended to book a table here in advance, as it's quite a popular place in a really active part of London. Especially recommend the tuna tartare, which is not only delicious, but also presented in an inventive way. Great experience and a pleasant time spent!

When it come to eateries and resturants - that are partly dining experience and partly institution - this is possibly top of the list. A place with real gravitas. Decor has not changes in many years, which adds a sense of history and legacy. If you love light, fresh and experimental food- this is perhaps not your place. It's more traditional and rich, you will not leave hungry. Lovely to see places like this still in London

Fantastic food and reliable classic for a delicious weekend dinner. I've been many times and always have a great time. Good wine selection. Service is average, but not bad.

The Original Ivy in the West End was a treat. Our Italian waiter was fantastic – attentive and genuinely friendly, making the whole experience better. The food was delicious. The Shepherd's Pie was rich and comforting with melt-in-your-mouth lamb and a perfect potato topping. The fish and chips were spot on – fresh, flaky haddock in crispy batter with great chips. Even the Ivy Burger was impressive, a juicy and flavorful classic. The atmosphere is cozy and elegant, definitely a lovely spot for a special meal for decent prices. Highly recommended.

here for a birthday dinner with my family and had an absolutely lovely time, was served by an amazing Daisy who was very attentive and looked after us very well. Thank you very much to Daisy and team, we all loved it!!

The Original Ivy, West End is in a great location for theater goers! Rather busy on a Monday night. Service is fast. I had the zucchini fries and the vegetable risotto which I loved. For dessert, I had the truffles which were rich and decadent! The bar menu is inventive and filled with many great cocktails. Like most London restaurants, this one is small but feels much more cozy and comfortable than others.

The Original Ivy is The place to go for a pre-theater dinner. It’s located in the heart of the theater District and an easy Walk to most theaters in central London. The food and the service is outstanding and because the restaurant often caters to patrons who are going to a show, they will make sure to provide prompt and efficient service. I Recommend letting your server know what theater you are going to. Make sure to leave enough time for dessert. The desserts here are outstanding.

Amazing experience thanks to Daniele and Regina. They made a special evening even more special, great food and drinks and beautiful atmosphere. I can’t wait to go again.

If you want to have a meal at an iconic restaurant then this is the place. You will experience the best service possible in the most delightful setting, ideal for the theatre or an unforgettable dining experience. It's not cheap but That does not matter as what you get is what you pay for. Everything I had was perfect and the choices were enough for me to find choosing difficult. Don't put off this experience. They really look after allergies with careful attention to gluten free choices.

I waited 10 years to get to London to visit this place. Steeped in history. I was worried they might be jaded with the tourists or snooty. But the service levels were warm and welcoming. I enjoyed it immensely.

Their pre-theatre menu is amazing! Two courses for £29.99, we opted for mains and dessert. Everything was full of flavour. The portions are on a smaller side but that’s expected. You’d need an extra side dish also.

I had the pleasure of dining at The Ivy recently, and it was an exceptional experience from start to finish. The food was absolutely delicious. it's clear that the chefs take great pride in their craft. What truly stood out, however, was the service. From the moment we arrived, the hostess Ms. Binta, made us feel right at home. She greeted us with a warm smile, was attentive without being overbearing, and made sure we had everything we needed throughout the evening. Her friendly demeanor and professionalism added a personal touch that really made the experience special.

There is a reason that the IV in the west end is famous! Great food, and such a fun atmosphere. We were absolutely lucky to get reservations right at the bar just prior to our viewing of The Mousetrap, and it was the perfect combination for a wonderful evening.

The wonderful original Ivy restaurant in West Street London and still the best of the Ivy Collection. On a very busy Saturday evening in the West End (24/08/2024) it was an oasis of calm. Of course, it isn't as it was years ago when staff had individual roles, eg, a cocktail waiter, a sommelier etc., but our server was excellent as was the food and drinks. An evening at the Ivy doesn't come cheap but who would want it any other way. A place to go for a special occasion. Extras include service @ 13.5% + a £2 cover charge per person. Update 11/03/2025:- Came again for a celebratory evening and enjoyed another superb meal. Don't get me wrong our server was lovely but maybe not "quite" as professional as the one we had last year 🤔 It's a tiny criticism. We only had a cocktail each and no wine which brought the bill down considerably. Footnote of possible interest: my father, a young Frenchman living in London, was a cocktail waiter at the Ivy in the 1930s so it has a very special place in my family's heart ❤️ More photos added.

Absolutely phenomenal! The food was outstanding, the staff were so kind and incredible, and the environment was beautiful. Fantastic dinner before a show!

I recently had lunch at The Ivy in London with my girlfriend, and it was a fantastic experience. I opted for the Malaysian Curry, which was really flavourful and perfectly spiced, while my girlfriend enjoyed the Tuna Steak, which was cooked to her perfection. Both meals were delicious felt of high quality. The atmosphere was pleasant, with a traditional & stylish setting that made our lunch feel special. Overall, it was a delightful dining experience, and we can’t wait to return!

Went for a girls lunch and had a fantastic experience. The food was delicious, especially the „cherry parfait“ dessert, and our waiter Paul an absolute gem.

A first visit to this legendary establishment. Fantastic food, delicious cocktails, perfect ambiance and friendly staff. Dorset crab, cheese soufflé, crab linguine and The Ivy Shepherds pie 🥰 We will be back

Our server, Jesus, made it a wonderful experience from start to finish! The food was exceptional, and the atmosphere calm and sophisticated. A fantastic lead in to an evening of theatre across the way at St Martin's. Thank you for a phenomenal evening!

We were served by Jesus, and the experience was absolutely flawless from start to finish. He embodies every quality you could hope for in a top-tier server — and more. Attentive without being intrusive, genuinely kind, professional, and highly observant, he anticipated our needs with remarkable precision. Every request was handled promptly and gracefully. What truly sets him apart is his ability to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere. You feel valued, heard, and sincerely cared for. His positive attitude, strong attention to detail, and natural hospitality elevate the entire dining experience. Jesus doesn’t just do his job — he enhances the experience. Any establishment would be fortunate to have someone of his caliber on their team. A true asset to any restaurant. Highly recommended.

We had a wonderful dinner this evening with my mom, and the experience was made even better by our waiter, Rafael. He was attentive, kind, and made us feel very welcome. I had the cheese soufflé, which was absolutely delicious, and my mom enjoyed the prawns tempura. We also both had the shepherd’s pie and loved it. The food and service were excellent, and the atmosphere was lovely. We truly enjoyed the place and will definitely be back!

Lack of transparency: The Ivy is beautiful with all the original features. The food was perfect. Tge zucchini fries were incredibly tasty, and definitely recommend. However, we were billed a cover charge of £6.00 as we had two cocktails which on top of the service charge of 13.5 % was not transparent when booking. It would have been nice to have the option to have table water instead of the £5.50 bottle. However, all the food was simply delicious.

We came to the Ivy on Saturday evening following a West End Matinee show. We were greeted by friendly reception staff who placed us at the bar for pre-dinner cocktails as we were early for our table booking. The cocktails were very good and reasonably priced. Once sat at our table we were looked after by Daisy we really made the difference between our visit being great to being really great. Her knowledge of the menu and recommendations made choosing from the excellent menu easier. Her attention to detail such as keeping the table clear and clean and attending to drinks as and when required was fantastic and made the experiance all the more enjoyable. The quality of the food served was fabulous and arrived in good time following placing our order. Daisy however added to the whole experiance with her polite, attentive, cheerful and knowledgeable demeanour and as a consequence we will certainly return again in the future.

The Ivy is a fantastic place that serves British food. I loved the atmosphere and there was live music during our visit. We tried the main 2 dishes: shepards pie and haddock & chips. Both were tasty and their portions are big.

Beautiful place, friendly staff. The food was delicious although some of it was a bit pricey, but everything we got, we liked! When we go back, I want to get the fish and chips this time, my husband got it and it was great!

Well it is The Ivy! Nice old decor and amazing ladies bathroom! Went for lunch and they have a great lunch menu for 2 courses for £19 and add £5 if you still have room for dessert. Great choices for the lunch menu. We had the squid and bang bang chicken salad starters which were all very good. For main we all had the shepherds pie which was delicious! Served with gravy. Ordered a couple of sides, creamed spinach and green beans with almonds. Dessert was frozen berries with sorbet and creme brulee which was delicious!! Lovely ambiance and good service. Highly recommend it for lunch! Be sure to make a reservation though.

We had a mixed experience here on Sunday 21st Sept. It was a Downton Abbey themed night with 3 lovely ladies singing swing music and with some diners dressed for the occasion. Our waiter, Francesco was very professional and also very apologetic on several occasions for the following reasons: 1. The Downton Abbey fixed menu offered a choice of around 5 mains and we both choose the truffle stuffed chicken but unfortunately we were informed there was only one left. Surprising considering our dining time was still early at 6pm! 2. Despite the fact that I had informed the restaurant that this occasion was a birthday occasion, no effort was made to mark this during our entire time we dined at the restaurant. 3. We chose to go for a two course meal option, but forgo a starter and instead we requested rice balls and olives to nibble on whilst we waited for our mains. We waited patiently as we could see that the service was taken some while, and the restaurant was beginning to get rather busy. However, our mains turned up and our nibbles didn’t turn up at all, so we mentioned this to our waiter, who apologised and said that these would be on him. However, only the rice balls emerged halfway through our main meal. Also we were given warm bread but by the time we got the butter, it was not so warm. 4. Before our mains turned up, we ordered our second round of cocktails. These didn’t turn up until we actually finished our mains and was getting towards the end of our meal. 5. With our main meal, we ordered cream spinach, broccoli, and mashed potato. When the main dishes turned up the cream spinach was missing. We mentioned this to our waiter and he said it was coming soon. Halfway for our meal it still hadn’t come so we mentioned it again and then shortly after it did turn up and he advised us that this too would be on him. 6. We had plans to go onto after the meal and we needed to really leave there by 7:30 pm possibly 7:45 pm the latest but unfortunately due to the slow service and we had to wait then for our desert, and the second lot of cocktails, we didn’t leave the establishment until 8:15 pm which meant we would rather late for our next event. Would we return again is the question? it’s a maybe from us as the food was nice and we did leave feeling very full. The bill was reduced somewhat by at least £50 due to various deductions by our waiter. The service fee of 13.5% is automatically added to the bill which is just as well because I don’t think we would’ve tipped that generously otherwise. I was very disappointed with the service as I wanted this to be a very special night for my partner for his birthday and left the restaurant feeling that was not the case.

Beautiful atmosphere with an elegant 1920s vibe—truly stunning setting. The food was delicious, but unfortunately the service didn’t match the experience. We didn’t feel very welcomed, were rushed to order, and our server was quite inattentive. Every table around us received bread before their meals, but we didn’t. Our food took about 40 minutes to arrive, and basic condiments for the chips weren’t offered. Drink refills came after we had finished eating. With the right service, I’m sure our experience would’ve been much better.

Disgusting bathrooms. Following a lovely visit to the Ivy in Dublin, I reserved a table for my daughter and myself for dinner while in London. Unfortunately it didn’t live up to my expectations. The service was not on a par, the food was great though. I was disgusted by the state of the ladies bathrooms. Dirty toilets, broken loo seats and grimy doors. Not what I would expect at all! There are plenty of options available and would not choose to return.

Wanted to visit the Ivy Original for a long time as we usually go to another one. From the outside it was little disappointing as the pavement and streets are little neglected and maybe would be nice to see some planters to brighten it up. However, on arrival the guy at the reception was very welcoming and the atmosphere and music really nice and sophisticated. The starters - watermelon salad and gazpacho were delicious. Main course - shepherd's pie little disappointing, there was no garnish and found a couple of small pieces of bones. The dessert was disappointing too as the caramel sauce was not hot enough to melt our chocolate bombs. To be honest I am not surprised as the service was slow, the kitchen person would bring dishes into the trays and would not even call waiters to serve it. So effectively the dishes were sat there waiting to be served. Also a few discrepancies on the bill, some miscellaneous charges were added and the waiter could not explain what it was... Lovely venue but the service and food quality is not what it used to be and adding £4 here and there is not right. I guess most of people do not check but we had £4 added and 2 charges of £2 so £8 in total - and they could not justify the charges

Given you are paying for “The Ivy Experience”, unfortunately on my most recent visit the service left a lot to be desired, meaning it can only be summarised as a slight above average meal with an above average price. To begin with, despite booking the table for 3, it was laid for 5; it was a good 10 minutes before the server realised and cleared the extra crockery. Whilst placing our order, we asked for cocktails to begin with and also asked for wine, which we mentioned we’d have like to be brought out with the mains. This was served at the same time as the cocktails (before the started had even arrived) meaning it was already warming before we began to drink it. Following ordering, the bread and butter took a good 10 minutes to arrive and warranted the server apologising to us 3 times for the delay. Upon arrival of the starters, we were left disappointed again, when our friend received a mains portion instead of a starter portion (having worked in industry myself, surely it’s clear to the kitchen that 3 staters should be sent down together…). This caused further delay to our meal and had us all wait for the dish to be swapped. In terms of service, the servers were attentive when it came to asking if everything was ok and in apologising for their mistakes, however again it left a lot to be desired with staff consistently reaching across the table to plate and clear (as opposed to moving around - it was a round table so could’ve easily been done) to name an example. Overall I would summarise “the experience” as slightly above average food let down by inadequate service and thus concluding it to be overpriced given the lack of the experience we were all expecting and did not receive.

Staff were lovely and kindly seated us at a larger table rather than that hideous left corner table!!! Waited almost 30 minutes for them to come take order for wine and food. Starter very nice (altho my souffle not as nice as when I last came in October, bit omelettey). Main arrived with lukewarm gravy and my partners whole meal wasn't very hot. It was changed, but while we waited I'd almost finished my meal. His arrived with extra garnish bits which I imagine should have been on first plate. They gave a free plate of peas n beans. We still enjoyed the experience, but looking at reviews, seems like things have dropped somewhat. What a shame. Does management read the reviews I wonder?!

We’ve been to quite a few Ivy’s and have always had the most incredible time and amazing food but this time was awful! When we arrived our table wasn’t ready which was fine as it was so busy, they managed to put us on a different table which was great. It took 20 minutes for us to be able to order our drink so we ordered our food at the same time. When the starters came out I had the cheese soufflé, it tasted amazing as always but it was freezing cold in the middle. Our whole table ordered steaks and when my medium ribeye was served it was well done/burnt and my mums medium well sirloin was cold and rarer than mine. We sent these back and when the second attempt came out mine was once again really over cooked and my mums was more medium. I cut into mine with the waitress standing over me asking if that’s better and I once again said no and sent it back. The waitress then came back with a menu saying the chef has said for me to pick something else to which I responded I don’t understand why I can’t have the steak cooked correctly, especially when they can cook a thinner steak more rare than a 12oz ribeye? I said if I can’t have the steak I won’t bother with anything else and I’ll get a McDonald’s after we left. I then had the 3rd steak served which was cooked fine but it was basically just fat. They gave us each a glass of free Prosecco and took my steak off the bill but it was just an awful experience in there. I will definitely think twice before going back to an Ivy after this. ( first photo is my medium ribeye and second photo is the medium well sirloin)

Firstly the doors were locked when we arrived so they were a few mins late opening to be greeted by the guy in the blue jacket without a smile at all. Very unwelcoming. Then to be told that for Sunday lunch it is only beef (no chicken or lamb) but we could order a separate dish of chicken but that does not come with potatoes veg or Yorkshire pudding. My partner can’t have red meat! So I ordered the beef Sunday lunch and my partner order fish and chips. My beef arrived with carrots and peas in separate dishes but they forgot about the roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding. I started to eat my beef and carrots (beef tough & stringy and carrots very Al dente) and 5 mins later, I received the Yorkshire pudding and potatoes. Yorkshire puddings were cold and so much oil poured out of them and the potatoes were so bland. The battered fish was very oily. We barely ate any of the food. I think the waiters/managers are used to things not being great as they certainly weren’t very professional or apologetic, the manager took it with a pinch of salt. We should have gone to one of our usual choices Brumus, savoy or Tom Kerridges but thought we’d try The Ivy…. So disappointing, waste of time and a meal!! New chef and some different staff required. The young guy that served us was new and very pleasant but didn’t realise that the Sunday lunch came with roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding… maybe they lack training in this place also!

Booked a table in Aug for Dec for 1730 as heading to Theatre. Arrived early (1710) & got sent away. Returned 1725 - no doormen anywhere & total chaos! Was told the table was not ready & then overheard kitchen running late. Was looking forward to catching up with friends. So had a tasty burger at 5 guys, & a chocolate mouse from M&S. Somehow your expectations aren’t met on many levels Good to say, we ate with no stress & weren’t late - think agsin if u have an Itinery

I visited this restaurant with my 8-year-old child and was extremely disappointed to find that the children’s burger was served medium, visibly red in the middle, without anyone asking how we wanted it cooked. It was picked from the children’s menu. Serving undercooked minced beef to a child is a serious food-safety lapse. Young children are at higher risk of foodborne illness, and UK guidance is clear that burgers should be thoroughly cooked. A kids’ menu item should never be served this way by default. It shows poor judgment and weak kitchen standards. I would expect far more care, especially when serving families. Amazing atmosphere but undermined by this incident. I didn’t want to complain in front of my child as she would feel scared so she just left majority of it.

I had high hopes given the reputation this place has, but sadly it was one of the worst meals out I've ever had in my life. The atmosphere inside felt completely non-existent, more akin to a Catholic wake then a buzzy restaurant. It took 30 mins for our drink order to be taken, and then waited another hour for our mains to be ordered. . All of our party had a issue with their meals, the food was lukewarm, under-seasoned and generally made without any care, attention or love. Everyone who works in this place feels like they checked out a long time ago and the high standards, which I'm sure existed for many years, have long been forsaken. You're far better off going to Nando's or McDonalds!