Some titles just write themselves: And maybe some shouldn’t, but I could not resist it.

Richmond is not a great place to live from a restaurant point of view, and it is a shame that a chain is one of the best places to eat out, but if it has to be a chain, probably better it is The Ivy than, say, Five Guys.

We did go through a phase where we stopped going to the Ivy, as somehow the food just wasn’t as good as it used to be, but it seems to have come out of its post-COVID slump, and the food and service are pretty much back to where they were at its peak. Its very consistency is what make it a great place to visit for a meal. Like Cote, but with more of a special occasion feel.

However, what is quite different to the old days is the steep increase in drinks prices, something not exclusive to The Ivy, but which they seem to have mastered. So, we conducted a small experiment, to see how to get the best value Ivy meal…

The first thing to do is get an Amex Platinum Card. Why? Well, apart from the amazing Lounge benefits, you also get “free” dining credits in some restaurants (such as the whole Ivy chain), of £400 per year, £200 in the UK and £200 in various foreign climes. I use the word “free” advisedly as it is definitely more leaning towards pre-paid… However, when you redeem it (you can use one half at the beginning of the year, and the other at the end), it feels like a free meal (or part thereof…).

But failing that, turn up at a time when they are doing a set menu. They have for a while been running the “1917” menu, which mainly consists of things you might not want or need to pay extra for. Or, better still, have dinner on “Steak Sunday”…

Strike 1 against the Ivy Richmond. I asked the waiter if they had any set menus. He replied “No”. You may notice that Steak Sunday is not mentioned at all on the menu, unlike the 1917 menu. I pushed him further on the steak, and he very sheepishly went off and produced what has to be the smallest menu (in size and length terms) I have ever seen.

Not being complete cheapskates(I mean, we could have got out for £60 with a glass of wine each, but that really did feel a bit cheap!), we ordered some drinks (G&T, English sparking wine and the posh ginger beer), and the Zucchini sticks. The drinks were all fine (the posh ginger beer no better than the ordinary one, I am told), but really not cheap (£15 for a G&T and £14.50 for the sparking), but the Zucchini were outstanding value at £8. One of life’s great pleasures is picking crumbs of fried courgette out of the folds of the completely inappropriate linen napkin that they are served in.

The steak was amazing, and that is not just “for the price”. Objectively amazing. Beaten to within an inch of its life, it was super tender, and the peppercorns added a nice punch without being fiery. I don’t eat chips, but the one I didn’t eat was delicious. My only complaint was the beans. No-one likes “squeaky beans”, but if you fry them (with a couple of lardons), they are transformed. These were remarkably untransformed, wet and, it has to be said, very squeaky…

And the “free” wine, while served in the now obligatory “glass” size of 125ml (We need a new word to describe a transparent receptacle for such a meagre amount of wine), was actually very reasonable.

But I feel they were making a point putting so little liquid into so large a glass… The Steak Sunday crowd are really not wanted on voyage,

The Ivy have got a lot of things right. It is buzzy, beautifully decorated, and the service is usually really good (as was ours, after the menu faux pas). The food is now consistently of a high standard, and can be reasonably priced, if you choose well. My grumble is that the drinks are so very expensive, to the extent I can’t help but feel they are losing money. Obviously, they don’t want to encourage the clientele to get tanked up and pass out over the Schnitzel, but I reckon many people stick to one glass of wine, or even just tap water. Just having a reasonably-priced refillable sparkling water option would help. But I do know of at least one person reading this who is delighted that people like me are still buying drinks and subsidising their food bill…

The result of the experiment? As I said, we could have got out for £60 for three of us, but it would have been a short and slightly soulless experience (and I would have felt the eyes of the waiter burning into my back as I left). By adding in some drinks and a nibble, and refusing to order before they arrived (a tactic I learned to adopt in The Ivy many years ago), we had a really enjoyable Sunday evening meal for under £45 a head, including the tip (and that is before my £100 cashback). I may not have been the patron they wanted, but casual dining is suffering again, and there were a fair few empty tables (still more than half full though). We only went because of the £20 Steak and wine, so the offer worked, even if they really didn’t want me to have it.

Conclusion

Overall Rating: 4/5

• Service: 4/5
• Ambiance: 4.5/5
• Food: 4.5/5
• Drinks: 4/5
• Would we go back? Yes (I am changing my rating system for this!)

The Ivy Brasserie, Richmond: https://ivycollection.com/restaurants/the-ivy-richmond-brasserie/