Caprice Holdings are on fire. This year they relaunched The Ivy, opened Sexy Fish and Ivy Chelsea Garden. And, just when we thought the year was over they managed to squeeze in one more opening, The Ivy Cafe in Marylebone which opened it’s doors in November (2015). As you can imagine, The Ivy Cafe brings with it a sense of old school glamour; brass top bars, marble floor tiles and vintage red leather banquettes, although it is actually a more casual version of its counterparts.
The cafe style menu means you’ve got all your faves from eggs to pancakes for breakie as well as classic lunch and dinner options. We started with a simple spinach, avocado & bacon salad which was light enough to make sure we still had plenty of room for mains. Given the seasonal outside situation, we opted for a winter warmer and Ivy classic, by tucking into a hearty Shepherd’s pie with slow braised lamb shoulder and beef and Keens cheddar potato mash. The kinda dish your nan would make only sexed up to another level.
When it comes to desert there’s no messing about, if it’s got the word ‘bombe’ in it we know we are going to be blown away (BOOM BOOM). AND the Chocolate bombe did just that; milk foam, vanilla ice cream and a honeycomb centre with hot salted caramel sauce.
Now, with the Ivy being a bit of a beaut you might be thinking ‘we’ll never get a table in there’, wrong! At The Ivy Cafe Marylebone they actually hold 50% of their tables back for walk-ins. RESULT.
The Ivy Cafe, 96 Marylebone Lane, Marylebone, London W1U 2QA
www.theivycafemarylebone.com