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The Ivy Chelsea Garden

Afternoon tea, British, Modern European·
££££
·
Silver Award
·

SquareMeal Review of The Ivy Chelsea Garden

Silver Award

Richard Caring doesn’t do things by half. Not content with moving his burgeoning Ivy brand to the King’s Road, he has duly bagged one of the best sites around, taking over a vast Edwardian building near the fire station. Caring’s eye for opulence has given the cavernous space real character, from the stately, panelled front room to the verdant Orangery and an “amazing”’ manicured garden that’s perfect for “lazing on a sunny afternoon”. The kitchen delivers “great” renditions of the Ivy’s trademark “cosy but sophisticated classics”: a Brit take on carpaccio charged with horseradish and mustard cream; crispy duck salad with five-spice dressing; the iconic shepherd’s pie loaded with slow-cooked lamb shoulder, plus desserts such as blackberry sundae. Juices and healthier salads please Chelsea’s fashionistas, breakfast brings in the early birds, and the set menu is “surprisingly economical”. We’re pleased that service seems to have smoothed out after a few early blips.

Good to know

Average Price
££££ - £30 - £49
Cuisines
Afternoon tea, British, Modern European
Ambience
Cool, Fun, Glamorous, Lively, Unique
Food Occasions
All day dining, Breakfast, Brunch, Dinner, Lunch
Alfresco And Views
Outside seating, Terrace
Special Features
Vegan options, Vegetarian options
Perfect for
Celeb spotting, Romantic, Special occasions
Food Hygiene Rating

About

Based on the King’s Road, the Chelsea offshoot of Thy Ivy is suitably decadent for its smart location. Housed in an impressive Georgian townhouse with a façade featuring three ornate bay windows, The Ivy Chelsea Gardens offers a sense of real occasion when it comes to both the ambience and the food offering.

The interior is made up of various different areas including a bar, a lounge, an orangery, and a huge garden out the back. The lounge is typical of all Ivy restaurants with its colourful décor, large booths and art hanging on all the walls – a great spot to enjoy a special meal or celebration. The garden however offers a real escape from the busy streets of Chelsea with greenery as far as the eye can see; the cushion-topped benches and chairs make it an idyllic al fresco dining destination during the summer.

The classic food offering begins in the morning with a breakfast menu which features dishes varying from pastries, to scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, to a full English breakfast depending on whether you want to start your day with a big meal or not. For the remainder of the day, the all-day menu provides well-cooked European comfort food.

For starters you might opt for a shellfish cocktail or perhaps a steak tartare. Main courses vary from a chicken Milanese to the signature Ivy shepherd’s pie. Options also include a selection of steaks as well as a short sandwich menu for a slightly lighter bite. If you still have room for something sweet, the dessert menu includes everything from crème brûlée to a blackberry ice cream sundae. There are vegan and vegetarian options available for every course too.

The drinks menu features a large list of wines by the glass and bottle as well as an impressive selection of cocktails.


FAQs

Does The Ivy Chelsea Garden do afternoon tea?

Yes, you can get a traditional cream tea at The Ivy Chelsea Garden. For this you’ll get freshly baked fruit scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam, as well as your choice of tea or coffee.

Helpful? 0

What is the dress code at The Ivy Chelsea Garden?

The Ivy Chelsea Garden has an official dress code policy of smart casual, so while relaxed dress is perfect, anything too casual isn’t advised. The Chelsea crowd, as you might expect, are a well-heeled lot, so expect to dine in between all kinds of fashion-forward people.

Helpful? 0

What is the menu like at The Ivy Chelsea Garden?

The a la carte menu at The Ivy Chelsea Garden is similar to other locations of The Ivy. The all-day menu features classic crowd-pleasers like duck liver parfait to start and chicken Milanese for mains.

Helpful? 0

Is there an outside space at The Ivy Chelsea Garden?

Yes, there’s a small courtyard garden at The Ivy Chelsea Garden. The space is surrounded by plants and open to the elements, so is the perfect place to enjoy sunny spells. Remember to specify if you’d like a table in the garden, as space is limited.

Helpful? 0

Who owns The Ivy?

British businessman and multi-millionaire Richard Careing is the chairman of Caprice Holdings, the company which owns The Ivy group.

Helpful? 0

The Ivy Chelsea Garden is featured in

Location

197 King's Road, Chelsea, London, SW3 5EQ

020 3301 0300 020 3301 0300

Website

Opening Times

All day
Mon 08:00-00:00
Tue 08:00-00:00
Wed 08:00-00:00
Thu 08:00-00:00
Fri 08:00-00:00
Sat 08:00-00:00
Sun 09:00-11:00

Reviews

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31 Reviews 
Food/Drink
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Emmmamarinna

22 March 2024  
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 5

|  Brunch  |  £40–50
My lovely boyfriend took me here for brunch on Saturday, such a beautiful restaurant with great food and service.Lavinia our server was incredible and helpful to all of our needs and brought me out a lovely little desert
Definitely recommend it to everyone

Cesar R

11 July 2023   - Verified Diner
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 5

Lila V

23 November 2022  
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 5

Amazing location and food

Marlene C

21 October 2022   - Verified Diner
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 5

Absolutely love this restaurant, will keep coming back.

Tim D

01 October 2022   - Verified Diner
Food & Drink 4
Service 4
Atmosphere 4
Value 4
Business meeting

The service was slow but it was very comfortable

Anon

18 September 2022  
Food & Drink 1
Service 1
Atmosphere 1
Value 1
Don’t risk your special occasion at this restaurant

Profit over people. We were a group of 10 celebrating a 70th birthday and 45th wedding anniversary. The restaurant has a policy of 8 people max to a table and, despite there being an empty table of 2 right next to the main table, the manager refused to sit our whole group together on the basis of policy. No flexibility or compassion that important events mean so much to families at this time. On top of this the shepherds pie main course arrived for the birthday boy cold and needed to be sent back. He described it as ‘I’ve had better ready meals’. I’ve dined at 3 other Ivy restaurants with great service and food. The manager at Chelsea Garden spent his night telling staff off and genuinely ruined an important occasion for our family. Other reviews from last night indicate other diners agree on the terrible service. None of us will return here. A huge disappointment for a meal booked 3 months ago.

Tessa N

05 September 2022   - Verified Diner
Food & Drink 3.5
Service 1.5
Atmosphere 3.5
Value 3.5
let down by poor service

Our starters were good. Unfortunately we then waited 50 minutes between our starter being cleared and our main course arriving.  Our main course was overcooked and lukewarm.  We suspected it had been waiting a long time for our waiter to collect our order.  Our waiter barely visited our table.

Anon

18 October 2021  
Food & Drink 1
Service 0.5
Atmosphere 1
Value 1
A Terrible Restaurant

Overall every aspect was terrible. The staff were inattentive and failed even to bring us menus. The food was incredibly bad quality, over cooked and laden in salt. We asked for some bread with our soup and were given an entire loaf. We were charged for a drink we never had. We were served by 4 or 5 different waiters. We were sat at the wrong table and had to ask to be moved. The side dish we ordered tasted likeituad been run under a kitchen tap. The steak and the salmon both tasted like cheap frozen meats that had then been reheated and dipped in salt. The garnish was tasteless. Having to actually pay for these meals was an insult. It took nearly 2 hours to go through this ordeal and we both would have preferred to stay at home an order pizza. A total waste of time and money. There was nothing enjoyable about this experience whatsoever.

Simon D

10 November 2019  
Food & Drink 1.5
Service 1
Atmosphere 2.5
Value 0.5
RIP The Ivy

The Ivy RIP
If you ever went to the original Ivy, you would probably have shed a tear when it was turned into a sort of upmarket Cafe Rouge. Well, if you ever go to this branch on the Kings Rd, you will wail and beat your breast at the horror of what the Ivy has become.

I went for brunch on Saturday. I booked a table for 10 am,. I turned up on time and was told to wait at the bar as the table wasn't ready. I waited at the bar for 10-15 minutes looking at the half-empty restaurant, asked two different staff why I couldn't sit down. They would find out, they never did. Finally, we sat down. After 20min wait, we got to order. When they came. One of us was missing sausages. We asked if we could have some, they went off to find the missing sausages, never to return. We asked again. Sausages arrived. Espresso was returned for looking like the dregs of a cafetiere, weak and thin with no crema. Tea arrived with no milk. Toast arrived with no butter. Butter arrived with no knives. And on and on it went.

And we weren't the only one. Literally, every table around us, bar the couple taking pictures of each other was complaining.

Why it is so bad, I really don't know, It's not like it was full or that they didn't have a lot of staff running around, albeit headless.

What a sorry excuse for a restaurant. It deserves to be empty, the very fact it wasn't just shown how lazy and complacent people in this corner of LDN have become.

I really hope it closes down soon for the sake of the original Ivy's reputation.

Anon

31 July 2019   - Verified Diner
Food & Drink 3
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 3
The hottest day of the year

it was a little difficult to accomodate my chilli allergy, but staff were very helpful. So many foods contain it almost indirectly. My friends warn d me that the innocous enough prawn cocktail was warm.....

Service splendid, plenty of ice supplied! 

I do find the prices a bit high for what you get, but it was a treat!

 

 

 

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