The IVY Garden, Marlow is a deceptively large eatery in a beautiful decorated Victorian building adorned with a variety of plants. The interior is based on nature with plants, flowers and wildlife decor all linked to the ivy emblem: Even the attractive menus are embellished with pictures of wild animals.
Location
Well, hello Marlow! Could there be a more perfect town for the launch of The Ivy’s second brasserie outpost? This elegant, well-heeled area already boasts Tom Kerridge’s The Hand & Flowers and The Coach and has a Michelin star knocking around in chef Sindhu, now at The Compleat Angler, so it’s no stranger to great foodie offerings. You’ll find it at the more chi-chi end of the High Street, near to Higginson Park and the river.
Character and Style
Very lively and buzzy. It’s a really cool space and it goes back for miles with an elegant, curved bar at the front, moving to a mix of banquette seating and velvet-chaired loungey tables with a stunning glass roof before the ‘garden’ in The Ivy Marlow Garden kicks in with outdoor seating on the large double-area patio, surrounded by large decorative flower urns, vintage mirrors and even a marble fireplace for an artfully-knocked-together antique feel.
The interiors is quirky and shabby chic. This could sit very easily in London, and the serving staff all looked handsome/beautiful in suits or foxy red dresses. It is definitely a slick, glamorous vibe they’re going for and I think they’ve hit it. I absolutely loved the art too, really vibrant, deco-ish and uplifting, even around the extravagant skylight. Check out my other restaurant posts.
Food and Drink
Though it was very good, I’d argue that the food isn’t the star of this show – it really is about the energy and vibe of the place. We’re in a brasserie and therefore the choices are fairly mainstream. Along with the more interesting options of blackened cod fillet in banana leaf or aromatic duck curry you can order hamburgers, fish and chips or the famous Ivy shepherd’s pie.
We did not have starters this evening.
My main was the Chicken Milanese which was brioche crumb covered with baby gem salad. This came with baby plum tomatoes, capers, rocket, Parmesan and pesto.
I did not have the shepherd’s pie but my dining partner did. It is the signature dish of The Ivy and it was pretty much as I remember it from days of old. A lovely flourish to serve with its miniature jug of shiny gravy.
For dessert I chose The Ivy Chocolate Bombe with the celebrated dome with vanilla ice cream, honeycomb and hot caramel sauce. I have had this before but I do not remember the ice cream being so soft nor the caramel so hard. It was lovely none the less.
My dining partner had the Classic Frozen berries with yoghurt sorbet and white chocolate sauce. It was a stroke of genius to serve the sorbet over dry ice.
I love with exceptional waiter service and interesting food.
Verdict
So there we are. The Ivy Marlow Garden. We think it’s fab. Great food, beautiful setting and warm staff. You will see from the photo that the crockery was a little tired. To be a little picky when served the plates were not presented with The Ivy logo facing.
