We all have our favourite restaurants, don’t we? Well, we certainly do, and The Ivy Victoria Quarter in Leeds is definitely in our top three city centre places to eat.
Reasons? It’s a fully immersive experience and somewhere you want to stay for hours. The Ivy brings relaxed, sophisticated all-day dining to the heart of Leeds. From modern British classics to Asian-inspired cuisine and with fantastic vegan and vegetarian dishes, there’s something for everyone to love, seven days a week.
In all honesty, we would be delighted to eat here seven days a week!
As I said, this in a full experience and ours started with a lovely, friendly welcome by two dedicated meet and greeters, one of who led us through the busy restaurant to our table. There’s always a buzz here, it’s definitely the place to be.
Our table server introduced himself, handed us menus and asked if we would like a drink whilst looking them over. It had to be a glass of champagne, it’s the only way to start your dining experience at The Ivy.
It was a hot day and the cold; crisp champers went down a treat as we chose from the extensive menus in front of us.
If you know me, you know that when scallops are on the menu, not much else from the starters gets a look in! I absolutely adore their Roasted Scallops – crispy potato rosti, pea puree, parmesan sauce and grated truffle and it did not disappoint. In fact, it was sublime. Sweet, buttery and tender, a fresh taste of the sea and the pea puree, parmesan and rosti completed this dish perfectly.
My dining partner, Dave, also has a favourite starter, and it was on the menu, so he was very happy; Steak Tartare – hand cut raw beef striploin with a tabasco mustard dressing, cornichons, shallot, parsley, egg yolk and toasted granary. He said it was one of the best he has had and that is very high praise as he is the connoisseur of this dish!
For our main courses, once again we couldn’t have been more different from each other. I chose to stay with a beautiful fish dish of Blackened Cod Fillet – baked in a banana leaf with a soy marinade, citrus pickled fennel, grilled broccoli, chilli and yuzu mayonnaise. This was a light, superb summer dish and the perfectly cooked cod had silky white flakes. Loved it!
Dave was desperate to try the famous The Ivy Shepherd’s Pie – slow braised lamb and beef, red wine sauce, cheddar and potato mash. He said it packed a delicious flavour punch and he would have been happy if that was all he had. In his opinion, it was worth the hype, and he will definitely be having it again.
We shared a tasty side dish of Creamed Spinach – pangrattato, toasted pine nuts and grated parmesan.
During our visit, Wimbledon was in full swing and there was a Wimbledon themed dessert of a white chocolate bombe, cleverly designed to look like a tennis ball which had a strawberry fruit coulis poured over. This was Dave’s dessert of choice, being a tennis fan, he felt compelled and said it was the perfect ending to a stunning meal.
For me, it was a nod to my childhood with RUM BABA – Plantation rum-soaked sponge with Chantilly cream and raspberries. Oh my! This is going to be my go-to dessert at The Ivy every time – please do not take it off the menu! It’s AMAZING!
Sitting in this beautiful, classy, art deco rich setting, we had enjoyed a fabulous meal, excellent service and just a really great start to our weekend.
However, that’s not all.
We were also invited to try some of their beautifully curated summer cocktails. We started with the Passionfruit Bellini for me – love this cocktail and it was a stunning aperitif – after the glass of Ivy Collection Champagne that is.
Dave followed his champagne with a Gin Sour cocktail – being gin fanatics, this was a great choice as it was one I could share! The flavours in that glass were genius.
We finished our meal with delicious Espresso Martinis – one a Salted Caramel version and a traditional one. If you have a sweet tooth, get the salted caramel one, it’s a dessert on its own.
To accompany our meal, we had a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, Te Muna, Craggy Range, Martinborough, New Zealand. It was the perfect choice for every dish we chose. It’s a wonderfully polished, ripe and finessed New Zealand sauvignon blanc with a lovely fresh flavour of peach, nectarine and lime. An absolute winner.
Luckily, we were on the train! Make sure when you visit The Ivy Leeds that you also take the train. It would be such a shame to miss out on the full experience, and make sure you have plenty of time because we guarantee, like us you will want to make it last forever.
See you there!
The Ivy Leeds– Vicar Lane, Victoria Quarter, Leeds LS1 6BE
Telephone 0113 388 6222
https://theivyleeds.com/
Follow @theivyleeds
