The Ivy Market Grill, located in Covent Garden, is a popular restaurant for visitors to grab a meal or drinks in the area. The venue decorates itself for the seasons with December looking particularly inviting. The restaurant opened in 2014, capitalising on the brand "The Ivy" and the prime spot off of the Covent Garden piazza. The restaurant itself is known as a "little sister" to The Ivy with its own unique menu using British ingredients and atmosphere. It's not as exclusive or as formal as The Ivy, but it's got its own unique style.
When I visited, the restaurant was looking decorated for autumn with a colourful group of foilage around the door and orange pumpkins on either side. After I was seated, I ordered a Covent Garden Cooler (vodka, coconut rum, cranberry juice). The drink was refreshing without being too strong.
Passionate Spritz was the next cocktail that I tried. Aperol, fruit vodka, and Prosecco are combined to make this drink, but I found it a little too much on the strong side for my personal taste. (I prefer cocktails that do not taste like cocktails.)
Elderflower Garden is a virgin cocktail with tonic water, seedlip, elderflower cordial, and a slice of cucumber and decorated with edible flowers.
Elderflower Garden is a virgin cocktail with tonic water, seedlip, elderflower cordial, and a slice of cucumber and decorated with edible flowers. It has a refreshing cucumber flavour.
Strawberry and vanilla soda was my preferred virgin cocktail, and it contained strawberry and vanilla soda.
The tomato vegetable soup was tasty and warming.
The grilled chicken was a miss. It would have tasted good, I think, without mayonnaise. I loathe mayonnaise, and I had to scrape it off. The menu should have stated what was on the chicken because it did not mention mayonnaise.
The chocolate mousse was actually very delicious and a proper chocolate mousse.
The pancakes were served with berries, yogurt, and a strawberry sauce. This is a breakfast and brunch item.
The chicken Milanese is a breaded chicken with a fried egg on top and a truffle sauce.
Lastly, we have the chocolate bombe, which was delicious. It is filled with ice cream. The chocolate melts when heated salted caramel is poured on top, revealing the ice cream inside.
Overall, I thought that the restaurant was okay, but I felt that the food missed the mark sometimes. On one visit, the service was attentive. The second visit was less busy, but the service was not very good. I found some of the food to have missed the mark, but the chocolate mousse was delicious, and the chocolate bombe is a bit of a novelty and also delicious.
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