The Ivy Soho Brasserie — Restaurant in London

Went for Sunday lunch a fortnight before Christmas - understandably, the place was extremely busy. Even accounting for that, though, it was a disappointing experience overall.

The host was polite but not terribly welcoming - perhaps they were just a bit worn by the relentless crowd. Our waiter tried hard, but he forgot some items of our order (I appreciated he tried to display a high level of service in not writing anything down, but we were let down when he needed reminding of several items), and also forgot some basic items - taking away cutlery that was needed, not bringing milk/cream with tea, forgetting other items. Given how busy he was, we just felt a bit bad for him as I imagine he wanted to do his job well but could not on this occasion. He was also let down by the kitchen who made a mistake on the order, which resulted in one in our party not being served their meal till 20 minutes after everyone else's meals were served.

Since it was near the festive season, we tolerated the deafening din of the very busy dining room - it might be best to visit at a less busy time. The art-decor inspired furnishings were really lovely and even the floor tiles were gorgeous - a luxe experience was clearly what they aimed for and were able to deliver visually. There was a singer whose set was amplified uncomfortably loudly - again no doubt because of the loud room; unfortunately, this just meant everybody was yelling to be heard over the singer's best efforts, so a lose-lose for everyone. Might be better not to have a 'live' act when there is already so much going on, though I appreciate that the restaurant was trying to offer an extra touch of hospitality.

When it came to the food, it was a mixed bag. The Eggs Benedict had perfectly poached eggs paired with smoked ham (a tad salty, but to be expected and not a complaint, just an FYI) and the most divine chipped potatoes that were perfectly cooked and seasoned - very more-ish. The Arancini on offer was also a standout item we enjoyed very much; ditto the Zucchini Fritti. Scones were good but unremarkable - we had had it previously and thought they were better in the past; perhaps an uneven batch. The Sunday Roast, unfortunately, was indefensibly awful - meat was a bad cut that was poorly cooked; accompanying vegetables were completely tasteless; even the roast potatoes were a letdown - so this was very dire indeed and hugely confusing since it was Sunday!

Overall, it's worth visiting this establishment on a less frantic day, we reckon, when you can enjoy the lovely ambiance and when the food and service are hopefully better (without the insane pressure of a holiday...

What should have been an enjoyable work Christmas meal at The Ivy Brasserie turned into a deeply disappointing experience.

We had booked a table for seven, but were seated at one that only fit six. When we asked to move, we were told there was no availability, despite a nearby table for eight being empty. Later, we saw only six people seated there — it felt like we were being brushed off.

We ordered a bottle of bubbles when they served our starters, starters were cleared and mains served and still no bottle. We asked a number of waiters and the bottle eventually turned up after mains were cleared away - bit too late and sat through a meal with no drink due to such poor service.

Throughout the meal, not a single staff member checked if we were happy with our food or needed anything. It felt like we were invisible, with no attention given to our table.

Our water glasses had a strange smell, and despite asking multiple times for replacements, it took far too long to get fresh ones. Again it was a case of flagging a waiter down to just be ignored anyway.

What made it worse was watching the table next to us receive constant attention. Their glasses were regularly refilled, and the waitstaff seemed to check in with them constantly. We, on the other hand, were ignored. It felt unfair, and left us wondering if there was something deeper at play.

After such poor service, we decided not to stay for dessert which was disappointing as everyone was looking forward to it.

When we eventually spoke to the manager, we were met with an apology, but by then, it was too little, too late. The damage had already been done and it left the entire party completely disappointed with the Ivy chain and I've personally been to the Cambridge Ivy and never had a bad experience and equally Ivy Asia which has always been great.

Sadly, we couldn’t shake the feeling of being treated differently. The service disparity between our table and others felt more than just poor management — it very clearly felt like racial discrimination (50% of our table were Indian).

This was meant to be an enjoyable work celebration, unfortunately resulted in disappointment and a huge sense of discrimination.

In short - if your of a white background, you'll probably have a great experience, but don't waste your time or money if you're of any other racial background. Ironic seeing as the majority of staff were not white themselves. Clearly they are trying to maintain a certain customer profile.

It's a shame as the company paying for our meal are big on tips in restaurants so its unfortunate the staff profiled us so quickly.

Won't...

What an absolute disaster of a place . We booked a table for 2 for a birthday the very unfriendly lady on the front desk said yes I have your booking and then managed to sit us on the worst table she could find in between the wall were the waiters leave their till and a couple of really loud people who were talking so loud you couldn’t actually here yourself think. !! The table area was so small I had to sit with my legs to the side as I couldn’t fit them comfortably under the table ! The service was slow , the drinks were not doubles as requested the bar staff just put an extra ice cube thinking that we wouldn’t notice well we did notice you were charging for doubles yet giving singles , the starters were ok but what was frustrating walk in guests were coming in off the street no bookings and when they arrived they were given massive tables for example a woman by herself by a nice corner table another 2 customers got a large table designed for 4 !! This was not nice for us two sitting in this tiny table which reminded me of Paris tables certainly not London . After finishing starters the plates were not cleared for a good 25 minutes even though staff were constantly passing to put new glasses and menus etc on empty tables no one bothered to actually clear our table for our next course. I went to see the host to enquire why they had given us the worst table in the restaurant and could it be they were busy , he said no they are not busy and fid not understand why these sat us there !!! Then a lady tried to make things better by moving us to a normal table designed for 2 people with legs this time and gave us a free drink but to be honest after the first part of the experience being so bad we were already not expecting good things . The main course had been floating around whilst all this was going on and finally arrived and was nothing special or tasty and a bit cold too !! Then again finishing the course the long long wait to get the table cleared 20 mins gone by asking the lady who helped can you help us again , table then cleared, dessert menus thrown at us literally again the lady helped as the staff were way to busy chatting and messing around in the mainly empty restaurant! To be blunt this place was good maybe in the past they ruined my birthday lunch and the staff should be retrained and whoever owns the place maybe needs to invest in some training and etiquette for the staff ! Your IVY Soho is...