The Ivy’s kitchen’s on fire – but this time in a good way!

We went to the Ivy, the Asian bit, which is the only one in the UK. The others are like the original, all brasserie, Shepherd’s pie (my fave) and hearty meals and one of my all-time best restaurants whenever I’ve been in that there London.

You can do the brasserie here in Manchester too, on the ground floor, but we chose the Ivy Asia which is on the sumptuous second floor, all velvet like a Biba revival, from the booths to the servers, a semi-precious floor and lots of reflections as well as a resident DJ, every night. 

It’s a beautiful setting and the light is fabulous for a date, while everything from the gem stone oversized napkin rings to the chopsticks fish rests that they entice you to steal, and the service from lovely Sarah, is second to none.

It’s a bit of a treat on the booze front a bottle of Prosec costs £50, although it is lovely and golden. But the food is very reasonably price,  particularly given the standard of cooking here. Just lovely and confident as you need to be with this cuisine. 

It’s served in waves, for sharing and they recommend three dishes each. On average the small plates are around £8 for what you could call starters if you were provincial, although there are some show-stoppers which are a bigger hit on the wallet. 

We started with scallops with gold leaf, which were amazingly textured and cooked to perfection while wagyu carpaccio with truffle was wonderful. My favourite though was a beautiful ‘bun’ with the crispy duck bao hoisin, a giveaway at £8.50 and just beautiful. 

The main waves were much bigger than we thought, ranging pricewise from £11-26, a fantastic bargain.  Chicken, a simple dish, was so superbly cooked it almost over shone the flashier offerings. Steak, was simply cooked, offering beautiful mouthfuls and so plentiful, whilst the seabass was gorgeous on every level.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get better, came dessert which were frankly phenomenal, particularly the Red Dragon which combined salted caramel, chocolate and everything that is good in the world.

For further information and to book visit: https://theivymanchester.com/ivy-asia/menus/. 

VIVA Verdict: Go and enjoy, do it now.