If your name doesn’t start with Sir and, like the rest of us plebs, it’s sometimes a struggle to get a table at The Ivy, you might want to give the famous London restaurant’s new sibling a try. The Ivy Market Grill in Covent Garden is promising “a more relaxed and informal dining experience” than its august forebear, which we’re hoping means they’ll let us in – we were deemed worthy of a good look around prior to the venue’s opening at the end of November anyway, so that’s a good start.
The Ivy Market Grill is aiming at a broad audience in offering a grill restaurant, bar and café, and all elitist joking aside it’s been designed with walk-ins in mind, although you can (and maybe should) book in advance. The Ivy’s famous colour has been retained in the leather banquettes, bar stools and the tiling that borders the main dining room, designed in an early 20th Century style that oozes the kind of class one expects from the name above the door. Some of The Ivy’s popular dishes have been translated to the menu here, along with other elements we haven’t had the pleasure of seeing before such as the staff uniforms, the silver sauce boats and copper pans. Unique to this venue is a 40-seat external dining terrace with a great view of Covent Garden’s historical buildings.
