SUMMER DINING AT ITS VERY BEST..

It may be hot outside but the coolest ticket for summer dining is at The Ivy.

Whether you choose to sit outside on the terrace or go inside in the beautifully cool interior The Ivy is still the very best in town to enjoy a taste of summer.

Enter through the heavy wood doors and you’ll find a Mediterranean atmosphere with the marble floors, floral upholstered tub chairs, potted palms, plants and the contemporary art that decorates the walls.

The Ivy is blessed with lots of natural lighting through its large windows that put a sparkle on the glistening tableware and crystal glasses. Despite its large number of covers you never feel crushed or overpowered by other dinners as the tables are expertly choreographed giving lots of different areas whilst still retaining a feel of space and privacy.

It was a mixed weather evening when we arrived at the Ivy – sunshine and showers. It was great to sit and unwind over a glass of wine as we perused the new summer menu loaded with some new and extremely exciting dishes as well as the old Ivy favourites.

My colleague chose The Ivy Classic Crispy Duck Salad as her starter. The salad had a beautiful combination of roasted cashew nuts, sesame, watermelon, ginger and hoisin sauce and came with a large portion of duck.

I love soup even in the hottest weather – I think that comes from living and working for a long time in the Antipodes. So the choice of Roasted Tomato Soup was perfect for me. I loved the way the soup was presented with a flower floating on top. The soup had a wonderful smooth consistency and one could really taste the fresh tomatoes and a slight flavour of red pepper. The Greek style cheese crumbled in the soup delightfully diffused the red pepper taste whilst the pine nuts and coriander added to the flavour.

When it came to mains we both opted for fish and we were not disappointed – an ideal choice for summer dining.

I opted for the Mediterranean Sea Bass Fillet which was cooked to perfection – succulent and moist yet full of flavour. The dish came with one of my favourite vegetables aubergine smoked for added flavour and served with toasted almonds a very palatable dressing of tomato and sherry which gave an added ‘zing’ to the fish.

My colleague chose the pan-roasted Fillet of Salmon beautifully cooked it was served with a pink peppercorn hollandaise sauce which was creamy and flavoursome plus tenderstorm broccoli, watercress and lemon.

My colleague remarked that this was one of the best offerings of salmon she had tasted for a long long time.

We shared a portion of Thick Cut Chips. The chips were crispy on the outside, smooth and fluffy on the inside plus a very palatable portion of creamed spinach. Pangrattato, toasted pinenuts and grated Parmesan made what could have been a bland vegetable offering into a very tasty side dish.

When our desserts arrived I could not help feel envious of my colleague’s choice of the Strawberry and Elderflower Trifle. The presentation was totally amazing as was the trifle. Layered savoiardi biscuits with strawberries, lavender and vanilla cream made it as tasty as its work of art construction.

I make no apology about my choice of dessert. It had to be the Ivy Chocolate Bombe. Although others may try no one can quite copy the wonder and flavour of this melting dome with vanilla ice cream and the excitement when the server pours over the honeycomb and hot caramel – making it truly heaven on a plate.

The Ivy can be whatever you want it to be at any time of day from breakfast through to lunch and dinner. It truly and firmly ensconced itself as the city’s favourite dinning venue from when it first opened many years ago.

The Ivy in the Victoria Quarter, Vicar Lane, Leeds