Having been around in Leeds for almost one full year now, The Ivy, as expected, is still a honeypot for food lovers, where across the full day, be served British contemporary dishes.

Even though I’ve been several times already, here and here, the interior still fascinates me, and I always seem to eye up the same cat print on the wall, imagining what it would look like in our home.

Although the British summer can be a hit or miss on the sunshine-consistency radar, where you are guaranteed sunshine in the form of food is The Ivy.

Returning for the third time for an evening dining experience, the quality of food and level of service completely hit the mark again.

Their summer a la carte menu proofed to be a rather tough decision for someone who can be so indecisive. What I do love about The Ivy’s menu though is, just how easy it is to look at all their dishes.

Instead of needing to flick through pages, all options are there, on one elegant page.

Nibbles and starters

To keep the hunger at bay, we started with a few nibbles to share. Per recommendation, we ordered the truffle arancini and spiced green olives.

Now then, all I can say is, once you tuck into these arancini balls, life will never be the same again. These are so divine, it’s not even funny. After every bite, we were ooh-ing and aah-ing, and very almost also had a fall out over who was allowed the last ball. We take food seriously, clearly!

For start, Nathy chose the asparagus with truffle hollandaise, which were chunky veg spears and a creamy sauce and baby watercress. Well cooked and comforting flavours.I opted for the lobster and samphire risotto, which is also available as a main, and it completely blew me away. The dish first of all was presented beautifully, a delicate broth and below arborio risotto rice with decent bite-size pieces of lobster, samphire and basil.It looked and tasted stunning.

Mains

Deciding for the mains was a little tougher. As always, I made a shortlist, and these were the contenders that made the list:  lobster linguine, jackfruit and peanut bang bang salad, blackened cod fillet, roasted lamb rump and The Ivy shepherd’s pie.

After consulting with Nathan and the waiter (for a much needed second opinion), the roasted lamb rump was ordered. And most importantly, I felt I made the right choice.

When it arrived, I was even more excited.Served with a pink lamb and crispy coat, was asparagus, creamed potato and a morel cream sauce. Such a winning combination, I made sure to really take my time eating this dish.

The lamb was tender and full of flavour, really complementing the soft potato, which also was the perfect serve with the textures of the morel.

A classic rib-eye on the bone was served for Nathan, a 21-day Himalayan salt wall dry-aged, grass-fed steak. The name was a mouthful and so was the meat. The portion was phenomenal covering the entirety of the plate.Alongside the steak, we additionally ordered truffle and parmesan chips, plus peas, sugar snaps and baby shoots. We were overly satisfied with our choices and dined like kings.  

To enjoy the fullness and tastes we just experienced, we decided to leave the dessert and finish the evening with a hot drink.A cappuccino for Nath, and a rather indulgent white-hot chocolate for myself as the perfect nightcap.

Bliss.  

Another lovely occasion dining at one of my favourite evening scenes.

Charlotte xox

PS. Thank you to The Ivy Leeds team for inviting us down to review the summer a la carte menu. The views and opinions shared in this post are all of our own.