Around London in 50 Breakfasts: The Ivy Cafe, Marylebone

For the 48th issue of Around London in 50 Breakfasts we visited the beautiful Ivy Cafe in Marylebone. Situated just a couple the minutes away from Selfridges and St. Christopher's Court, The Ivy Cafe offers smart, elegant dining and a welcome break from the craziness of Oxford Street. 

The Ivy Cafe is a relaxed, all-day dining kinda establishment with a neighbourhood feel that could better suit South Kensington but works perfectly in the village-eqsue area of Marylebone. Although there is a breakfast, elevenses, lunch and dinner offering I was invited to test out the stunning brunch menu. Brunches are often based around similar things: a full English breakfast, some smoked salmon and eggs, or maybe avocado toast - The Ivy Cafe does things a little differently. There is a breakfast menu served until 11:30 at which point the kitchen switches to a vast brunch menu, with an almost A3 sheets worth of dishes to chose from. Whether you're after steak and eggs, pasta with veggies or pancakes with bacon there is a dish to suit every diner at The Ivy Cafe. 

Where: The Ivy Cafe, Marylebone
When: Saturday, from 11:30am to 2pm
What we ate:

• Starters: Smoked salmon and crab (Severn and Wye smoked salmon, crab and chive cream served with granary toast)
• Mozzarella di Bufala (Roasted squash with chilli, toasted sourdough, pumpkin seeds and mint)
• Mains: Baked rigatoni Provençal (Mozzarella, grilled courgette, red pepper, tomato and olive pasta bake)
• Grilled chicken salad (Grilled chicken breast, quinoa, avocado, sesame and mixed leaves with yoghurt, ginger and lime dressing)
• Dessert: Chocolate bombe (Melting chocolate bombe with milk foam, vanilla ice cream and honeycomb centre with hot salted caramel sauce)
• Warm flourless chocolate cake (Cherries, kirsch and chantilly cream)

What we drank

• 1 cappuccino, 1 flat white
• Two glasses of champagne
• 1 bottle of Sauvignon Blanc

Highlights

• The coffee was rich and creamy and my cappuccino was beautifully finished with a chocolate leaf detail. This was a nice touch which made a great start to the meal.
• The champagne too was lovely and fresh, ultra cold and luxurious. 
• Our choice of wine (a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, 2012) was well matched to both our starters of butternut squash and salmon, and the main courses of veggie pasta and roasted chicken. Although I love red wine, this choice of wine was much better suited.
• I found my starter really rich and satisfying. The smoked salmon came in beautiful long sheets which was gently smoked. The salmon also matched the crab salad which was well balance with the cream cheese and chives. I would have prefered to have a little sourdough toast to layer the crab and salmon - I used my guest's instead!

• My main course of rigatoni with red peppers, courgettes and tomatoes was really delicious and gave me a hit of veggies that I often miss at brunch. However, having pasta for brunch was very strange! It definitely felt more like lunch but hey ho, tasty otherwise! The pasta was topped with slivers of courgettes and fresh mozzarella which was very pretty visually and brought a freshness. I also really enjoyed the sprinkling of breadcrumbs on the top of the baked pasta as it brought added texture. 

• My guest's main course of chicken salad with quinoa and avocado was really refreshing and a truly healthy choice for brunch. Yes it has a high price point, but the dish offers three large pieces of chicken breast, perfectly seasoned, and a tonne of salad leaves for freshness. There was a good balance of quinoa to leaves and the fresher notes of avocado and savoury sesame gave added flavour. The yogurt and ginger dressing sadly wasn't to my guest's liking but I really enjoyed it with the leaves.

• And finally, our desserts were absolutely amazing. Rich yet well balanced, each dessert came beautifully presented with plenty of drama which is totally needed with sweet dishes. My flourless cake was served with kirsch soaked cherries was evocative of that classic 1970s dessert Black Forest Gateaux. There was also a lovely balance of chantilly cream and chocolate shards to bring a touch of sweetness to the bitter cake. 
• My guest's dish of a chocolate cup with salted caramel and cream was absolutely divine! The caramel sauce melted the lid of the cup which brought drama to the table and the combination of cold ice cream and warm sauce was so delightful. The milk foam was a bit non-existent but I didn't miss it too much.

Lowlight

• My only lowlight of the meal was my guest's starter of mozzarella di bufala and roasted squash. The mozzarella was absolutely divine but there was way too much cream on the dish. This cream sadly washed away a lot of the flavour of the beautiful squash and the chilli was rather mild so disappeared under the cheese. I felt there could have been less creaminess to the dish but generally was tasty when one had less cream! 

Overall, my visit to the Ivy Cafe on Marylebone Lane was really delightful. Their luxurious brunch offering is well made to suit a variety of diners, however I would have preferred to see more vegetarian dishes - or perhaps a vegan dish here and there! The Ivy Cafe is known for its luxurious and often rich cuisine, hence I can understand the lack of vegetarian dishes, however I still hold the belief that 1 or 2 vegetarian dishes isn't really enough. I will certainly be going back to the Ivy Cafe with Alex or my Mum in the new year and recommend visits for special occasions.

Thank you to the Ivy Cafe for hosting me for this review. 

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