On a regular day, The Ivy may take pride in serving their legendary classics such as shepherd’s pie or their divine sticky toffee pudding. But this Ramadan, be sure to try their compelling iftar meal. Each course is sensational. I am not being overly generous with my adjective here, but when you mop every bit on your plate and think about it long after the meal ends, then you know you have just hit culinary gold.
My partner and I began our meal by biting into some dates and a tall glass of spring punch: a refreshing mocktail made with fresh peach and lychee. It was followed by warm harissa, hummus and tabouleh served on our table. The hot chilli pepper paste with roasted red peppers was flavourful and the perfectly-cooked chickpeas and feta cheese added the extra crunch. Scoop it with some hummus bread and you have just discovered happiness on a plate. Shish taouk with garlic sauce was good, but it was the main course that bowled us over.
The baby chicken with stuffed marrow and vine leaves tasted as good as it sounds. The chicken wasn’t rubbery and the marrow stuffing just melted in your mouth. Next up was the pan fried sultan ibrahimi with seafood machboos. It had perfectly-cooked fish mixed with fragrant Arabic rice and tasted of the sea. It was comfort food at its best.
For those who prefer gentler flavours, there’s Egyptian Kushari to dig into. The rice, macaroni and lentils dish was wholesome. What made the meal enjoyable were the ever-attentive staff, who were friendly but never acted over-familiar. They brought the dishes to the table at an unhurried pace allowing us to make the most of the intimate evening.
The dessert tasting plate with baklava, Turkish delight, mahalabiya and the sticky toffee and date (after all, it’s an Arabic feast) pudding was a feast to the eyes and the palate. While the sauce on the date pudding was a bit too caramelised and bordered on the burnt, the Egyptian milk custard (mahalabiya) struck a perfect note and wasn’t sickly sweet. It was a perfect ending to a divine meal that paid an ode to Arabia.
