The Ivy Spinningfields

The Ivy Spinningfields, The Pavilion, Byrom Street, Spinningfields, Manchester, M3 3HG – Visit Now

Please note: the review below is from 2019. When or if Manchester enters Tier 2 on the 16th December, The Ivy will be back open for business with a range of festive cocktails to match their quality dining options. 

The Ivy Spinningfields is offering the perfect place to escape this Christmas, transforming its roof garden’s terraces into the North and South Pole for the festive season, complete with warming winter dishes and delicious
cocktails.

There are some restaurants which demand a level of respect before you’ve even had a chance to step over the threshold. Having years of praise and popularity behind them, regardless of whether you’ve made space for them in your life already – establishments like The Ivy Spinningfields should already be present in your life, whether that’s through experience or just simply observation.

The most spectacular baked bread, smothered in salted butter

Having never dined at The Ivy, in London or otherwise, I was sceptical as to how much of the iconic Ivy, now a hotspot for active Instagram users, would satisfy my appetite. I arrived outside The Ivy, whose Manchester branch resides in the modern gourmand area of Spinningfields, on a Tuesday evening and was greeted with the warmest welcomes from the front of house team. Their evening evidently consisted of orchestrating an evening for three private parties and had them flurrying like bees around a honeypot, but not so much so to forget to warmly engage with each new patron which came through the stained glass doors.

Booking is essential at The Ivy, with autumn hot on our heels and the threat of being blanketed by a swarm of golden leaves growing closer and closer, most tables are occupied come dusk and you absolutely don’t want to miss how The Ivy is celebrating the change of seasons.

We started with cocktails (is there really any other way?) And the most spectacular baked bread, smothered in salted butter to nibble whilst we perused the all-encompassing menu.

Gone are the vibrant colours of summer, and in exchange, comforting bowls of pumpkin tortellini, washed down with flutes of champagne. The tortellini arrives swimming in a light cheese sauce, sweet bites of smooth pumpkin purée balanced by crunches of Amaretti crumb – decadence at its very best. So long summer! You can find me under a blanket with a bowl of this for the foreseeable future.

The pork took centre stage and did not disappoint

Our server Dean was an additional joy to our visit, and who also just happened to have impeccable taste in food. Recommending the Iberico Pork, the entire table plumped for this main just to taste whatever it was that gave Dean such a twinkle in his eye. Arriving amongst sides of tenderstem cooked with chilli, and flaked almonds scattered amidst a mountain of green beans, the pork took its centre stage, and it did not disappoint.

Roasted to perfection, the cutlet held a tender and rich taste behind its crisp coat layer. Creamy mash potato and lashings of Calvados cream sauce sets the dish off wonderfully. Satisfaction on a plate.

The chocolate bombe is an Ivy classic and frequent attention-seeker on the gram

Despite being impossibly stuffed, we shamelessly ordered the chocolate bombe, an Ivy classic and frequent attention-seeker on the gram. Had the starter and main not gastronomically blown me away, this would have been suitably impressive, alas my heart still belongs to a trough of the pumpkin tortellini.

The Ivy is an enchanting place for an occasion, whether that be a birthday, an anniversary or just a Tuesday to celebrate you. A flamboyant, seductive place with aesthetically pleasing interiors, chatter and charm; order a champers, sink into your own velvet booth and make yourself at home. Wine not, eh?

• The Pavilion, Byrom Street, Spinningfields
• Manchester
• M3 3HG
• View map

• Website: www.theivymanchester.com
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