The Ivy, Canterbury

Review summary

1. M

   Michelle

   Kent

   3 reviews

   4.0

   3 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   First visit and have already booked again because of the good service, good food and atmosphere. Food was tasty, not exceptional. The warm Asian salad was full of flavour, the creme brulee was nice, the fishcake was tasty and was definitely large enough to be considered a meal on its own, the lemon sorbet was as anyone would expect cool and tart. Price points were good but didn't have alcohol so cannot comment on pricing there. All the team we engaged with were smiling, friendly and chatty. Slight detractor in that we were placed under a heater which was somewhat overwhelming at times. Wonder if they could have asked on arrival whether we minded being seated there. Lesson learned and on next booking we asked for a table away from the heat.
   

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2. P

   Patti

   Kent

   37 reviews

   3.0

   37 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 3

   I have visited many Ivy restaurants & the food is always excellent. Usually the level of service is excellent too. Sadly not today. The staff on the Canterbury franchise are clearly not well trained. For example they reached over the table in front of guests & had no idea of which wines to recommend with desserts & when a large amount of sediment was left in the bottom of a glass the supervisor tried to argue this was “normal” to a junior waitress then denied saying this & was extremely curt to a member of our group. (The wine was eventually taken off the bill) Items were forgotten off our order & took a long time to come and no apology was given for the error. Ivy restaurants are usually of a very high standard in both food & service. Our food was lovely, the service substandard. You need to invest time training your staff else the reputation of the restaurant will falter. Such a shame as the venue is very nice. Hopefully future visits will find a better trained staff with supportive, polite supervisors.
   

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3. D

   Dee

   Kent

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   I really enjoyed the whole experience, we were very well looked after
   

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4. E

   Eleni

   Oxford

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   We absolutely loved it ❤️ ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
   

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5. S

   Sian

   London

   5 reviews

   5.0

   5 reviews

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Service was exceptional. Food very good, although lacked a little of anything special this time. Main course of shepherd's pie just needed something & the sprouts tasted like water, no seasoning & were overcooked. They actually arrived cold, but the staff were so apologetic, offered a complimentary dessert, and removed them from the bill. Very well managed situation. I would absolutely recommend the Ivy Canterbury.
   

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6. J

   Jayne

   Yorkshire

   5 reviews

   5.0

   5 reviews

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Our first time at the Ivy and it’s was just fantastic. We all loved it from the moment we got there there . The attention to detail was incredible, from the decor to the amazing staff and onto the food , wow incredible.
   

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7. R

   Roland

   Yorkshire

   3 reviews

   4.0

   3 reviews

   Dined 4 days ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   Friendly service. Starter and pudding excellent, the mains were very disappointing for my probably too high expectations.
   

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8. L

   Liz

   Kent

   6 reviews

   5.0

   6 reviews

   Dined 5 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Loved everything about our lunch at the ivy today. Service was exceptional from start to finish. Food was delicious. Will be back!
   

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9. G

   Gaynor

   London

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined 5 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Very enjoyable staff very attentive lovely atmosphere
   

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10. B

    Billie jo

    Kent

    3 reviews

    3.0

    3 reviews

    Dined 5 days ago

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 2
    4. Ambience 3

    The food was great, would have been perfect if came out slightly hotter. But, tasted great! Service was slow, 2 and a bit hours for breakfast is slow. Took a while for our waitress to ask out orders, when she did arrive she asked for food first and then if we would like additional drinks, when we hadn’t been asked for any drinks at all. Our waitress also didn’t ask what type of bread we would like with our breakfast, and when asked if they have decaf tea. She said no, only coffee. In the meantime of waiting for the waitress to take our order we had 2 different waitresses bring food and drinks to our table that wasn’t ours as we hadn’t ordered. After we finally got our food, we didn’t see or hear from a waitress for a very long time. No one asked how our food was. Getting the attention from a waiter or waitress was nearly impossible. After eating it took roughly 30 mins for our plates to be removed from the table. When asked if we would like some more drinks, one of my table guests said they wasn’t sure what to have as the smoothie was too sweet and they don’t have decaf tea. This waitress, which was a different one, said “yes, we have decaf tea”. This was annoying as all staff should know what they provide and have in stock. Or, worst case the first waitress was correct and the second was lying. We will never know, luckily. This table guests can have only the smallest amount of caffeine but needs to be careful with heart health. Could have been worse if someone who can’t have caffeine at all. Finally, although tastes nice, but slightly sweet for my taste. The smoothies, I was disappointed to see at the bar they are just poured straight out of a bottle and not fresh at all. To sum up our experience, food was great, 4 out of 5. Service and knowledge of the staff 2/3 of of 5. We found waitresses really ruined the experience with points stated above. Further or maybe higher training could be provided. I did have another reservation for a future date. But I shall cancel.
    

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