matthew hooper

Review of Ivy Oxford

I refrained posting a review until I had gone a se...

I refrained posting a review until I had gone a second time as a new restaurant can have its issues. I also took different people this time too.

Where do I start? Having been a fan of the Ivy and also the Brasseries in London I know what to expect and sadly this falls well short. I cannot understand how others have given the restaurant more than 1 or 2 stars.

Firstly there are many staff in hand who just mill around who clearly are not trained to serve and are just not attentive. There seems to be no ownership of a table having been visited on the first visit by no less than 6 different staff and the secondly occasion by 3. So guess what the person who takes the order delivers food that wasn t ordered.

Now to the kitchen where the real issues are. Very poor in getting food out on time. The average wait now is about an hour for food and when it does come it s not all hot and one person is likely to wait for theirs. Apparently food is shipped in prepared centrally and someone heats and plates it. So god knows what and how the kitchen works. So for example don t think you are going to get chips as these will just arrive inedible and cold. The staff know and are quite embarrassed by it.

I want this to succeed as Oxford needs a good place but the launch has been fraught. So if you try and book say through Open Table it will appear you can t get one. But I think this is deliberate at the moment as they just are not functioning so reduce the tables they can serve. But sadly this has not helped.

So while I hope it gets better just be aware that at the moment it really is not professional at all and if it s a special occasion chose somewhere else. Having voiced this to friends I am not alone in my experience.

So Ivy OXFORD up your game!