Ivy in the Lanes - Where it's feeling a lot like Christmas

This year’s theme at the Ivy is a Polar Bear Christmas. With some cutesy bear models dotted about the place, and a full-size variant just outside the door (let’s hope he’s treated with a bit more respect than some of the city’s Shaun the Sheep models...)

The three-course menu offers some good globetrotting choices which are a long way from a dessert glass of prawn cocktail, and a plate of turkey and veg.

First things first. It was most definitely time for some glitzy seasonal grog.

Mine was blue and my glam dining chum’s drink had a very fetching little thatch of blue and white candy floss jauntily poking up from the drink like a weird quiff.

The former being a Polar Bear’s Christmas (apparently), made from Absolut Vodka, Lychee, Blue Curacao, and a coconut ice cap, and the latter a fruity, sparkly Gin-gle Bells Fizz, with Monkey 47 Gin, passion fruit, lime, cranberry, prosecco, and cotton candy.

Christmas crackers were pulled and brassy cocktails glugged and we eased into a night at the most comfortable of town centre venues.

First up for came a insanely rich starter which had enough calories and fat to get to keep you going on a trek to the Arctic Ocean to see the Polar Bears in the flesh.

The ballotine of duck parfait was a greedy carnivorous Frenchman’s/starving explorer’s dream.

A pâté smoother than Michael Bublé and almost as rich as the handsome twinkle-eyed Canuck crooner.

It was served with warm toasted brioche, which was kept nice and cozy inside a thick white napkin, and the richness of the dish was balanced with a sticky sweet cranberry (naturally) chutney and a sprinkling of hazelnut crunch gave an added crunch.

Formidable et un joyeux Noel! (unless you’re a young fowl obviously).

The glam dining chum (GDC?) made it double duck, a canny selection of the The Ivy classic crispy duck salad.

Flavoured with a tangy Cantonese hoisin sauce, nicely combined with roasted cashew nuts, sesame, and zingy ginger, with big chunks of melon to keep things tasting fresh and light.

My Ivy Crimbo journey moved from France to North Africa, with a splendid pan-fried Moroccan Style Salmon.

Although you might not hear Last Christmas being played in the souks and medinas of Marrakesh, this was a suitably satisfying seasonal treat.

The size of the salmon steak made me glad I’d taken the conservative option to have it cooked through, and the flaky fish was brilliantly paired with a smoky, gently spiced sauce.

GDC keep things distinctly ichthyic with a baked fillet of sea bass with mussels.

She enjoyed the delicate tomato and Saffron sauce which worked well with the fish and molluscs alike.

Our desserts were wildly differing affairs, a flambéed Christmas pud for me, and a white-chocolate heavy Polar Bear Christmas for the GDC.

The Christmas pud was good, although a bit more vanilla cream wouldn’t have gone amiss, although my disappointment was brief, as I did the decent thing and finished off the GDC’s rather great plate of orange sorbet, clementine pieces, special sauce, and a bear-shape choc.

Coffee could wait until the morning and two more seasonal cocktails followed, a Merry Spritzmas, (more bubbles for the fizz-loving GDC), and a creamy Whiskey Wonderland, for your reviewer who still harbours the delusion that a dram of hooch defers instant rakish charm, even when mixed with Double Jus Aperitif, apple and vanilla.

Our buttery mince pie parcels were a buttery treat too far and were instead packaged for the thoroughly sated journey home.

The Ivy’s Christmas set menu is available until January 3, two courses for £50 or three for £55, and I haven’t even mentioned their goose and turkey shepherd’s pie, which I’ll happily return for next year.