Best Contemporary British Restaurants in Downham

Fantastic dinner with family and friends for our anniversary. Meals were affordable and delicious, drinks were stellar, desserts blew us away. Highly recommend!

The food and drinks at this restaurant are delicious. You are going to pay accordingly, but expect to have a solid meal and very good drinks. The atmosphere is beautiful — the restaurant is well decorated. It’s not too loud and not too crowded, which makes it feel pretty posh. However, we had a very odd experience with our server Nelson. He didn’t even say hello or good evening when we arrived and he just raised his eyebrows and said “yes please” when he took his notebook out to order. While I am all for efficiencies (I used to be a server and a bartender for 3 years), part of the hospitality business is…hospitality. This man expressed no smile, no emotion, and no sense of humanness. It was so weird. One of the ladies who appeared to be a manager came over to take our dessert order and she was very friendly, but we couldn’t understand why Nelson was so extremely cold. It appeared that this was his demeanor towards other tables as well. We arrived 5 mins early, didn’t take long to order drinks and food, and didn’t linger. What was his issue? We will never know. We will definitely be back to the Ivy, but will request to not have him as a server.

Great food, great service. Went for a valentines meal, we both loved it and got in a great seats was just very romantic vibes for the night aside from the music. Was a great live violinist walking around the restaurant, but the music that was playing in the background was a bit too clubby and party tunes, so think it would’ve have been a bit better to play more chill and laid back music for the night. However it was a great experience and would definitely recommend checking it out. 10/10 food.

Francesco was a phenomenal server. He could not do enough to accommodate us and those with allergies. His manner was professional but friendly. Great evening and fantastic food.

A truly five star experience! Staff were flawless, the afternoon tea was a delight; the sandwiches and pastries were very good. We didn’t realise one could ask for more sandwiches, otherwise we would have attended with more of an appetite! Coffee (decaf available) was offered as an alternative to tea which was appreciated.