The Ivy Soho Brasserie: Where the cool crowd goes to eat at London Fashion Week

Two words: Chocolate bombe

ivy soho brasserie
(Image credit: Paul Winch-Furness)

Two words: Chocolate bombe

The location

Located in the hear of Soho, there’s a reason all the fashion crowd goes to the Ivy Soho Brasserie: it’s just a stone’s throw away from the main British Fashion Council Showspace on the Strand, where most of the shows are set, and it’s handily a short stroll away from Oxford street and Bond street, you know, just in case your street style look isn’t quite on point.

The setting

The Ivy Soho Brasserie is just a little bit cooler than its big sister, attracting the buzzy crowd that usually inhabits Soho, think the fashionable and creative sorts as well as in-the-know tourists. The art deco interior and abundant flowers make it lively yet quiet enough if you’re looking for a bit of calm in the fashion week madness.

What to order

If we could say everything, we would, but you might struggle to finish it all. So it really depends on when you’re dining and what mood you’re in. The menu describes itself as contemporary British food, but that doesn’t do it justice. Sure, you’ve got your reinvented classics like salmon and smoked haddock fish cakes, fish & chips and burgers, but there is also plenty of modern and unexpected fare too.

ivy soho brasserie

We dined on raw market salad, seared yellowfin tuna with shaved fennel and wasabi sauce, and crab linguine. If you’re just after a light bite, then the truffle arancini and spiced green olives are a must, paired with a tasty cocktail of course.

Now onto the most important bit: dessert. The toughest challenge really will be to choose between vanilla or chocolate, that is to say the classic vanilla creme brûlée or the Melting chocolate bombe with a vanilla ice cream and honeycomb centre with hot salted caramel sauce. The jury’s out on this one.

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.