This is one of our regular Desi pubs, the food has always been good and the range of beers is also very good. There appears to be a new chef in situ, the specials board offered such delicacies as Himalayan curried goat, I opted for a lamb curry my guests had chicken,lamb and beef. All of us enjoyed our rice, nans and curries, the barmaid played me up with some good humoured banter which made the visit even better.
Next up we visited the Ivy bush. The menu on the website looked really good, especially the ‘mega platter’ mixed grill.
Again this is another old pub that’s been renovated. They’ve done the inside really well. On entry you see the huge bar with all the top tier lagers on it. Staropramen too which is a bonus!
We were told sit where we wanted so pushed a couple of tables together and got into the menu.
We went for a large boneless grill, the mega platter, chicken lollipop, garlic prawns, battered chips, chilli chips and a selection of naans.
Firstly the mixy, unusual to have calamari on a mixy but it worked, good to get that extra seafood in. The mega platter was served on a mixy hotplate and standard plate as it was so big.
Tikka, lamb, lollipop , pakora and shish all sensational. Not just your 1-2 pieces here loads of everything. All the right charing, juicy meat and crispy light batter.
Garlic prawns - on the pricey side but worth it, again a big portion.
Lollipop - everything you could want from a lollipop, loads of meat, plenty of marinade and a kick with the chilli.
Chips - one thing to note the crispy chilli chips (battered chips) are not in the menu where the chips are. They are in veg starters so can be missed! Don’t they are sensational!
Other chilli chips good, masala chips - ok, everyone was on the crispy chips.
Naan - keema naan was the best, loads of meat in it. The others - garlic and chilli, nice thick naan breads.
A couple of extra mentions, we flew through the sauce so the owner gave us the industrial size bottle which was great!
Also we were asked at least twice how was the food, can we get anything else. Nice couple of touches to differentiate.
Overall 9/10 for the Ivy bush. Will definitely be returning here. One of the best mixys and sides. Up there with red cow and champys. Get yourself down here, get a staropramen in and enjoy a mixy!
very good value for money portions were of a good size dish prices we're very reasonable and more importantly the food tasted great price of a pint was around £3.00 to £3.50 which is also not bad don't be put off by the look of the outside and it's position in Smethwick on a corner of a junction its like travelling to another dimension once you walk through the door and well worth a visit