The Ivy keeps long hours. It opens for morning coffee and breakfast, carries on through lunch and afternoon tea, and only winds down when the last cocktails are cleared late in the evening. That all-day rhythm, wrapped in the Art Deco styling the Ivy Collection is known for, is the point of the place — you can arrive for very different reasons at very different times of day, and it holds up for all of them. For anyone staying in the centre, it is the kind of room you end up using more than once in a week.
The food
The menu is British brasserie cooking — recognisable classics done properly rather than anything that needs explaining. Breakfast and brunch run into the late morning, a full à la carte carries the middle of the day and the evening, and the kitchen rotates seasonal menus through the year. Afternoon tea and a long cocktail list sit alongside the food, which is really what separates it from a straight restaurant: you are as welcome to nurse a drink in the lounge as to sit down to three courses.
The setting
Inside, the main dining room is the showpiece — mirrors, warm lighting and the polished, faintly theatrical finish that runs through every Ivy. A separate drinks lounge gives you somewhere to wait, or to settle in for the evening, and a private dining room takes bookings for celebrations and larger groups. Live music appears on selected evenings. It is a room dressed for occasions, but not so formal that turning up in the morning for coffee and eggs feels wrong.
Where it is
The brasserie sits by the Pavilion, near the top of the Lower Gardens, which puts the beach and pier within a short, downhill walk. It is central enough to fold into almost any day out — a stop before a show, a long weekend brunch, or dinner before a stroll along the front. Most of the town-centre and West Cliff apartments are within comfortable walking distance.
Good to know
Book online for dinner and weekend brunch, though walk-ins are often possible earlier in the day. The main restaurant is step-free, with accessible toilets and baby-changing facilities. Opening hours run from mid-morning until late but vary by day, so check current times before you go. For another all-day option in the centre, Côte Brasserie sits close by on Westover Road, and Cosy Club does brunch across three floors; the restaurants guide has the wider picture.