Ivy Bistro

My husband’s complaint: «The good reviews must have been written by white people.»
The food is not bad, per se, but it’s not authentic. Flavor seems to derive more from oil and salt than anything else. It’s probably the same as most other Chinese takeout places we’ve been to where the predominant surrounding population is not actually Chinese, or are college students.
The Singapore Chow Mei Fun barely had a hint of curry taste, and did not have enough of it to turn the noodles yellow.
Spring rolls are on the small side.
This is the first place we’ve been to whose taro milk tea was not a shade of purple. It momentarily confused us, but it tasted fine. Unfortunately, they were out of boba balls, though.
They also were not serving noodle soups when we came.

This is amazing food. I always get the scallion pancakes the steamed panfried dumplings, the Singaporean fried noodles, the bok choy and the lo mein chicken. The food is so wonderful!!! The service was really great and everyone was so nice.

Excellent food and wonderful service! Definitely try this place — best Chinese food I have ever had, which includes NYC and San Fran!
The food here is absolutely delicious — try the Sesame Dumplings, Turnip Cakes, Ribs, and Curry Broth Soup. There are good options for vegetarians and non-​vegetarians alike. The staff here is wonderful and will adapt dishes for diet and kids. It’s very inexpensive, too. We ordered 3 appetizers, 2 mains dishes, and tea and it was about $ 30, including tax and tip. Because of this location in Science Park, it’s not busy in the evenings. It’s easy to park on the street (1 hr parking before 7 pm and then no limit afterwards in the evening) or in the garage next door. I believe the restaurant gives you 1.5hr free in the garage.

Excellent food, excellent service. We travel at least once a week to go. I would recommend it to anyone looking for outstanding Chinese cuisine that is much more authentic than the regular restaurant.

This was our first time ordering delivery from Ivy Bistro. I called the restaurant after an hour and the end of the Grubhub delivery window. They said the food was on its way. Twenty minutes later I called again and they said the same thing. They knew who I was and where I was calling from because of caller ID. Ten minutes later they called me and asked if my food was there but it wasn’t and they said that it would only be a minute. I called them ten times over the next 45 minutes and they would not pick up any of my calls. This was the worst customer service I have received in all of my years ordering delivery. They lied to me multiple times and then would not address the issue of service. I could have handled a delay if I was given a reason. The food arrived warm so there was no traffic in the 3 miles to our apartment as the driver tried to make his excuses. The food was mediocre at best. Not worth the wait or the bad service. Do not order from this restaurant. Grubhub refunded my money and gave me a $ 15 credit for my next order. They had my back and I appreciated it. Forget Ivy Bistro.

This place is good not great. The food is exactly what you would expect from any «Chinese» take out place; it is executed better than most.
If it didn’t deliver I doubt I would eat from here as much. If you like «Chinese» food this place is OK to slightly better than OK and clean (you can see most of kitchen from the front of the restaurant).
Tip: The best dishes are not on the lunch specials. They are cheaper, but I would spend slightly more and get some Mei Fun or Chow Mein as my main dish.

Best delivery Chinese I’ve found in New Haven. I went a bit safe with my order, and everything was very tasty. Fried rice seemed like homemade — not too oily or salty, and no weird coloring. Chicken Chow Fun was fat noodles with a good variety of veggies and a dark sauce. Crab Rangoon had a ton of crab! Delivery came fast.

Chinese food I will actually eat! We ordered delivery twice and tried a bunch of different things. My husband is pretty adventurous and had more of the exotic items. I like the vegetable chow fun in black bean sauce. Standards like steamed dumplings & crab rangoon well above average. Best Chinese I’ve had in Connecticut.

I judge Chinese restaurants mainly on there ability to execute my favorite dish (Singapore Mei Fun). These guys do a great job, though they failed to include eggs, which I enjoy. They also make a mean soup! My favorite is the Wonton Special soup with stewed beef and curry soup upgrade.
The staff is super friendly. I came in close to closing time and business was slow. Some workers were at a back table playing a game called Mahjong (which looked dominoes on steroids to my untrained eye). They noticed me watching intently and they invited me over to learn while I waited for my food. Very cool.
My only gripe… their closed on the weekend. Where they do that at!!!
I’ll still be back for the food, the light-​hearted staff is a bonus.

This is my favorite Chinese restaurant in New Haven. The roast pork fried rice is excellent. Unlike the fried rice at most other Chinese restaurants on the east coast, the fried rice at Ivy Bistro is not excessively oily. The Singapore stew noodles are also excellent. The restaurant itself is clean, and the owner and staff are very friendly. You really can’t lose with this restaurant.

Ivy Bistro is wonderful. The staff takes the time to get to know the customers. The food is fresh and authentic. The spicy tofu in peanut sauce is so awesome. The turnip cake is absolutely marvelous! I have been treated very wonderfully each time I ate here. I highly recommend it!

I used a LivingSocial deal to try this place and was very impressed. Very good, authentic Singaporean food. I had the Sesame Wonton in Hot Oil, Roast Duck over rice and Singapore Stew Noodles. Delicious and hearty! There are lots of other unique dishes that I want to try so I will definitely be back. Nice staff too.

The best Asian Curry soup.

An amazing place to get authentic Singapore cuisine. The staff is friendly and always willing to accommodate any request. They have catered events for me on two different occasions and my guests have never been disappointed. Whereas they are a little off the beaten path it is well worth the visit! Highly recommended!

Best Asian food hands down and owner and staff is the best…

I should have written this long ago, but I changed jobs and it wasn’t in walking distance, so it fell off my radar.
I think it’s quite good. The scallion pancakes are my favorite, but beware, they take about 20 minutes to fry. The fried rice is more like homemade — just a little stirfry and light on the soy. I have gotten several different teriyaki bowls and noodle dishes (not soup), and they’ve always been good. If you order the right things, it’s much closer to China-​Chinese food than American-​Chinese food, but they do have the greasy Beef with Broccoli and General Tso’s. They also have bubble tea.
I like this place, and it isn’t too expensive. I’m looking for an excuse to go back.

I am a vegetarian and this it’s one of the few places I feel really adapts their dishes for a non-​meat eater like me. They have noodles in soup — you get to choose the type of noodles you want (I always go with chow fun) and I ask for the veggie broth, which is delicious and flavorful. The yummiest soup is definitely the shitake mushroom with greens!
Their menu is definitely full of meat options, but I haven’t had any trouble finding things to eat or asking for substitutes. Plus, my husband is a meat eater and this is one of his favorite places to go in New Haven for Chinese.
And definitely, definitely get the appetizers! Especially the fried tofu in hot oil (DELICIOUS and full of spice and peanut sauce) and scallion pancake!!!
As a Chinese-​American vegetarian, I recommend Ivy Bistro (and their sister store, Ivy Noodle) if you’re looking for some cheap, relatively authentic Chinese food. Plus they deliver!

I come here for lunch sometimes but I’m never straying away from the chicken lo mein and the crab Rangoon. Two stars is tough, but their soup is bland, tasteless, and the chicken they put in tastes like it defrosted in the soup. If you like Ivy Noodle you’d like this place though, same food different location.
I’d rather order elsewhere for decent noodles.

Ivy Bistro, like its sister restaurant Ivy Noodle, offers little for vegans and vegetarians. The menu doesn’t even have a «vegetables» or «vegetarian» section — every single dish is loaded with meat, so ordering is a bit of a hassle for folks like me. Some of you might say to this: «Who cares? I eat meat.» Well, I would argue that any Chinese restaurant that gives short shrift to vegetables is not a place you should place much trust in.
Nevertheless, I wanted to give this place a shot because it’s in an isolated area and fairly close to my house. Also, there aren’t any good Chinese restaurants in New Haven since Hunan Café closed, so I was hoping Ivy Bistro would fill that void in my life.
I got the vegetable chow fun with tofu (they had to make this dish for me special, as it’s not on the menu per se) ($ 7.20 with tax). Unfortunately, the dish did not meet my expectations. It basically consisted of wide rice noodles, a paltry few slivers of carrots, bean sprouts and celery, with some fried tofu. I hoped to get more vegetables (how about peapods? bell peppers? broccoli? mushrooms?) and in more quantity and size.
While they did a good job of making the dish spicy for me, the dish itself just fell flat on a whole. In terms of portion size, you get more for your money at Royal Palace downtown. In terms of variety of vegetables you get more at Royal Palace as well. While I don’t like Royal Palace that much, it’s still better than Ivy Bistro and offers more variety, and more unusual dishes, for vegans and vegetarians.
If you want really good Chinese food, there’s only once place of note in the New Haven area: Lao Sze Chuan in Milford. Otherwise, you’re in sad territory.