Trinity

Just off the rather picturesque Polygon Square in Clapham's gentrified Old Town, Trinity is far enough from the Ozzie bars and general high street chicanery to feel a little bit out of London. Looking out of the large plate windows at the summer green of the Common, watching the yummy mummy brigade pile past in their SUVs, you really could have been in any well-heeled provincial town in Southern England.

Inside is the same, the decor is well enough thought out, by someone who's obviously spent a fair amount of time around fine dining restaurants, but it's not a feature. Shades of Farrow and Ball with anonymous arty black and white prints – classy restaurant 101, I'm starting to hope there's a little more imagination behind the pass. The crowd is a well heeled local mix of retirees, professional couples on ‘special’ dates and what's obviously grandfather's birthday party, nothing arch about that, it's a local restaurant and perfectly sums up the community that live in the grand Victorian terraces along the tree-filled local avenues (well, the ones who can afford to eat here anyway).

Service is very friendly and in the most part efficient, a shared plate of sweet fresh radishes and freshly picked pea pods arrived promptly and were a lovely start to the meal, though we were left waiting for breads and water for a good 10 minutes after that.

The tasting menu kicked off trumpeting the finest of British summer, a flavoursome if slightly too cold pea and mint soup ‘presented’ at the table in an old fashioned milk bottle and poured over lemon purée and ricotta, a knowing smirk at finer dining outfits.The wine pairing for the course emphasised the national theme with a Chapel Down Primrose Hill, not my cup of tea (nor glass of wine), but a pleasant enough accompaniment.

The Gruner Veltliner that came with the second course was much more on the money for me, a complex spicy white with notes of white pepper and the perfect foil to a small but perfectly formed disc of seared tuna served with wilted baby pak choi and a tiny salsa of indeterminate but tasty orange colour. Accomplished cooking with great ingredients, it was good, bordering on very good but didn't quite hit the heights somehow.

My remembrance of the third course is hazy, it could be the wine, a sweet aromatic slap of muscat was heavenly, enough to convert one to a difficult grape. Looking at the menu I vaguely remember it as a scallop dish, with a white gazpacho and a fizzy yet funny pickled grape. The solo bivalve was plump and fresh but well, a little bland, in a forgettable gazpacho sea. Single scallops need to be make an effort, they've got to draw your attention to them, like a solo guest at a party, and this one was sat in the corner looking at the DVD collection.

We ended with the best, for me at any rate, a genuinely sensational duck dish. Plump cuts of breast served with an exquisite pastile of dark duck leg. Rich, salty and thoroughly tasty, earthy girolles melted into the juice and the whole thing balanced by sweet spinach. It brought the meal alive and really showed what the kitchen was capable of.

Pudding got the requisite oohs and aahs. Thick and sticky Valrhona chocolate cream with honeycomb and almond didn't show a great imagination, but delivered perfectly what it set out to do. I had an eye on three huge cloches behind us containing a quantity of rich and oozing cheese, sadly on my own in this, I had to settle for a more sociable coffee.

In hindsight, I'm probably being overly critical. I had a wonderful meal, though the quality of the company guaranteed that, with some great wines at a restaurant I'd eat at regularly if it was on the doorstep. There are flashes of brilliance from the kitchen, and the staff are close enough to where they need to be. But only one dish out of five will trouble my best of the year list, and that's just not enough for the price.

The only thing you can really complain about here is that it could do with a fresh coat of paint in places.
The food is amazing, the service spot on throughout and the ambiance is delightful. It's quite a young clientele who appreciate their food and appreciate a good night out. Not in any way stuffy or pretentious. The amount of work that goes into every dish is significant and obvious.
Massive focus on seasonal, local ingredients across the year.
They even make their own butter on site! Just go there and enjoy one of the best restaurants in London.

Sunday lunch on a warm weekend proved to be a very enjoyable experience. The ambiance and service were both very good.

I began with the parfait of foie gras and chicken liver. It was very well served and full of flavour once one got used to the consistency of the parfait against a pate. My partner had the chilled pea and mint soup which resulted in some acknowledgment of the excellent flavour and how refreshing it was.

For mains I had the roast beef and yorkshire pudding. The beef was excellent. The Yorkshire pudding was very large and a bit over cooked but the flavour was good. From my research, over a number of years, I can report that there are better Yorkshire puddings in London but this was acceptable. The salmon was off the menu and my partner had the alternative, which I think was sea bass. There was a very small quantity on the plate and we were not advised on the need to sides. Some Jersey Royals would have complimented it very well.

Onto desert, we both went for the meringues in cold custard. It was very well presented and with the cherry compote and the caramel it held a number of very delightful flavours.

The set Sunday lunch is now £30 and there was no offer of an a la carte menu so one assumes that is all that is on offer. We enjoyed a very good bottle of wine to compliment the meal. The wine list is quite extensive and, in most cases, reasonably priced.

We look forward to returning and sampling the fuller menu.

April 2010

I've been to Trinity a number of times and have always had great meals, but hadn't been for some time. I went for dinner on a Friday evening a couple of weeks ago. As we walked in I saw that the reception desk was stacked with copies of the book that the chef/proprietor has written, but it didn't occur to me at the time that this might be relevant to what was to follow. On the way out, however, I pondered whether the point at which the chef writes a book is the point at which you should stop going to the restaurant.

I won't go through all the food, but the sweetbread dish I had for main was particularly disappointing, bland and definitely not caremelised; at £28 it was the most expensive dish, and that was just too much. The chocolate hot pot was odd, not quite sure what it was trying to be and lacking chocolatey depth of flavour, and the pistachio ice cream it came with didn't really taste of much. The food overall just seemed like it had gone down a step compared to my previous visits. We had a lovely evening, the atmosphere is still great and the service remains very friendly, welcoming and efficient, and I will go back for those reasons – and in the hope that when I walk in the only thing on the reception desk is the table plan…

December 2008

When we arrived, at about 8pm, all the other tables for two (which are positioned around the perimeter of the room) were already occupied, whereas the larger tables in the middle were empty. The larger tables filled in due course, deservedly so. So, I wonder if it is a booking policy to get all the tables of two in first, or is it just that romantic couples are dining earlier so as to be early home for a cup of tea? Or something. Answers on a postcard…

Starters (braised oxtail and mackerel) and mains (Lancashire hotpot and venison) were all excellent, combining smart, thoughtful presentation with good flavour and decent portion sizes. We only had one dessert – banoffee cheesecake with candied walnuts – and sadly this was a disappointment. It had too little banana and toffee sauce, and was served in something resembling a small goldfish-bowl which made it difficult to eat, so not only was it disappointing but the disappointment lasted longer than otherwise it would have done. And we couldn't find any candied walnuts. Or any goldfish.

Overall the food was very good indeed (the dessert was but a small blip) and other dishes that we saw on adjacent tables looked equally good. Given the quality of both the cooking and the ingredients the prices are very reasonable.

The service was pretty good and, although it was somewhat slow at times, everyone was lovely and made us feel really welcome. They also spent a lot of time smiling and appearing to enjoy what they were doing – invariably a good sign.

There is a decent selection of wines and many are well-priced, although the mark-ups are inconsistent and so it might pay to spend 10 minutes with wine-searcher.com before pitching up (I am, possibly, too anal on this subject…).

This is a high-quality, professional and friendly operation, and I have already been telling my friends all about it. And they know how much I normally moan.

Had dinner here on a Saturday night and was stunned by the service. I think KFC has a better attitude. We waited for 45 mins for a drink and by 10:45 (one and a half hours in) had only been served with a soup from our tasting menu. Our waitress refused to apologise in any way and the coat check lady actually laughed at our predicament. Oh yes, they ran out of one of the dishes and also forgot to serve an entire course. I have to say though that the mood of abject misery was occasionally lifted by the magnificent food. Each dish (if and when you're eventually served) is a marvel. I cannot fault either chef or ingredients in any way and if ever they were ever to provide a take away service, we would order every day. It's such a shame the staff can't get the food from the kitchen to the table.

A real local treasure. The staff are friendly and knowledgable, providing fabulous service. Even when the restaurant is busy the staff remain attentive.
The atmosphere is busy and suits the modern, yet laid back decor.
But it's the food which is the real star of the show. I've visited a number of times and the food has been consistently good – I've yet to have a bad course let alone meal there.
The Sunday lunch menu of three courses for 25 is really good value. The foie gras and chicken liver parfait is worth the trip alone.
The menu is very seasonal, meaning you never get bored, and there is always something new to try.
I highly recommend it, and would dine there over Grafton House.

Trinity has been getting a lot of press an TV coverage of late, and as it is relatively local we’d though high time we tried it. Being able to book mid week for the following Saturday didn’t bode well as normally if you can book it at such short notice it isn’t very good.
So with expectations well managed we arrived to a pleasant welcome and promptly taken to our table. With aperitifs came an amuse bouche of smoked cod roe with a crumbly pastry to dip, which was delightful.
We opted for the tasting menu with matching wine and at £68 a head seemed crazy cheap. Butternut quash soup, buttered mushrooms with egg yolk tortellini to start was very tasty although my expectation would have been for a soft egg yolk rather than hard. We swapped the ceviche option for a pan seared scallop, perfectly cooked. Next came sea bass, again very well cooked and very tasty although the orange sauce was a little strong. The highlight of the meal was the main, venison Wellington, tender fillet wrapped in a lovely pastry. Finishing with the mascarpone and vanilla shortbread for pud, light and refreshing.
We also had an extra cheese course at the end which tipped us over the sated/ bloated threshold. The accompanying drinks for the 3 cheeses were a little out of the ordinary, being a cider, bitter and a wine.
Service was very good from start to finish, food arriving promptly and the courses being spaced not too quick nor too slow. I would have said floorless service, but on two occasions we nearly got the adjacent table’s food.
So all trepidations quickly evaporated, in what proved to be a very good all round experience; good service, good food in a convivial environment and at the prices they charge this is a must for a visit or two.

I haven't been this blown away by a restaurant since..well, since Adam Byatt's sadly defunct Origin at The Hospital. I'd been meaning to try out Byatt'sTrinity in Clapham for ages but not got round to it, then on the spur of the moment dropped in for lunch one sunny Monday and had I been wearing socks, they would have been knocked clean off. Decor – beautiful; clean, organic, comfortable. Service – A++; attentive, friendly, knowledgeable, unobtrusive. Food – oh my good Lord, the food is superb and the lunchtime prix fixe at £20 for 3 courses is an absolute steal, with five choices for each course and such treats on offer as terrine of confit chicken, smoked ham hock and foie gras for starters and slow cooked pork belly with creamed potatoes and honey glazed parsnips for mains, all beautifully but unfussily presented. The baked Alaska for two is the stand-out pudding from a mouth-watering selection; there's also a heavenly Anglo-French cheese trolley. There's a fairly concise but very interesting, accessible wine list with prices starting at a recession-friendly £16.50; our 2006 Verdicchio at £25 felt like very good value. A fair £1.50 cover charge entitles one to delicious home baked bread and Petit Lucques olives as well as – and here's my only, tiny, gripe about Trinity – filtered water, which surely should be completely gratis rather than coming under the cover charge. I really could not find anything to fault about Trinity, and unusually nor could my very fussy partner who filled in the comment card with glowing praise and with great pleasure.

It might have taken me an age to actually get round to trying out Trinity but having now done so it's guaranteed that I'll be back for more very soon indeed.

Dinner, 5th January 2009.

Trinity is certainly one of the best restaurants in South West London and many locals, primarily well-heeled and early middle-aged Clapham professionals, are delighted that Adam Byatt has returned from his stint at The Hospital in Covent Garden. The location, looking out over grass towards the edge of Clapham Common, helps make the restaurant feel different from the usual fodder on the High Street. The interior is modern, uncluttered but welcoming – ceilings are high enough for it not to be too noisy and the staff are hospitable and attentive. My son was very impressed by the knife spinning skills of the bar tender behind the sleek small bar. The restaurant offers superb, fresh ingredients (often local or British sourced) expertly prepared – our trip last night was not the best visit that we have enjoyed, as service and timings were at times disappointing. I hope that this was due to the restaurant having only recently reopened after the festive season and hence not yet being back into its stride. That aside, I enjoyed a delicious foaming celeriac soup with a nub of fois gras concealed at its heart; the seared tuna with Nicoise accompaniments was much appreciated (excellent anchovies and fried quails' eggs) and looked like an artist's palette and only my husband's starter, a rich and thick butternut squash soup, let the side down as it was barely tepid. Presentation is attractive, but seldom sensational, however the calibre of the ingredients more than compensates for the lack of a visual “wow!”. As mentioned, service last night was a little erratic – two main courses were presented and then there was a considerable wait for the remaining couple of dishes, with the result that, again, my husband's food was cold (although still edible and enjoyable). I feasted on the guinea fowl, which went surprisingly well with hazelnut ice-cream; the maple cured pork belly with fennel and mash went down a treat although the boys commented that the portions were quite small, and the organic salmon on cucumber and dill with moules marinieres was excellent, despite being luke warm. The desserts were fantastic – Valrhrona chocolate hot pots were melting and indulgent, the banoffee cheesecake served in a kilna jar was good, as was the panatone bread and butter pudding served with dolche di leche ice cream. There is a good wine list with a wide selection of wines, prices and regions. We enjoyed a soft, fruity Chinon. Complementary still and sparkling filtered water is provided, as are delicious olives and nibbles whilst considering the menu on arrival. Although we did not indulge this time, the tasting menu really is worth doing (and good value at £38 per person given the calibre of the food) – you can have it expertly matched to some fantastic wines, but don't plan to drive home! Trinity is an excellent restaurant for a special occasion or a treat.

We were very disappointed. The service was fussy and intrusive, with random interruptions to re-fold our napkins (?) which disrupted our conversation unecessarily. Worse, the food was mediocre to appalling, and terrible value for money.
My main course of gnocci wth butternut squash, parmesan and mushrooms was missing the gnocci, which I realised having eating half of it, and the vegetables were a mound of over salted slimy ribbons which I would have been ashamed to serve up.
The only saving grace was the fried egg on top, but I could have had that at considerably less expense in the nearest greasy spoon.
An expresso charged at £4! How pretentious.

We arrived about 10 minutes late, having booked for 7.30pm, to a warm welcome from one of the long-serving staff and an unusually empty restaurant. We have been coming here since it first opened and so the staff know what we like to start the meal, with the result that a latte, cranberry juice, tap water and salad appeared for my wife, and I got a bottle of sparkling water, all within minutes of sitting down and without asking. I asked for a glass of Alpha Zeta chardonnay, a pleasant Italian version, at £5.20 a glass. Note that the website shows it at £4.50 a glass which suggests that a little up-dating would not go amiss.

The room is modern, mostly white, with some abstract art on the walls. There is a bar in one corner, at which one can sit before the meal. There is also a partly secluded alcove with a large table seating 8 comfortably and possibly a few more at a squeeze – this has a window into the kitchen, which can be interesting. In summer, the large windows at one end of the room are often opened, effectively bringing the room into the open air. However, on the October Tuesday of our visit, the weather was not conducive to this. Given that my wife recently had a knee operation and my back was playing up, we were both rather happy that the loos are on the same floor, so very disabled friendly. The tables are fairly close, but not unusually so for a London restaurant and certainly not as close as in Racine or the Neal St Restaurant.

The format of the menu has changed slightly, and we were told that they now make slight changes often, even daily, which has not always been the case, in order to accommodate the varying availability of game. On this evening, there were two choices of game, red legged partridge and hare. I love partridge, but rarely see hare on a menu, and so I chose that, as did my wife. Nothing much of the starters appealed, and so my wife, bravely, chose to start with the beef cottage pie from the main courses, while I asked if I could have a small portion of risotto, also from the main courses. However, for both starters and mains there is a decent choice of fish or meat and at least one vegetarian selection.

The style of cooking is Modern European, with possibly more emphasis than usual on fiddly bits, so that there is usually a lot going on on the plate, with doubtless equally a lot to be done in the kitchen. Like it or not, this style of cooking is an excellent argument for eating out, as I can imagine very few of us having the patience and ingredients to do it at home – I certainly would not.

The cottage pie seems to be a fixture on the menu, possibly because it is so spectacular. It comes as a mixture of beef and sundry veg in a cast iron casserole dish about 7-8 inches in diameter, topped with mashed potato. In the middle is a marrow bone, into which is stuck a sprig of herb (rosemary?). Here’s the spectacular bit – after the dish has been brought from the kitchen to the serving station, the waiter sets the herb on fire and then carries the resulting candle through the restaurant. It leaves behind it a smell reminiscent of firework night. It is far too big as a starter and I, not a small eater, have, in the past, found it difficult even as a main course. I tasted a little and it was ok, but nowhere near as meaty as one I had as a starter (real starter size) a few days earlier at Chapter 1.

My risotto was a cut down version of the main course (at a cut down price). A very good mixture of flavours and, most notably, textures. There was, of course, the rice, correctly al dente; then there were mushrooms, smooth and fibrous, chestnuts, solid but yielding, and a scattering of crisp cobnuts and grated parmesan on top. Excellent.

The hare was a lump of loin, wrapped in, I think, fat, balanced on mashed potato and surrounded by a mixture including Brussels sprouts, confit hare leg and bacon. It was very tasty and very filling, to the extent that neither my wife nor I could finish it. The taste of the Brussels was overwhelmed by the rest of the mixture, which, since I like them, seemed a pity. Doubtless the legion of Brussels haters would feel differently.

My wife likes to finish with a fruit salad (not on the menu), and this was waiting for her. I felt like something fruity but not filling and was directed to the poached pear. The salad was a good mixture. The pear, divided into 3 came with a small spoonful of pear sorbet and three small biscuits. Sadly, I did not even manage to finish this, although that is no criticism of it.

The bill, including a bottle of S African Shiraz at £52 (2004 vintage and it struck me as a bit young still), came to £188. However, keep in mind that this included 3 mains and various extras. Normally my bill here is closer to £140-150.

Incidentally, although nearly empty when we arrived, the room gradually filled and was pretty full and buzzing when we left. I guess the credit crunch has yet to hit Clapham.