Trinity

Avoid!

Saturday lunch – what a complete waste of money!
And it's not just the ridiculous miniscule portions (for the prices one would imagine more substantial courses) but it's the actual taste that disappointed me beyond words: fancy names and even fancier presentation for the “Stone bass” and a banana cake that in the end were..hm… quite honestly bland!
Will not EVER go there again.

We had a delightful meal with some very special added touches by the staff here, we felt we received first class service and delicious, generous dishes. A superb place tucked away in the Old town, we shall return here for sure. Thank you again.

I ate here recently and was very impressed. On arrival I liked the look of the menu – although I am not sure my vegetarian friends would agree – but having made an initial choice over a glass of Riesling at the bar was told there was a special of roast partridge with wild mushrooms.

I could write quite a lot, but it is probably sufficient to say that the partridge was possibly one of the most memorable meals I have had in the last few years. The flavours were all fantastic and complimented each other superbly. I have not scored the Food & Drink as 10 because the dishes that book-ended the main were good, but not of the standard of the game.

I shall return.

We went for Saturday lunch, arriving at 1.25pm. Overall the food was very good with a few minor exceptions – the other reviews are spot on. We had a slight issue with the service as we were seated in the corner next to the toilets because the more pleasant (and empty) window tables were ‘reserved’. It was disappointing to see those nicer tables sitting empty throughout our lunch. I would also suggest that they put up a mirror so that dinners in the corner facing the wall can enjoy some of the atmosphere.

The service was friendly and professional, although they did forget to bring our wine so we had to have our starters with no wine, which is a little irritating. We had to make do with our blackcurrant champagne royal which did not match the food! My wife asked if it was possible to order one of the mains from the set menu but the kitchen refused to allow this as they were concerned about availability for the evening. I would expect a top restaurant to ‘go the extra mile’ in this regard and I was a surprised that they couldn't accommodate this request.

My chocolate dessert was unfortunately overcooked so it was hard spongecake rather than yummy runny chocolate. To be fair this was the only mistake with the food.

I did mention the ‘table’ issue when we left only to be told gruffly ‘Sorry the tables were reserved. Many of our diners request particular tables’. The grumpy attitude of the staff, in this regard, meant we left on a sour note. What a shame.

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.