Trinity

Modern European·
££££
·
Silver Award
·

SquareMeal Review of Trinity

Silver Award

Trinity has evolved from solo neighbourhood spot to a little Clapham family - as well as the main restaurant downstairs, there’s also the more relaxed Trinity Upstairs, Bistro Union on nearby Abbeville Road, and in the summer, Trinity Outside, where you can enjoy Fine de Claire oysters, Galician sea urchins and Cornish lobster rolls in the sun with a chilly glass of Ruinart Champagne.

The heart and soul, though, is chef Adam Byatt’s Michelin-starred magnum opus. It really is at its best in the summer, when the restaurant can throw open the front windows and invite the outside in. The gentle breeze that wafts is a perfect accompaniment to Trinity’s gently Gallic and Med-inspired menus. For those that love the live entertainment of an open kitchen, Trinity’s is a doozy - you can see and hear the well-oiled workings of this machine from almost anywhere in the restaurant.

If there was a Booker Prize for menus, Byatt’s would surely be in the running - seasonal menus change by the month and feature an array of warm-hearted classics. Our July menu opens with a spritely dish of mackerel, cucumber gazpacho, yoghurt and lovage oil, and an utterly delicious quintet of red prawn ravioli with prawn bisque and sea vegetables. This is where Trinity shines - magnificent produce and fantastic technique are the hallmarks that have made the restaurant into one of London’s reliable veterans.

Excellent mains followed - perfectly-pink lamb with broad bean and spring vegetable puree, and a glazed veal sweetbread wrapped in caul fat, served with a truffled pot of petit pois a la Francaise. Again the cooking is immaculate, though both are rich, heavy plates of food. Cooking at Trinity certainly trends towards the heavier side of seasoning, with a couple of dishes - an anchovy-laced tomato Nicoise with bagna cauda, and a salted caramel custard tart with miso ice cream - seeming to topple slightly over the precipice into salty territory.

There’s an assured confidence to the staff, who are immediately welcoming and friendly in a way that doesn’t feel forced, and wine pairings were knowledgeable and excellent throughout the evening. It’s little surprise that Trinity is still thriving after all this time, where many other restaurants have not. Restaurants that respect classic cooking and can confidently run a technical a la carte like this are becoming a rare thing - residents of Clapham are exceptionally lucky to have this one on their doorstep.

Good to know

Average Price
££££ - Over £80
Cuisines
Modern European
Ambience
Fine dining, Glamorous, Luxury, Quiet conversation, Widely spaced tables
Awards
One Michelin star, SquareMeal London Top 100
Food Occasions
Dinner, Lunch
Alfresco And Views
Outside seating
Special Features
Vegetarian options
Perfect for
Romantic, Special occasions
Food Hygiene Rating

About

Trinity is a Michelin-starred neighbourhood restaurant in the heart of Clapham, headed up by chef-patron Adam Byatt. This elegant and highly respected restaurant also boasts a more relaxed space upstairs (Trinity Upstairs, which has a Michelin Bib Gourmand award) and Trinity Outside - a terrace restaurant in front of the restaurant, which opens during the summer. Adam also teaches at culinary schools and is currently chef director of Brown's Hotel in Mayfair, where he oversees flagship restaurant Charlie's. 

Trinity is a broadly modern European restaurant, but dishes particularly showcase Adam's background in classical French cooking as well as his love of Italy and the Mediterranean. Meals at Trinity are four courses, with a pre-starter, starter, main and dessert, but diners can opt for three courses, or five courses with a cheese course. Inside Trinity is a balance between relaxed and smart - there are smart white tablecloths and the restaurant has a certain elegance about it, but service and dress code are more relaxed and informal. 

Your first course at Trinity might be a dressed globe artichoke, beef tartare with pickled mushrooms and caviar or cured halibut with salt-baked white beetroot, ginger and lime. With whetted appetites, you will then be served up something a little heartier for your second course. This might be a ricotta raviolo with egg yolk, wild garlic and buttered leeks or strozzapreti with new season morels and aged parmesan. A non-pasta option might be warm semi-smoked salmon with beurre blanc, capers and dill or quail pissaladiere with oyster mushroom bolognese and truffle sabayon. 

Mains at Trinity are often lavish, celebrating meat, seafood or vegetables with perfectly-matched accompaniments. A meat option might be pot roast chicken with leek hearts, morels and salt-baked turnip, veal loin with Jerusalem artichokes, hazelnuts and truffle celeriac or spiced Anjou pigeon with preserved lemon, dates and green olive. In terms of seafood, you might see fresh Cornish cod, paired with white sprouting broccoli, mussels and lemon. 

Finally, finish with a decadent dessert like a salted caramel custard tart, a selection of artisanal cheeses, or an amalfi lemon souffle with beeswax ice cream.


FAQs

Does it have a Michelin star?

Yes, the restaurant has one Michelin star.

Helpful? 0

Is there a dress code?

There's no official dress code, but most guests wear smart-casual wear.

Helpful? 0

Are children allowed?

Children under 5 years old aren't permitted in the dining room.

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Location

4 The Polygon, Clapham, London, SW4 0JG

020 7622 1199 020 7622 1199

Website

Opening Times

Lunch
Mon 12:15-14:00
Tue 12:15-14:00
Wed 12:15-14:00
Thu 12:15-14:00
Fri 12:15-14:00
Sat 12:15-14:00
Sun 12:15-14:00
Dinner
Mon 18:00-20:30
Tue 18:00-20:30
Wed 18:00-20:30
Thu 18:00-20:30
Fri 18:00-20:30
Sat 18:00-20:30
Sun 18:00-20:30

Reviews

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42 Reviews 
Food/Drink
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Edward B

28 December 2022  
Food & Drink 4.5
Service 4.5
Atmosphere 4.5
Value 4.5

Incredible food, perfectly curated menu, wonderful ambience. Unhurried staff who turn service into a perfomance art. They even let us lock our bikes to their fence. So good we decided to reserve a table for a special event, a year in advance.

Nicola C

27 December 2022  
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 5

Amazing staff, lovel setting & delicious food!

Anon

24 November 2022  
Food & Drink 4
Service 4
Atmosphere 4
Value 4

Continues to provide creative, sublime cuisine and relaxed polished service for that special occasion.

Temi A

09 November 2022   - Verified Diner
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 5

Great Food. Great Service 

Sara W

26 April 2022   - Verified Diner
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 5
Exceptional service and excellent food.

Utterly delicious food, beautifully presented. Really planned in advance for one of my one of the guests touch for comments to extent they printed and a whole new menu for her.

 

Utterly delicious food, beautifully presented. Staff had planned in advance for one of the party who had complicated dietary requirements to the extent they printed a whole new menu for her.  Attentive staff, peaceful atmosphere. Highly recommend it. Worth the money.

This is a really special restaurant. 

Dick B

02 October 2021   - Verified Diner
Food & Drink 4.5
Service 3
Atmosphere 4
Value 3.5
Rather bizarre service

The most important thing, the food at Trinity, was delicious, imaginative and elegant. My one criticism was that the mushroom flavour, as duxelles, cèpes and sauce, tended to overpower the perfectly cooked Dover. Where the place fell down was front of house. When I and my wife arrived, we were handed just one menu between us (actually that consisted of two cards with a different table d'hôte menu on each). I asked a couple of times for a second menu so that we didn't have to share but nothing happened. I was only given a second copy when I got a little trenchant. We were also given a covered menu each that I thought was the wine list. They turned out to be cocktail lists. I had to demand a wine list. Nevertheless, the waiting staff were all very pleasant and welcoming but some had strong accents that, in one case, meant I didn't understand a word he said throughout the meal. My comprehension wasn't helped by the fact that the restaurant, otherwise very pleasant, was quite noisy. Like many posh restaurants, they just had too many waiting staff. Despite, or perhaps because of, that, the service was slow, although not drastically so (lunch took two hours). Trinity has an open kitchen and I'm pretty sure there were more FOH staff than cooks. That seems the wrong balance to me. Ironically, there was a A-board outside advertising vacancies for FOH staff. They absolutely didn't need more people on the occasion we were there.

Lloyd S

07 December 2020  
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 5
Amazing Restaurant

A visit to Trinity Restaurant had been a long time coming so therefore I'm now delighted to say that after today I can finally cross it of my list. I'm also delighted to say that the expectations I had before were not only met but surpassed in every department as the food , wine & service was excellent. I'd seen chef Adam Byatt on the television many times and had become a big fan. Then with hearing amazing feedback from friends I have in the hospitality industry only enhanced our decision to visit his restaurant. So on a chilli sunny saturday we headed from essex to south west london. We arrived at Clapham Common and made the short five minute walk to the restaurant. We entered the restaurant and received a warm and friendly welcome before first having our temperature taken and then sanitising our hands. We were then escorted to our table which was just in front of the reception desk and gave us a great view of the open kitchen. We were then given the drinks menu to order an aperitif. We decided to order a beer and the Trinity gin & tonic which we enjoyed while look at the food menu. Then it was time to meet manager Ashley who came over and welcomed us to the restaurant before asking if we had any questions regarding the menu. On that front there was a choice of two menus the four course lunch or the six course tasting menu. Our decision was to opt for the lunch menu with an addition of a cheese course. Then it was time to meet the sommelier to choose some wine and after a little chat in which he was very helpful and made some great recommendations we finally came to a decision. We started with a some homemade crackers and a small selection of charcuterie. This was followed by our first basket of bread and butter.

 

First Course

This led us onto our first course where we chose the Warm Salad of Chestnuts , Jerusalem Artichoke & Black Truffle that was a rich yet fabulous dish. For myself I chose the Beef Tartare with Pickled Mushrooms & Oscietra Caviar which was absolutely stunning and definitely one of the best tartare's I've ever tasted.

 

Second Course

If the first courses were a delight then two more amazing dishes were about to follow as I ordered the Warm Goose Terrine en Croute with Pickled Walnuts that was simply heaven on a plate. My wife decided to go for the supplement dish and a favourite the Cacio e Pepe with White Truffles and the verdict was an outstanding success.

 

Third Course

Now it was time for the main course where my wife opted for the Blanquette of Cornish Monkfish that was beautifully cooked on the bone. I decided to keep my rich dish theme going with the Short Rib of Beef , Duchess Potatoes & Smoked Bone Marrow that once again was another amazing plate of food.

 

Cheese Course

Before moving on to dessert we decided to opt for a cheese course where you had the option to pick three out of the six cheeses available. We chose the Westcombe Cheddar , Beaufort Alpage & Cromwell Bishop Stilton. These were accompanied with a side salad , small baguette , apple & chutney.

 

Dessert

We now moved to dessert where we had already pre booked the Apple Tarte Tatin. Well let me put it this way when it was offered there was no way I could refuse. It came with Prune & Armagnac ice cream that really complimented the tarte and of course some cream. I have to say it was absolutely delicious.

 

So that's it and after finishing with tea & coffee our first visit to Trinity had come to an end. The food from Adam and his talented chefs was amazing as every dish was just bursting with an abundance of flavour , the sommelier was very good and the wines he recommended were perfect , the service led by manager Ashley was excellent as everyone was so friendly & professional. So it will now come as no surprise when I say that I would highly recommend a visit which is something I will definitely be doing again in the new year.

 

Thank You Adam , Ashley and all the team for a fantastic lunch and look forward to seeing you all again soon.

 

#SupportHospitality

Rob

29 July 2019  
Great service and staff knowledge. A clean crisp and calming interior. Superb food that always hits the mark.

Mami K

26 July 2019  
Exceptional, good food, good service & good portion.

ned T

08 July 2019  
Always superb food rivalling pricier west end Michelin establishments with amazing value set lunches in this light and airy restaurant.
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