trinity

the restaurant was full on our visit for sunday lunch with what looked like lots of well heeled local residents. it's a popular place and i can certainly understand why people are happy to spend lots of money, eating and drinking here. it's a very relaxing venue, the food isgoodand the service is friendly. i did find it a bit schizophrenic though, not quite hitting the mark as a fine dining restaurant but delivering a lot more than your typical brunch/lunch spot.

the look of the place, the service (on the surface), the food presentation (if not the portion size) are fine dining standard. it's just not quite there, the portions are too large for one thing and we had a couple of minor issues with the service, just little things like clumsy cutlery layout, our bottle of wine being a bit too far away and glasses not being kept topped up as well as they could be, that and running out of towels in the bathroom.

the menu was a real mix to, with summer and winter fare as well as brunch and lunch style dishes. ironically the summer/winter aspect was not a great problem as the weather outside was in keeping.

we had an amuse bouche that consisted of a hummus dip with radishes and fresh garden peas in their pods and some warm homemade bread. then for starters my companion had the fried ducks egg with scottish girolles, english mustard mayonnaise and toasted brioche - a sort of up market big breakfast, matched with a glass of wild boy chardonnay - kinda of weird, but it worked. i had 1/2 dozen oxtail stuffed snails with garlic butter and soldiers - a nicely presented brunch type dish that was a bit awkward to eat, but very tasty none the less.

for my main course i had the belly of old spot pork, charred spring onions, gooseberries, jerseys and crackling - the portion was huge, but fortunately the pork was nice and light and the gooseberries refreshing, so i had no problem finishing it off. my companions main course was even more substantial, he ordered braised lamb shoulder faggot which came with a rather large pot of pearl barley, peas and mint - very rustic, and definitely not what you expect on a summer menu.

for dessert we had the cherry bakewell tart and the english strawberries, vanilla cream and ginger biscuits accompanied by a rather nice bottle of moscato d'asti.

head chef and owner adam byatt is certainly doing his absolute best to spread the gastronomicgoodword.

i've been to trinity before with some friends and really loved it. it's in the 'burbs of south london, so not the most convenient of locations to make a return visit that feasible for the better and half (tbh) and i. but seeing chef/patron adam byatt appear on the great british menu on tv recently reminded me what a fabulous meal i'd had at trinity before and i promptly booked a table. it wasgoodas i remembered!

nice ambience, not too busy on sunday, very pleasant little restaurant, heard it is michelin 1 starred. foods tasted good. 4 course meal was quite valued. the simple wine choices by glass, which were what we had, were of quality. the full and half bottle choices aregoodalso.

the trinity in clapham has a fantastic reputation. michelin starred, it takes its name from the nearby church in clapham old town and from the fact that it is adam byatt’s third restaurant. i’ve been dying to eat there for ages! this is the restaurant where my daughter and her husband had their first date. so impressed was she, that she married him. when he then brought me a large box of outrageously fabulous pierre hermé macaroons the first time i met him, the deal was asgoodas sealed. this was serious son-in-law material! not only did he know how to treat my little girl but he also showed the appropriate appreciation for her mother. on top of all that, he is bright, charming, polite and very handsome. what’s not to grab immediately and hold on to for a lifetime?! nearly three years on, a baby later and endless vats of super yummy mackerel pate, lovingly made for me especially by his own fair hands, and i’m still swept off my feet by this exceptional young man. with all that romance associated with the trinity, it absolutely had to be visited.

it’s the unfairness of it that rankles. and it’s not like i haven’t dragged myself across the river to clapham twice already in the last six months, both times to visit the epicentre of current culinary derring-do that is the dairy. it doesn’t seem entirely fair that thegoodburghers of clapham have not one, but three restaurants i’d be happy to eat at any day of the week. i really shouldn’t have to cross the river to get the sort of neighbourhood restaurant that i want, but until either trinity, the dairy or the manor decide to open a branch in paddington,  that’s how it is.

food - we had the tasting menu and didn't leave a scrap of anything. the scallop ceviche and dexter beef fillet with smoked endive were the highlights, but everything was really top-notch technical cooking.

atmosphere - trinity has very modern decor but it has a very warm atmosphere. tables are far enough apart to not feel crowded but close enough to create a buzz.

wine - started with some rose champagne as a treat and then had a caraffe of wine. the wine list is very large and there is agoodselection of wines by the glass/caraffe. i liked the fizzy/still water bottles (£1.5 p/p for the night).

sogoodthat i booked for another night on the way out!

a gorgeous place to eat. i love trinity for a number of reasons. firstly, it actually feelsgoodto be in this restaurant; it is gorgeous, the setting on the polygon is beautiful and everything has been furnished and finished with quality pieces. secondly the service is fantastic and finally the food is literally sublime. adam byatt knows seasonal food so well and the menu is always such a delight to read and experience. trinity is worth a visit, especially for sunday lunch. a true gem of a restaurant.
food: 8 / 10
service: 8.5 / 10
ambience: 8.5 / 10

frosty reception by the fed-up looking, casually dressed welcomer, but the waiter was great and everything seemed well until the food arrived. 'compressed cucumber' was described as accompanying my mackerel tartare tonight. it was just a slice of cucumber. not only did my plate look like someone had a nosebleed on it, but there was hardly any mackerel to be found. i don't know why i was surprised when the kitchen actually couldn't produce the dream their pretentious menu conjures up. after asking where our food was an hour and a half later the chippy gm said with no apology that the restaurant allows up to 2.5 hours for diners. that was not agoodway to deal with the situation. once it did arrive, the braised beef tasted like it has been boiled in a kettle. yum. totally over-hyped and boring.

had dinner in here last night,verygoodwill b back!