Trinity Restaurant – Review (Clapham)

Firstly let me apologise for not coming here sooner, Trinity is remarkable, a total neighbourhood gem and I can’t wait to revisit, regard me as a loyal fan already! In a nutshell it’s run by Adam Byatt an Essex lad who’s grandfather was a cook in the British army, his mother also a chef, it seems cooking is in blood. As a teenager of 16 years old he commenced an apprenticeship at the infamous Claridge’s and eventually became the prodigè of Phil Howard at the Square. Trinity is in fact Adam’s 2nd venture after Thyme which is also in Clapham and has been opened since 2006, it holds 3 Rosettes. The cooking is excellent, priced well and from our visit the clientele seemed like the well heeled variety. Although our neighbouring table were t-shirt wearing hipsters, not a criticism but an observation. The front of house team were very knowledgeable, in particular or server ‘Daniel’, he knew the intricacies of every plate of food including the detailed bread making process. Impressive. I can’t wait to see them again after their summer refurbishment! In fact fast forward 4 years and you can see it by clicking right here.

To kick things off we were served fresh radishes with roe mayonnaise and rocquefort cheese profiteroles which were the perfect little complimentary appetisers – the radishes were fresh and juicy, the cheese just oozed from the perfectly baked pastry shell they were encased in.

IMG_8960

IMG_8964

The sour dough bread which was immense – Daniel advised that the mother culture for this recipe which helps with the fermentation is actually 12 years old! The double whipped butter which was used to slather the bread came from Somerset.

IMG_8966

IMG_8970

Next up Crispy Trotters, Sauce Gribiche, Cider Mayonnaise and Crackling. This dish stole the show, a lot of cookery had clearly gone into this plate of food. Once you cut into the crispy exterior to the taste the trotter you will be hit by a little sensory overload for flavour. There is a nice sweet tang to the filling and at £9, it was a steal too.

IMG_8971IMG_8977

For mains I chose the Lemon Sole Baked in Seaweed Butter, Wild Asparagus. This was extremely well executed – the fish cooked on the bone, ferociously good, the flesh buttery, the asparagus sweet and earthy, the textural fun came from the fresh almonds.

IMG_8982

IMG_8986

All washed down with a Levin 2010 Sauvignon Blanc – a super fresh, elegant wine and got us tipsy!

IMG_8981

Of course it would be rude not to finish off with something sweet, it was Friday night after all. The Coffee and Macadamia Nut Mille Feuille was the one that sung to me on the desert menu and boy did it hit the high notes. There was a fantastic brittle crunch as soon as the spoon made contact with the pastry, everything was just so balanced about this desert, not too sweet, the cream made for a perfect glue; the cocoa dusting and subtle coffee flavour created the perfect mouth feel.

Lastly but by no means least!
Lastly but by no means least!

IMG_8992

IMG_8991

A shout out goes to Matthew, our host with the most!

The verdict;

The Damage: Expect to pay £70-80 per head with wine
The good: I couldn’t fault any of the food, every dish had a story and involved a lot of cooking technique, the front of house are charming, smart and knew what they were doing. (I’ve got your back Matthew!). Trinity Restaurant you’re a true neighbourhood gem and worthy of the 3 rosettes. See my revisit review here.
The bad: I wish I had a bigger stomach so I could have eaten more dishes!
Rating: 4/5
http://www.trinityrestaurant.co.uk
4 The Polygon Clapham, London SW4 0JG
020 7622 1199

Leave a Reply

avatar
  Subscribe  
Notify of