Review: Trinity, Clapham, London.

When Michel Roux Jr. announced the forthcoming closure of his legendary Le Gavroche restaurant at the end of the summer, I went straight on their website to book a table for my upcoming 40^th birthday.  With a trip to London arranged, I perused their menus to develop a short list of other places to dine in.  As the list grew and grew, a seed of doubt came into my mind that perhaps Roux’s establishment might be the wrong choice and, in one of those “close your eyes and click” moments, I hit the ‘cancel’ button and booked Trinity instead. I just hoped my instincts wouldn’t let me down.

Opened in 2006 in Clapham, Trinity is operated by chef Adam Byatt with the aim of providing a restaurant that is very much at the heart of the community. Trinity currently holds one  Michelin star with the guide claiming ‘This is a place you can’t help but fall in love with’. What appealed to me, as well as Adam’s appearances on Saturday Kitchen, was the menu format (https://trinityrestaurant.co.uk/menus/).  Look at it! Not a tasting menu in sight – hurrah! Instead, you find a five-course a la carte very reasonably priced at just £100 for the full experience. Is there a dish you wouldn’t want to eat? I didn’t think so. Sold. 

The interior is relaxed and spacious with a slightly open kitchen to the rear.  You instantly get that neighbourhood vibe that I thought would be difficult to achieve in a fine dining environment.  I love the giant portholes on the wall parallel to our table that give you a glimpse into different parts of nature, whether that be the sea, woodland or sky, almost in acknowledgement to the produce sourced by the chefs.

We enjoyed a glass of champagne along with a rack of parmesan biscuits and a feather light gougere as we awaited course number one.  Sarah and I both selected Yellowfin tuna crudo with avocado, apple and XO sauce. It was a bit like the opening song at a rock concert, setting the tone for what is ahead. I don’t actually remember having to chew the fish; it was so buttery it melted away on your tongue with a crisp Granny Smith note bringing freshness and a guacamole that oozed flavour.  What elevated this dish was the beautiful XO sauce; it provided a big wave of rock ‘n’ roll umami to what was a very clean and delicate affair but remained impressively balanced at the same time.

Round two: we both ordered the red prawn ravioli with prawn bisque and sea vegetables. Visually stunning, there were five dainty little pasta parcels, three of which were actually scallops, not prawn.  The prawns were delicious and had a pleasing texture from the diced shellfish. The scallop filling was much more subtle and lacked the bite the prawns had.  Furthermore, I felt they were overpowered by the boldness of the bisque, unlike the prawns.  That exquisite sauce was frothed up, which added to the presentation, but I would have liked more of it as an actual sauce.  Perhaps a large raviolo would have worked better.

I was excited by the chateaubriand of Lake District  beef ‘chasseur’ for course number three while Sarah was persuaded by our waiter to explore the ‘game of the day’ option.  I liked the simple presentation as it just looked like something I’d really want to eat.  The meat was supremely tender, working well with the earthy mushrooms and tangy tomato.  The sauce was rich and to the standard I’d expect from a Michelin-starred place. I admired the idea of a refined chasseur dish, classically made with chicken, but I would have liked a dollop of mash or some sort of carb element with it.

As it happened, venison from the Balmoral Estate was the game option and it was skillfully handled by the cook with two delicious chunks of loin that'd been perfectly rested. The parsnip puree was silky smooth and earthy with a meaty mushroom adorned with fresh pear almost completing that 'in the forest' theme. The notoriously tricky pomme souffles were flawlessly made and brought a welcome crunch. There was also a fruity, slightly sweet sauce that bound everything together neatly.  

I couldn’t not have a cheese course on my 40^th birthday, right? There are five seasonal cheeses available, from which you select three, all served with a warm mini baguette and an array of good crispbreads. I enjoyed Sinodun Hill, a creamy goats’ cheese full of flavour; Ashcombe, which is a Morbier-inspired English cheese with a distinct chocolatiness and, to finish off, Barkham Blue, which is a real triumph of British cheesemaking.

                                                                              

Dessert was an intriguing honey souffle with beeswax ice cream.  Made with local Clapham honey, the souffle was so airy but lacked honey flavour, which predominantly came from the sublime ice cream, neatly dunked into it tableside. There was a little puddle of honey in the bottom of the ramekin, but it needed to be incorporated into the actual souffle. Mixing with the ice cream though brought a hot/cold contrast that I just love.

Sarah resisted her favourite bread and butter pudding to try the warm apple pie with camomile ice cream. The pie was a more of  a stuffed apple donut, but it was a tad on the dry side and, while the filling inside was sharp, there was a lack of it. It certainly wasn't a looker but the soft serve was delicious with a floral note that brought a bit of elegance to the party. 

The front of house team was pivotal in creating that desired community eatery atmosphere. Drinks-wise we had a bottle of their own white Burgundy (£52) and it was fantastic.  Lightly oaked, it was balanced with the fruit. The wine label was designed by a customer of the restaurant that has autism, so a portion of each sale goes to The Autism Society.

My thoughts overall are that you will be well fed and looked after here. The food has a classic spine to it, but Adam Byatt’s modern, creative approach brings its own personality to the plate. What I liked was that you could dine here the following day and enjoy completely different dishes that you’d not bothered with on the previous visit. Did I regret cancelling Le Gavroche? No, not at all.  If it wasn’t for that restaurant, we wouldn’t have the number of terrifically talented chefs like Adam, whose food we enjoy across the country today. That should be the Gavroche legacy.

Web: Trinityrestaurant.co.uk

Instagram: Instagram.com/trinityclapham/

Phone: (020) 7622 1199

Address: 4 The Polygon, Clapham, SW04 0JG

Open: Everyday 12-3 for lunch, 6-8.30 for dinner.