Trinity

4 The Polygon
London SW4 0JG

020 7622 1199

We had something to discuss and Clapham happened to be equidistant so we met at Trinity for an early evening meal. They have a Prix Fixe menu. Pretty good value I thought at £20 for three courses. So it proved to be.

First there was a taramasalata amuse bouche. It was fishy fresh compared with the potted supermarket variety accompanied by lovely crisp bread. I then had tartare of mackerel, beetroot and horseradish with compressed cucumber. It was startlingly fresh, the mackerel enclosed in the crisp cucumber, the beetroot little firms discs on the plate. I can be quite resistant to this sort of picture on a plate Michelin style presentation but it did also look beautiful. Butternut squash soup with Parmesan, my co-diner's starter was pronounced not too creamy rich, just right. I had the sea bream second; it was crisp on the outside, the flesh flaky, perfectly cooked with a little stock and the orange flavoured endive worked well with it. I tried co-diner's slow cooked beef in Guinness. I was jealous. This was even better: soft and yummy with marvellous flavour.

The service throughout was consummately professional. Our waitress had been at the restaurant from the start and really did know about the food and wine. She couldn't have been more helpful without being in any way obtrusive. We left the wine choices to her (neither is on the online wine list). Since one was having fish and one a heavy meat course it was good to be able to order by the carafe and so we had one 500ml carafe each. I had Chateau Revelette, a Provencal wine: oaky, nutty excellent. I tried the red suggestion too: a minerally porty wine from Portugal: Crasto Douro. They were excellent choices.

Afterwards I was guided towards having rhubarb (not on the menu) it was firm, full of flavour in little log piles accompanied by meltingly soft biscuits and cream. Co-diner had the tarte fine, a little strip across the plate, with liquorice ice cream. Again I thought he made the slightly edgier choice. The liquorice ice cream (nothing like liquorice all sorts) was powerful, unusual.

The background is that Adam Brett started the successful Thyme in Clapham, took it across the river to Hospital in Covent Garden where it didn't succeed, retained an interest in Origin the replacement to Thyme at Hospital and came back to start Trinity in November 2006. My main reservation would be I found the atmosphere and decor a bit sterile: simple white table cloths, low lighting, largely youngish professional looking diners. I would definitely go back for the food though. The menu really was outstanding value, though its amazing how things can mount up; but then the two excellent carafes we had came to around £40.