Trinity

Reports about Trinity have been generally positive and a quick review of a specimen menu on the Trinity website confirmed it as a good place to try. The particular Monday evening for dinner was cold and misty and, as it turned out, the seasonal menu at Trinity was a perfect antidote to the November conditions. However, the first issue to address was actually finding the restaurant. The map from the web was vague but at least worked for finding the restaurant's general location. Trinity is very low profile from the outside (no obvious nameplate) so you have to get close enough to read the daily menu to confirm that you've found it.

Inside the warm restaurant though, the front-of-house staff were very welcoming. The menu choice in the evening was between the a la carte menu and a six-course tasting menu. A canape of radishes and smoked cod's roe was delivered to the table with the menus and followed by  in-house baked bread. The smoked cod's roe was simply lovely.

For starter, mackerel looked like a good way to kick off the meal. Mackerel fillet was accompanied by pureed smoked aubergine, yoghurt, sliced beetroot & cumin. The mackerel was cooked to perfection with lovely tender flesh & crispy skin. The delight with a dish like this is that the robust flavour of the mackerel can be combined with other strong elements and they all went well together. The cumin was a presented as a crumbled powder that could get very too intense depending on how much you ate at a time. This was a very strong starter.   

While waiting for the main course, an additional starter was delivered to the table. Billed as Iron Bark Pumpkin Soup with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, Curds & Whey, what turned up what turned up was a stark white bowl with toasted pumpkin seeds in the bottom. Pumpkin soup was then poured in from a kettle and the curds and whey were separate in a small hollowed out pumpkin. This allowed the customer to add as much curds as they felt necessary. I started the soup without the curds and, although it was nice, it was “just” a soup. Addition of the curds, however, was completely transformative. The more curds that were added, the better the soup became. When looking at the menu, this was a dish that I'd not even considered ordering but it actually turned out to be a sensational starter.  

While reviewing the menu, it was announced that a single portion of grouse was available and this seemed too good an opportunity to pass up. The grouse was presented on a bed of braised cabbage and surrounded with truffle gnocchi, quince puree and Montoux sausage.  Each element of the dish had a wonderful flavour and the overall combination was excellent.  The dish really was the perfect main course for a foggy November evening. 

Having had more to eat than planned, for dessert it was, again, time to find the lightest option so went for the apple crumble soufflé  and honey ice cream. The perfectly risen soufflé was very nice but only had occasional bursts of full-on apple flavour. The accompanying honey ice cream was delicious and was the best part of the dessert for me. 

Overall verdict
The food was delicious and there were a number of other dishes that sounded equally good. The front of house staff were friendly and the whole experience was great. 

Would I revisit Trinity?
Definitely. Food was great, service was similar.

Overall Rating - 4.5/5