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RestaurantsLondonSouthwarkSE1

Harden's says

Former Fat Duck duo - head chef Jonny Lake and sommelier Isa Bal, who worked together for 12 years - opened this restaurant and wine bar in Bermondsey, in the new Snowfields Yard development in November 2019. Bal said of the opening, "The design and experience of the restaurant will also be inspired from our travels, juxtaposing Nordic functionality with the warmth of the Mediterranean and a dose of fun."

survey result

Summary

£150
£££££
3
Good
3
Good
2
Average
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

“A restaurant for foodies” – this low-key venue in the streets south of London Bridge station results from a partnership between two ex-Fat Duck alumni and has acquired a stellar reputation as it approaches its fifth year. Chef Jonny Lake delivers “exquisite”, “imaginative (and sometimes challenging)” dishes – “it’s amazing to have food of this quality and no tasting menu, which is a testament to their confidence”. And it‘s matched by “stunning” wine from a 450-bin list “beautifully curated and expertly managed” by sommelier Isa Bal – “the team happily talk you through options” and “it’s worth trying the more unusual grapes they recommend for their complexity and variety”. That said, not all meals here escape criticism, which – compounded by the “bland” setting and bills that can be “a bit breath-taking” – leads one or two reporters to query: “how, how, how does this place have two, not one, but two (just upgraded this year) Michelin stars!”. Top Tip – on Monday nights, they open the space as ‘Labombe Wine Bar’, a new concept in which the restaurant’s bar space offers wine to try by the glass recommended by Isa alongside a blackboard menu of more casual bites from Jonny.

Summary

£147
£££££
3
Good
3
Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

The Bermondsey location is “not the easiest to get to”, but many reporters make the effort for this “very accomplished” four-year-old. Chef Jonny Lake provides “absolutely first-rate cooking” with “refined and exciting flavours” and sommelier Isa Bal curates a “fantastic and eclectic” wine list. But even numerous fans feel a tad daunted by the pricing – “I thought it well worth the trip and deserving of its reputation, but the bill here makes it a treat rather than just a meal out…”; “it was very good… luckily I wasn’t paying!”.

Summary

£142
£££££
3
Good
3
Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

Since its opening in late 2019, this Bermondsey three-year-old from Fat Duck alumni Jonny Lake (chef) and Isa Bal (sommelier) has burnished a formidable reputation as one of the more interesting culinary arrivals of recent years. Jonny’s cuisine is “superb and delicate” and “if the food is outstanding, then the wine list is outstanding-er!” – “an incredible and esoteric range” with “a focus on Georgia, Turkey and Armenia”. And it’s a “comfortable” space too where, for once, “you can hear yourself think”. It would score higher were there not a less wowed minority of reporters who either found the overall approach “excessively serious”, or who were “not convinced by the menu combinations despite having high hopes”.

Summary

£109
£££££
4
Very Good
3
Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

“What a cellar of joy!” Alumni of the Fat Duck, head chef Jonny Lake and sommelier Isa Bal opened this Bermondsey venture in late 2019, in the new Snowsfields Yard development, and it has become a favourite for many reporters, thanks to its “brilliant but not OTT cuisine” and also to the veritable “tomb” of a wine list (“they must have a huge cavern somewhere to store it all”) – that “goes deep on surprising regions – like the Greek Islands – and is, in itself, a journey through the history and love of wine”. There’s only one drawback – it’s “flipping pricey”.

For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).

Have you eaten at Trivet?

36 Snowsfields, London, SE1 3SU

Restaurant details

Highchair
Yes
30
No dress code

Trivet Restaurant Diner Reviews

Reviews of Trivet Restaurant in SE1, London by users of Hardens.com. Also see the editors review of Trivet restaurant.
Paul M
A great menu and amazing wine list. Food wa...
Reviewed 5 months, 12 days ago

"A great menu and amazing wine list. Food was excellent and service was friendly and knowledgable. Thoroughly enjoyed the experience. "

Report this comment
S R
Great food but a little bit too loud and to...
Reviewed 9 months, 3 days ago

"Great food but a little bit too loud and too expensive "

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What the Newspaper Critics are saying

The Times

Tim Hayward was thrilled to announce that he has found a new “local”, four minutes’ walk from London Bridge station, 85 minutes direct via Thameslink from Cambridge, where he lives another short walk from the station. Better still, Trivet is (he believes) the only Michelin two-star in the country to offer a full à la carte instead of a tasting menu – so he can treat himself “without having to endure three hours of some chef noodling through his version of a three-disc concept album”.

Speaking of noodles, his favourite dish was ‘Drunken Lobster’ – a tail “literally stewed in its own juices” and served on a bed of fresh-made hand-cut noodles with a coarse surface, so the broth clings. “This was a superlative dish…. Bloody brilliant”. Chicken breast in a vinegar sauce attributed to Paul Bocuse was also a winner – “it takes a certain amount of self-confidence and no little brio to put poulet au vinaigre on a menu in 2024, but then chef Jonny Lake is richly endowed with both”.

Tim also had good words to say about Isa Bal, the man behind Trivet’s three-inch-thick wine list – “whispered to be an eccentric genius, and I will not argue.” To celebrate his newfound local, he threw in a couple of good words of his own – the sort of chewy locutions that send readers to Google for elucidation: “antiscorbutic” and “toroidal”.   

Tim Hayward - 2024-11-03

Prices

Traditional European menu

Starter Main Veggies Pudding
£34.00 £47.00 £8.00 £0.00
Drinks  
Wine per bottle £60.00
Filter Coffee £6.00
Extras  
Bread £5.50
Service 15.00%
36 Snowsfields, London, SE1 3SU
Opening hours
MondayCLOSED
Tuesday6 pm‑11 pm
Wednesday12 pm‑11 pm
Thursday12 pm‑11 pm
Friday12 pm‑11 pm
Saturday12 pm‑11 pm
SundayCLOSED

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