Trivet

The signature is a filo sandwich built on a panini machine the previous tenants left behind in the building (Time Out).

Why go

Jonny Lake and Isa Bal came out of Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck and opened this in Bermondsey in 2019. Jordan Bassett puts what they did with that plainly: "they've gone against the grain with Trivet, which is less showy than their mentor's gaff. It's still hugely impressive, mind, and they've two Michelin stars to prove it" (Time Out).

They will not name the cuisine. Bassett records the joke, that they could call it Modern British or Contemporary European just to get people off their backs. What comes out instead is the puffini, drunk lobster noodles in a sake bath, homemade onion ketchup, and a Hokkaido potato dessert of potato mille feuille, puff pastry and chocolate mousse (Time Out, The Infatuation).

Isa Bal is a sommelier and the list is the second half of the case, natural and biodynamic bottles alongside the rest. Heidi Lauth Beasley scored it 8.0 in 2022 and described a room that "toes the line between fine dining and friendly", with pampas grass and a covered terrace (The Infatuation).

Two facts that separate it from the rest of the two-star field. It serves a la carte at lunch and dinner rather than a tasting menu (Trivet), and some dishes come in two sizes.

Order this / avoid

• Order: the puffini. Drunk lobster noodles in their sake bath. The Hokkaido potato dessert, which Bassett notes "social media lost its collective marbles over" (ref). On the terrace on a warm day, Beasley's pick is the cheese selection with melon jam and a glass of Turkish white (ref).
• Avoid: ordering without asking about sizes, since some dishes come large or small and it is not volunteered. Sundays, when it is closed.

What locals & experts say

• Jordan Bassett, Time Out, April 2025, four stars out of five, on the one dish that proves the pedigree: "The calming, minimalist décor belies the experimental action going on in the kitchen, which are understated but exemplary: see the 'puffini', a filo pastry sandwich created with a panini machine that was left in the building when they acquired it." ref
• Heidi Lauth Beasley, The Infatuation, August 2022, scoring it 8.0: "A charming Bermondsey space complete with pampas grass and a covered terrace, this sophisticated restaurant toes the line between fine dining and friendly with attentive service, homemade onion ketchup, and creative dishes like the 'drunk lobster' noodles that comes in its own little sake bath." Her warning, in the same piece: "the mains here will set you back upwards of £30." ref
• The chef vote that belongs to the sibling. Tom Kerridge told the Michelin Guide in February 2026 that Labombe by Trivet "was fantastic". That is a different restaurant by the same team, which took its own star this year, and the vote is recorded there rather than borrowed here.

Good to know

• Where: 36 Snowsfields SE1 3SU, a few minutes from London Bridge.
• Timing: Monday 5pm to 11pm, Tuesday 6pm to 11pm, Wednesday to Saturday noon to 11pm. Closed Sunday.
• Booking: essential, through the venue's reservation link.
• The format: a la carte at both lunch and dinner. There is also a Trivet Tasting Club membership, which the venue names and does not explain.
• Portions: some dishes come in large or small. Ask.
• Sibling: Labombe by Trivet is a separate restaurant from the same team and holds its own Michelin star, new for 2026.
• Hygiene: FSA rating 5, inspected 14 January 2026, Southwark, all three components at 5. FHRSID 1242040. ref

Jeff's take (his words)

• Note: none. His raw saved-places export carries an empty Note against this row. The master line "Two stars from Fat Duck alumni Jonny Lake and Isa Bal" is curation text; the stars, the names and the lineage all check out against the cached Michelin standings and a bylined Time Out review.

Verdict (Chef Jeff ladder)

must-visit — Plan around it, and know that this is the two-star restaurant you can eat in without surrendering the evening. Jonny Lake and Isa Bal came out of the Fat Duck and opened Trivet in Bermondsey in 2019, and Jordan Bassett's line about what they did with that inheritance is the right one: they went against the grain and made something less showy than their mentor's room, and took two Michelin stars anyway. They refuse to name their cuisine, having joked that they could call it Modern British or Contemporary European just to get people off their backs. The proof that the lineage did real work is the puffini, a filo pastry sandwich they build on a panini machine the previous tenants left behind in the building. Elsewhere, drunk lobster noodles arrive in their own sake bath, the onion ketchup is made in house, and a Hokkaido potato dessert of potato mille feuille, puff pastry and chocolate mousse is the one social media went for. Bal is a sommelier and the list is the other half of the argument, natural and biodynamic bottles alongside the classics. Two practical things. It runs a la carte at lunch and dinner rather than a tasting menu, with a covered terrace, and some dishes come in two sizes if you ask. Mains started above GBP 30 four years ago, so this is still an occasion.