Our guide to the best supper clubs in London right now.
So you like your food? Well then you’re going to love this. London is in the midst of a supper club craze. More than ever the city’s food lovers are getting very into the small-scale, unique way of dining.
Popping up in more locations than anyone can keep track of are a host of excellent supper clubs that range from high-end, immersive dining, to homely affairs with small groups obsessing over the fine points of a bowl of pho.
We’ve made a guide of our favourites. Read on for the best supper clubs London has to offer…
BestSupper Clubs in London
10 Miles Supper Club
Here’s a London supper club we can really get behind. The girls that run the 10 Miles Supper Club are hot on sustainability in cooking, and so for their supper club they only cook with ingredients that they can find within a ten mile radius of the supper club’s location.
Founders Emily and Sarah both worked in the food industry at magazines and as recipe writers and bring a good knowledge of food to their tables. Being big foodies themselves they also totally get the communal elements that go into a good dinner party.
That means that apart from seasonal menus of fresh, locally sourced cooking, you’ll also be in for a good old laugh.
In Good Company
Company of Cooks have thrown their hat in the ring and come up with one of the best supper clubs in London. For these nights, known as In Good Company, they hire London’s hottest chefs and match them with some of its most iconic locations.
Food from Douglas McMaster, the mind behind Silo, served up in the gorgeous Kew Gardens? That’s one they do. How about Hoppers founder Karan Gokani cooking up a storm in the Southbank Centre’s roof garden? That’s an option too.
Mam Sham
If you like your dinner with a show, let us introduce you to Mam Sham. These girls have been making waves around London for their high-energy nights of food and high-quality entertainment.
They take over venues around London and hire some top chefs and kitchens to come in and cook for an evening punctuated by musical performances and stand-up comedy. Previous chefs have ranged from the pros at Black Axe Mangal to Masterchef winners.
The nights have a reputation for being full of raucous fun, and for that they sell out quick. You’ll want to act fast to get tickets to Mam Sham once they’re released.
Kitchen Theory
If you’re willing to splash a little cash on your supper club you’ve got a great option in Kitchen Theory’s. If you don’t know of this place, it’s a multi-sensory dining experience that combines theatre with cooking in playful and very entertaining ways.
Every month they host a couple of chef’s table supper clubs where the team, headed by Chef Jozef Youssef will sit you down for an exclusive eight-course tasting menu, showcasing the best of what multi-sensory dining is all about.
Expect strangely presented dishes that misdirect expectations and changing environs that alter how you experience each bite – it’s truly an out-there way to dine.
The Occasional Dining Club
The concept for The Occasional Dining Club comes from a very talented trio of cooks who, after careers cooking at Michelin-starred kitchens and for the private dinners of the nation’s upper crust, converged at Leiths School of Food & Wine.
They left the school with an idea for a supper club. Now it meets every couple of months to deliver killer menus that are regularly graced with some of the most exciting cooking you’ll find in our London supper clubs guide.
They change up the cuisine for each event but the quality never fails to impress, nor does the perk that the club is BYOB.
Disappearing Dining Club
One of London’s oldest and most successful supper clubs, Disappearing Dining Club has been written up by most of the major papers, praised by fierce critics and enjoyed by all that attend.
Founders Stuart Langley and Fredrik Bolin have over 50 years of hospitality experience between them and boast stints in some of the worlds best kitchens to boot. Dinners are based around up-market, broadly English cooking, enlivened by the presence of live bands or DJs.
As for the locations, the supper clubs bounce around London from time to time but these days you’re most likely to find them making a temporary home of the Dartmouth Arms in Tufnell Park.
Uyen Luu
Food whiz, Uyen Luu runs what is in our mind one of the best supper clubs London has to offer. Broadly speaking, she just seems to have a talent for all things food, taking the worlds of food photography, cookbooks and cooking by storm.
The latter, you can try at one of her supper clubs – feasts of down-to-earth Vietnamese cooking eaten over long tables that encourage conversation with other guests.
What makes the plates of summer rolls and hearty chicken broths even more charming though, is the fact that Luu often enlists members of her own family to help with the cooking.
The result is a charming dinner party where good food meets a relaxed, sociable atmosphere.
Mexican Food Memories
Mexican Food Memories is much in the same vein as Uyen Luu’s: a laid-back feast of homely, unpretentious, and excellent cooking. At this supper club it’s the food of Mexico, done by Karla – a Mexican now living in London.
She is a big proponent of the cooking of her home country, blogging recipes on her website and offering cooking classes for anyone who wants to dig a little deeper.
Karla also puts on irregular supper club events showcasing this lovely cuisine. They’re small affairs of up to ten people, which gives each meal a particularly intimate feel.
Shanghai Supper Club
Looking for the best Chinese supper club London has to offer? You’ll find it in Shanghai Supper Club. Like many Chinese people, founder Lillian grew up on the home cooking of her grandmother.
After a career in London’s corporate world she decided that cooking was what she wanted to pursue, and came up with the idea of a supper club that specialises in homely Shanghainese cooking with a bit of the city’s street food culture tossed in for good measure.
In 2014 she started Shanghai Supper Club, using many of the same techniques and dishes she ate as a child, dishes like Soy Spiced Duck and delicious fried dumplings known as Sheng Jian Bao – dishes that still grace her menu today.
& Ginger
One thing we love about London’s supper club scene is the great variety you’ve got. There’s heaps of people doing very different things, with so many supper clubs to choose from. Then there’s & Ginger, who do many different things with just one supper club.
Each event they hold affixes a place name to the suffix & Ginger (Peru & Ginger, Sicily & Ginger) to let you know the region that inspired the night’s cooking. What follows is a feast of quality cooking inspired by traditional recipes from the night’s cuisine.
The multicultural nature of this supper club makes total sense when you hear that founders Lauren and Josephine work for National Geographic Traveller as their day jobs – Surely not a bad place to get inspired into cooking up a feast.
SW16 Bar & Kitchen Italian Supper Club
In our humble opinion the best Italian supper club London has to offer is found at Streatham’s SW16 Bar & Kitchen. They run it once a month, and treat the occasion like a culinary tour of the boot-shaped nation.
Each month will see a new region of Italy under the spotlight, so you can feasibly work your way through the country’s cooking over a series of 6-7 months.
The food is legit too – the product of two highly passionate Italian chefs who genuinely love what they do, and like so many Italians, take enormous amounts of pride in their culinary tradition.
Practical Tips for Exploring the Best Supper Clubs in London
- Supper clubs are often an occasion for London’s food obsessed to get together and, well, obsess. Because of that, they can often be very social affairs. This is truer still of the smaller supper clubs like Uyenn Luu’s and Mexican Food Memories. If you’d like something where you’re not going to have to talk to strangers, try Mam Sham or & Ginger.
- You’ll have to be hot on the tickets to these when they release. That often involves keeping tabs on what’s on. A good way to do this is follow the clubs on social media or check their websites to sign up for an email notification on future events.
- Check with the supper club beforehand if you have any food allergies. Remember these are small kitchens, and may not have the same rigid allergen guidelines that actual restaurants do.
