The idea of pop-up restaurants started in London a few years ago, where people would set-up a restaurant for only a day and the location would be spread by word of mouth.
Today the idea has gone a little more mainstream and spread right across Britain, with the pop-up restaurants often having their own blogs and more regular dining meet-ups. Think dinner parties, but for complete strangers generally rather than the next door neighbours.
Here we’ll let you in on some of the most popular “secret restaurants”, as long as of course you promise not to tell The Jones’…
The Spice Club in Manchester describes itself as a “secret supper club”, and could also be described as one woman’s mission to prove that the really good curry is not limited to Birmingham.
The curry’s are prepared by Monica and her mother who brought with her the recipe’s for authentic Indian Punjabi dishes and served in their Manchester house, generally once a month. The intimate dining experience has room for 8 guests at a time, and roughly 4 – 5 courses per session.
Moel Faben Secret Supper Club in Bangor, Wales is possibly the only secret dining club in North Wales, or the others are so secret we can’t find them. Denise who qualified as a chef in the 1980s runs the club with both dining at her house, and offering discrete private parties around North Wales.
The club focuses on offering good quality food in the Bangor region where there is apparently a lack of decent restaurants, and using ingredients within 30 miles of her locality. She also offers cookery classes for those who want to host dinner parties, or maybe want to start their own secret supper club.
Queen of Tarts in Edinburgh is slightly different, as the name suggests this is more of a secret afternoon-tea club, hosted in Angela’s flat. You won’t find Mr Kipling here however as everything is home made with varying menus and both traditional & more exotic ingredients. Events pop up on the Facebook giving it even more of an “underground” feeling.
Plot 15 in Belfast holds secret supper clubs based around the produce from the allotment plot (number 15) of the hosts. The blog gives details of when the next dining evenings will be. Everything is organic from the allotment, and of course is seasonal but the produce is guaranteed to be a lot fresher than most restaurants.
Elsewhere in the country there are loads of other secret dining clubs (Google UK search), so where ever you are in the country you should be able to find somewhere secretive to indulge in good cuisine without the restaurant prices.
More Resources:
Hotels in Manchester
Bangor hotel accommodation
Hotel accommodation in Edinburgh
Belfast B&Bs and hotels
