Review: Supperclub.tube restaurant in vintage Tube carriage

A far cry from a drunken kebab or a couple of loose almonds found when fossicking around the bottom of your bag, Supperclub.tube is restaurant quality – good restaurant quality – dishes that just happen to be served in a vintage Victoria Line Tube carriage.

The seasonal pop up is now in its fifth year, popping up from late August to November. It started off life as a supper club held in organiser Nick Atkins’ home who found a new location for the feast once it outgrew its original shell.

I’m told there’s no real reason for the supper club to be held in the carriage. No tenuous line of thought connecting South American cuisine to Britain’s industrial revolution or a Walthamstow- Bogota fusion menu. There’s no real reason other than because it can. And that’s fine.

The vintage carriage retains many of the original features (Image: Supperclub.tube)

On paper, the pop up runs the risk of being a contrivance. However, Supperclub.tube is a gently novel idea that doesn’t ham up its unconventional dining room. Rather, it works with the carriage’s nostalgic charm to create an ambiance so snug and warm, you almost forget that you are sitting in a disused train section that permanently lives in an odd, slightly haphazard looking museum in the bowels of suburban Walthamstow. That is until you look away from your dining partner and catch view of an old TFL sign or need the loo, and then there’s no escaping it.

Kept in the yard of a Victorian-era Grade II listed pumping house, the surrounds are less than atmospheric, but I did enjoy walking down suburban backstreets to find the place and arriving in the grounds with that feeling of, Have I got the right place? It made me remember I used to be a lot cooler than I am now.  

The supper club is a six course dinner exploring South American cuisine (Image: Supperclub.tube)

The carriage retains its original seating, advertisements and TFL signage, which is very cute and blends into the general atmosphere once the lights are turned down and candles light up linen draped tables with an amber glow. It had crossed my mind that eating on a tube as a person taller than six foot might feel like eating on a plane, but this was also fine.

The menu is designed to showcase South American cuisines, which is so totally supper club and a lovely idea. To kick off the night, Colombian chef Bea Maldonado Carreno gave a short spiel about the six courses and the hero ingredient corn, which was a nice touch and served as a reminder that I was not in a restaurant, but a guest at a dinner party of sorts.

And then the dishes came so efficiently that for a 7pm setting, we were done by about 9.40pm.

To kick off the night, Colombian chef Bea Maldonado Carreno gave a short spiel about the six courses (Image: Supperclub.tube)

The first two dishes were the standouts. Frijole con Arepa turned out to be three pudgy mouthful-sized discs of crusty corn bread piled with smoky al dente beans and queso fresco shavings, sitting on a fresh tomatoey trail of relish and between blobs of just-made salsa.

The Peruvian-Mexican take on enchiladas was very pretty. Soft blue corn tortilla wrapped up fingers of melt-in-your-mouth shredded chicken and black olives and covered in a decent pour of salsa Huancaina, a warming, lightly spiced sunflower yellow sauce thickened with cheese, and perhaps corn, my date Steve suggested.

The Tiradito de Merluza was another pretty dish. A Nikkei-style ceviche, slivers of cured Hake and large corn kernels sat in a sweet and salty coriander and ginger-infused dashi and under a delicate stack of avocado and herbs. The serve of pork loin and beef rump although desert dry, was served with zesty chimichurri and sticky sweet grilled plantain, which were both delicious.

The Tube carriage has been dressed in linen and lit by candles to create a cosy atmosphere (Image: Supperclub.tube)

Not really a dish, but the palette cleansing scoop of passionfruit sorbet was another standout. Tart and zingy, and with a hard chocolate crust, I could have had another scoop and called dessert at that.

The final course, the chef’s postre borracho was a dessert made for the sweet toothed and gluttonous. A Latin American take on France’s rum baba, it was a large log of rum soaked sponge, custard and berry compote and mousse. Yum, but rich.

While the carriage may not be going everywhere any time soon, supperclub.tube departs for the year in November so I say, all aboard this lovely ride.

Address: Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum, Suth Access Road, Walthamstow E17 8AX

Website: supperclub.tube