London Supper Club – Savoy Truffle Supper Club

Over the coming year, I will be visiting as many of London’s underground restaurants as I can get into, and will be posting my reviews here. I have been intrigued by this new eating concept in the London food scene, and am curious to find out where this will lead us. So watch this space, more reviews to follow.

The Savoy Truffle Supper Club is run by the lovely couple Alison and Gavin, from their flat in Blackheath, South East London. The flat is small but beautiful with its living room overlooking an incredibly well maintained garden. It is located in a very impressive building on a private residential street.

Gavin currently works as a chef at the Acorn House in Kings Cross, while doing his fortnightly stint at the Supper Club. Alison, a freelance writer, works the front of house. There are only three tables available and consequently guests are expected to share with others.

Their website (www. savoytrufflesupperclub.com) is good and easy to navigate. I found them to be the most professional and best organised of the Supper Clubs I have dealt with so far. They replied promptly to my booking requests, and their monthly menu and respective wine suggestions are posted in their website. I found their wine suggestions paired well with their monthly menu, and they were quite well explained.

At £37 a head, below are my thoughts on Savoy Truffle Supper Club’s 5 course menu served between 8:00 and 10:30pm.

An amuse bouche of beetroot and pernod-cured salmon on a bed of shaved fennel and horseradish cream started off the evening on a very good note. The flavours were very fresh and complemented each other well.

To follow, we had our starter which consisted of chicken liver parfait, a chicken terrine wrapped in parma ham, accompanied by a scrumptious apple and fig chutney & brioche. Highlights for me were the liver pate and chutney – both were beautifully made and were bursting with flavours of star anise, cinnamon and fruit.

I had initially felt slightly disappointed with Gavin’s choice of main considering the chicken items we had as a starter. Their confit of duck with rosemary and vanilla mash and blackberry compote was however not disappointing. Some of the guests at our table felt that the vanilla mash could have had a stronger vanilla flavour, but I disagree. The confit was tender, but not overly cooked as some of its “jar” equivalents, their confit had obviously been home made, and was delicious. The presentation was also spot on, with the blackberries lying on top of the confit, it was an elegant, well made dish.

The Scottish raspberry granita was a good palate cleanser.

The STAR of the evening for me was the dessert – Chocolate brownies, with ginger chantilly and hot toffee sauce. I am not much of a dessert person; desserts have to be highly impressive for me to care for them. This one however delivered at all levels, and I finished it off in no time.

After coffee and biscuits, we had a lovely chat with both Alison and Gavin. They were excellent hosts. I was pleased to find their courtesy and professionalism carried them through to the end, as they called us a taxi, and waved us goodbye.

Verdict – Elegant setting, and impeccable service made it for a very intimate experience. The food was professionally made and beautifully presented. At £37 a head, I felt that Savoy Truffle Supper Club ticked most boxes. I felt well looked after and will certainly return.