The Art of Dining Presents: The Engine Room Supper Club ★★★★★

The Art of Dining is this month presenting an immersive pop-up dining experience at the London Museum of Steam and Water, aimed at transporting guests 160 years into the past – to Victorian London and the industrial age. Though this might at first sound like an event that is only suitable for Steam Punk fanatics, don't be put off, the appeal is as broad as the beam of the 90 inch Cornish Giant Engine (and more accessible than that reference).
Tickets cost £55 per person and include a cocktail and a five course meal, prepared by Art of Dining chef Ellen Parr with a menu inspired by the core elements of the Steam Age: she'll be using oil, minerals, steam, smoke, and fire to create her typically vibrant and immersive dishes.
Thankfully, no prior research into the museum is necessary, as there is a kindly ghost available on arrival to teach guests about the giants of steam that reside in this “cathedral of industry”, as well as a volunteer of the Museum to fill in all of the technical details. After a cocktail in the museum's stunning beam engine room, and a tour of its mechanical wonders, diners begin the feast with a starter of squid braised in ink, fennel, and tomato.
The five course menu, themed to various facets of a steam engine, is delicious and inventive, with the 'Oil Course' consisting of cuttlefish ink served out of miniature drums, more tempting than crude, whilst the Steam Course consisting of some of the most immaculately cooked salmon we have eaten in a long while: for some 50 people to be served almost simultaneously in the Engine Room's temporary kitchen is a testament to the culinary aspects of the Art of Dining's creative partnership. This is not to denigrate the other courses, Mineral, Smoke and Fire, all of which are equally delicious.
Next up on on the Art of Dining's carefully curated menu come salt dough-baked vegetables, served with pickled zataar and labaneh followed by steamed bass stuffed with ginger, lemongrass, and garlic morning glory. Then comes an enticing sounding marinated lamb shoulder with whipped feta, kalamata olives, and tomato salad and finally, to round off the meal, comes a dessert of cardamom and pistachio Alaska bombe flambé with stewed cherries.
This immersive, time-travelling supper club is accompanied by theatre and music fit for fine diners of the Victorian age: veterans of the Art of Dining's past events are unlikely to be disappointed by this quirky new evening.
The Engine Room supper club will held over seven evening from 17-20 November and 25-27 November. Click here to book tickets.