Last Updated on December 1, 2025
London’s most memorable immersive dining experience in a decommissioned Victoria Line tube train carriage
4.0 out of 5.0 starsIt’s uncanny. On the one hand, we are in a reassuringly worn tube carriage; on the other, we’re in a smart restaurant bedecked with starched white linens and fine silverware. The nostalgic buffet car ambience, enhanced by low-level table lamps, lends a luxurious atmosphere of the Orient Express to Supperclub.tube – even if the only Orient here would be Leyton’s nearby football ground. Hosted in decommissioned 1967 Victoria Line rolling stock, complete with vintage advertising, this well-regarded East London supperclub serves up to 35 pre-booked passengers who disembark at Walthamstow to enjoy a six-course Latin American tasting menu.
Operating three evenings a week, food is served onboard whilst the cooking happens in an adjacent “waiting room” café kitchen. Located in an eccentric little transport museum that Walthamstow-ers take for granted (I’ve lived nearby but not visited for 20 years), even locals could be forgiven for not knowing exactly where Supperclub.tube was. It’s on a remote corner of the borough, “sort of towards Clapton next to the tip”. This hasn’t stopped ardent foodies tapping their Oyster cards to visit over the eight years Supperclub.tube has been running. Whenever I introduce myself at foodie gatherings, I get asked if I’ve eaten at “that restaurant in a tube carriage,” and now, with the launch of their new autumnal menu, it’s an opportunity to visit.
Entrance is up steps via the driver’s cab, with the first section of the carriage accommodating the bar area. Small private tables for two or three diners are positioned where commuters squished on pairs of moquette-upholstered seats, and in the door wells. In addition, there’s a larger communal dining bench accommodating two longer rows of diners facing each other, where the strap-hangers would have wobbled.
To start, a wicker basket of hearty homemade bread alongside a spicy pumpkin seed dip. These dinky slices of sourdough were deceptively substantial; I feared we may not be able to move along to create more room inside. We also opened with a Negroni cocktail and a sparkling house special, “Tube 67,” named in honour of the rolling stock’s age and made with mora (Andean blackberry).
Colombian Head Chef Bea Maldonado Carreno greets diners with a brief welcome talk just before the main menu service begins – by now, it was around 7.45 pm. Previously working at a Colombian branch of the renowned Peruvian restaurant Astrid y Gaston and more recently at London’s Sanderson hotel and Islington’s Sabor, she brings 20 years of Latin American culinary experience to her menus. Whilst the culinary techniques can draw together elements from multiple Southern American cultures into a single dish, the seasonal menu overall utilises British products and changes depending on their availability. Vegetarians and vegans can order an alternative menu, although some dishes overlap.
First course was Empanada Colombiana – a delicious crispy little pasty stuffed with a soft savoury filling of potatoes and beef brisket. Alongside for dipping, a chimichurri-style ointment of coriander and chilli. These crunchy parcels were more-ish; if served at parties, they’d be snapped up.
Second was Kapchi, a hearty vegetable stew from Peru, generally made with potatoes. The layered rectangle of melt-in-the-mouth potato slices swam in a bright yellow, thick sauce bursting with well-rounded chilli heat.
Next stop was a delicate bundle of lime-and-ginger-cured hake and prawn ceviche, set in a frog-coloured swamp of tomatillo Leche de Tigre. Recently, I’d reviewed Soho’s Tigermilk and found their version of Leche de Tigre had too much bite but a shallow roar, but I’m pleased to report that, in contrast, Supperclub.tube has competently earned their stripes here.
The main event is Pato Pibil, a swirl of muddy black beans around soft, slow-cooked duck leg shards topped with a pleasingly squidgy Colombian sweetcorn dumpling. This was sublime comfort food. In fact, every dish of the evening was very easy to eat, nothing fiddly to grapple with.
There were still two courses left; first, a small pre-dessert in the form of a dark chocolate shell that, when crushed, yielded a passionfruit sauce. Additional components of chocolate “soil”, crumb, and a filigree sugar butterfly brought a delightful texture.
At the end of the line, an elegant yet substantial dessert: Bananos Calados presented a row of corn cake cubes interspersed with caramelised banana and a scoop of coconut ice cream. By now, I was pretty full, and I donated half to my husband, who enthusiastically finished it.
I’ve not yet mentioned wine – although we are generally rosé drinkers, I felt some robust reds would pair better with most of the courses here. This turned out to be a sound choice, although something white might have matched better with the ceviche; a QR code on the carriage window links to the wine list with tasting notes. Cantoalba Pinot Noir 2022 from Chile was lighter than the tasting notes suggested – cherry, raspberry and black fruits with velvety tannins – instead I found it a jammy red that slipped down as easily and forgettably as Ribena. My husband’s glass of Bodega Volcanes Carménère, also Chilean, was a much more complex profile that risked overpowering the earlier courses but came into its own with the duck.
Drinks are billed on the night, whereas food is paid for upon booking. Up to 7 days beforehand, you’re allowed to change dates. Service was complete by 9.45 pm, and you’re allowed to linger in the carriage until 10.30, although most people had gone by ten past.
Supperclub.tube offers a deeply memorable dinner that would suit transport nerds and quirk-seeking foodies alike. The menu offers a Latin American adventure, without anything especially challenging for visitors less accustomed to dining anywhere off-the-rails (!!! ed). Ceviche aside, there’s nothing here to scare the Argentine horses – but that’s no bad thing.
Prices per head are £73 for general seating and £79 for private tables (with 12.5% service on top of this). This may be steep for Walthamstow – even compared to the Bugaboo-ified Village – and is uncomfortably parallel to most Waltham Forest families’ food bill for an entire week. However, when compared to other fine dining services that don’t have a portacabin as a toilet, given the slick table service, attention to detail, deft presentation, and the uniqueness of the whole experience, it’s not an unreasonable ticket price.
Any overseas tourist wishing to leave London with an upmarket food experience under their belt may find Supperclub.tube more authentic and memorable than, say, afternoon tea at a West End hotel. Eating Latin American cuisine with tablecloths in a tube carriage was great fun and well worth a trek from Blackhorse Road. And you get to pose in the driver’s seat with the dead man’s handle on the way out.
Supperclub.tube
Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum
South Access Road
London E17 8AX
email: dining@supperclub.tube
Supperclub.tube runs intermittently on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings – check their website for dates.
Star rating – 4
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