Forget heading to a standard eatery the next time you dine out, instead experience the Disappearing Dining Club at Dartmouth Arms…

I don’t often meander across London looking for food. But I made an exception for Disappearing Dining Club at Dartmouth Arms. Established in 2010, by college friends Stuart Langley and Fred Bolin, it’s one of London’s scarce dining-related success stories. The friends can now add a different victory to their tale; saving another London pub being converted into flats. 

Dartmouth Arms, Tufnell Park is where the chronicle evolves once again. The pub has sat in this quiet corner for 154 years and experienced a decade of uncertainty including closure. It’s now welcoming patrons after Disappearing Dining Club took over with the aim of serving the local neighbourhood whilst having a base for the Disappearing Dining Club community to frequent.

“We’ve taken a look at what community really means in 2019. Creating a pub that provides a local feel to anyone who walks through the door is about having a space people want to be in serving great food and drink,” says Stuart on my visit. It certainly feels that way as I sit down next to the window. It’s a Wednesday night and the pub is almost full. Locals and visitors alike enjoying a cosy drink after work. I look around and everyone seems to know each other and that includes me. I’m greeted as if they’ve all known me forever.

I start with a glass of the house red – a French Grenache (£5). Incidentally, the house wines at the Disappearing Dining Club at Dartmouth Arms come from Uncharted Wines who specialise in kegged wines on tap. This is a deliberate move from Fred and Stuart to serve wine with a lower carbon footprint and less waste. It certainly works for me. The Grenache is soft and goes down smoothly.

An entreé of home-baked Guinness bread arrived at my table with butter smoked on-site. I would have left happy if nothing else had come out of the kitchen. It was that good. I’m also a sucker for bread and butter. I went à la carte and opted for the three-course menu (£28 per head) starting with a spiced cauliflower soup served with mushroom crostini. This was followed by roast lamb rump with barley and beetroot risotto with caper and anchovy dressing. Apple and winterberry crumble with vanilla ice cream was the finale. I must mention that the food is seasonal so the menu changes frequently.

The mushroom crostini with the cauliflower soup was the heartiest I could have hoped for. The lamb with barley and beetroot risotto was a wintry triumph paired with another French rustic red – Mansois, Le Cros 2017 (£8.75). The apple and berry crumble was steaming when it arrived; exactly as I remember from my childhood. It was all colours of amber and smelt of autumn. I could have cried. Of course, this shouldn’t surprise anyone. You don’t survive London’s cut-throat dining landscape, for almost a decade, by serving run-of-the-mill food. The proof, in this case, was, quite literally, in the pudding. It was a stupendous meal and you will feel like a thief paying £28 for it.

For those who are not the keen three-course type then opt for the Pub Food menu. Fred’s Scandinavian cookery training means you can expect to see the Disappearing Dining Club’s take on the classic burger. Beef Lindström (£11.50); a chuck steak, caper and beetroot patty with fried egg and pickles on sourdough. Spicy polenta chips served with red pepper aioli (£4.5) is another twist on a pub classic.

“This is a neighbourhood pub. We want people to eat with us two or three times a week. So it’s important to offer a balanced diet across all our menus. You can watch what you eat or spoil yourself and know you are enjoying restaurant-quality ingredients with all dishes made 100% from scratch. That’s what sets us apart from other local pubs,” adds Fred.

I couldn’t agree more. With 18 draught craft beers, ales and ciders, as well as ethically sourced wines coupled with a menu to kill for Dartmouth Arms, is the pub I wish I had at the end of my road.

For more information on the Disappearing Dining Club at Dartmouth Arms and bookings visit: www.disappearingdiningclub.co.uk