Sometimes you don’t need to leave Cambridge to get out of the bubble. Just a short walk up Trumpington Street, for Cambridge’s first Syrian Supper Club, Hot Numbers had been atmospherically transformed from daytime café joint to swish night-time lair. Tables pushed together for dining, it was simply but tastefully spruced up with tea lights, cushions and throws.

The Syrian Supper Club, first started in London in 2012 by a group of friends, two of whom had lived in the old city of Damascus, started the initiative as they wanted to show their friends back in Syria that they hadn’t been forgotten as a humanitarian crisis tragically unfolded. Since its creation, the Supper Club has held over 150 events, fed 2,000 people and raised over £250,000 for charity (in this case the Hands Up Foundation)

The food was Syrian-inspired and utterly delicious. “Syrians love food and I realise I’m the only thing keeping you from eating”’, joked a professor formerly at the University of Aleppo who had been invited to introduce the evening.

A complementary glass of prosecco, wine or craft beer was served by the Hot Numbers team and cumin-spiced popcorn kept everyone going until the starter was served: fattoush (A Levantine bread, radish and tomato salad), mutabul shawander (a beetroot dip) and hummus, served with flatbreads.

One wonderful thing about the evening was the opportunity to mingle with fellow diners, which was especially facilitated by the sharing platters passed around the table. The main was a chicken couscous dish, served with jewels of sultanas, saffron yoghurt as well as garlic aubergine dish and more shawander as well as more flatbread. Unlike in a normal dining situation, there were unashamed seconds and thirds, and everyone was left pleasantly stuffed.

A wise man once said (probably Nigella) that the dessert is the only bit anyone really remembers. And in this case, the almond cherry cake with orange blossom mascarpone was definitely the best bit. Treacley sweet but moist and delicious, the simple please of candied fruit echoed the jewelled couscous from the main but was brought to life by generous shavings of orange peel and the sourness of the mascarpone.

Although on the expensive side, (£28 for students), the evening was certainly worth it. Think of it as economically equivalent to two formal halls, but with much better food and in the consciousness that you are greedily wolfing down a three-course meal while raising money for a charity. 

Supper Clubs are a peculiar cross between dinner parties and restaurants; imagine a domestic, warm setting with none of the obligation to wash up. A refreshing change from the stuffiness of formals, the evening was a unique dining experience, and testament to the way food can bring people together for a very worthy cause

For more details about upcoming supper clubs visit http://www.syriansupperclub.com/