Experience quality food, great company and friendly hosts as little slice of the Orient comes to Whitchurch

It was a dark and stormy night. Sounds like the start of a crime novel, but was actually the start of a very interesting culinary experience for myself.

I am someone who loves Asian food, whether its Chinese, Japanese, Thai or anywhere else in the continent, but I’ve always wanted to try more authentic tastes, as opposed to the Anglo-centric takeaway options currently available.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a bit of deep fried squid, chilli beef or chicken Ramen, but it’s always nice to take on tastes that are home-cooked and stick to the original recipe of meals available in Beijing, Bangkok and Tokyo.

With that being said, I was pleased to receive an invitation to a unique type of evening at Agden Hall, near Whitchurch on the Shropshire/Cheshire border, which would provide me with all those tastes.

The invitation was from Cheng Supper Club, a new concept in dining where guests are invited into the home of June Cheng and Jem Shaw and given a full guided tour of pan-Asian cuisine in a relaxed and comfortable environment.

This event I was invited to was a preview event to try it out before the couple fully introduce the Supper Club in April, with plans for it to be hosted on the first and third Friday and Saturday of each month.

My journey took me north into Shropshire through rush hour traffic and into the outskirts of Whitchurch, but then sent me off into the dark, with the rain coming down alongside me to create the aforementioned “dark and stormy” night along a country lane.

While Agden Hall was a bit hard to find due to it being dark and in a somewhat remote part of the countryside, it was worth looking for as Jem welcomed me and the other guests into his home and into the cosy dining room.

In there, there was a table with enough space for 12 people to sit and enjoy the complementary drinks (with the wine flowing among a lot of the guests) and outstanding prawn crackers, crispy and nicely spiced.

Again, I was not drinking as Whitchurch is not near where I live, so I spent my evening drinking from the bottles of Kombucha on offer. Having never had it before, I was taken by the sharp, almost sour taste, but the lasting flavour that came from it, and so my thirst was consistently refreshed.

The Cheng behind the name, June, also came into introduce herself and talk about what we would be getting from the night, which was a six-course meal full of different tastes and flavours.

Taking in the cosy and comfy surroundings, we settled down at the table and were presented with the first course, with June introducing it and giving us a guide to the region and key ingredients used.

We started with Miang, a Thai snack, which came in three parts with cucumber topped with citrus, a mixture of bits on a piece of pear and shredded beef on a prawn cracker.

These were bite-sized pieces, but carried different flavours, from the citrusy zing of the first piece called Khai Khem Phlaa to the more aromatic taste of the Lao at the end.

The food came at a good pace, allowing for time for all of us to chat and find out more about each other’s jobs, lives and what we were all doing there, which fits the concept nicely as the table meant no one was sitting alone.

We then received a more delicate starter next full of Sai Oua, a Thai sausage with a nice mix of chilli and coriander, a Nahm Prik Num chilli dip and a very moreish chicken skewer full of flavour.

June and Jem also explained how they had come to live in Agden, having spent the last 15 years living in Hong Kong and working throughout Asia as cooks, learning their trade and developing their menu and how this was a nice opportunity for them to develop a new dining concept.

They showed it was an idea which had legs with the next course, an elegant selection of Japanese-influenced cured tuna in soy and wasabi dressing and a prawn tempura which mixed well with a delightful sweet chilli dipping sauce. All the flavours were nice and developed and kept your palate interested.

The courses also helped to cleanse said palate, with the turmeric and chicken broth a nice way to come down from the intense flavours of the previous dishes, with some very tasty dumplings and a glistening layer of fat on top as part of it as well, and prepare us for the main part of the meal.

What followed next was a big and colourful selection of dishes, which you were encouraged to share with the person sat across the table from you due to the amount of food on offer.

What I saw in front of me was a Gaeng Gati Muu curry, yellowy in colour and also sprinkled with a range of vegetables and little chillis which, me being me, I ate on their own and felt enough of a tingle to know they meant business.

The curry itself was delightful, full of spice and flavour and full of beautifully cooked pork, and matched well with the steamed rice and stir fry broccoli, while the sous vide ginger chicken was a soft and lightly tangy addition which left you with a plate full of flavour.

Having already enjoyed a mixture of flavours and tastes from across the different countries, June and Jem offered up a fitting finale with a three piece dessert.

The pandan panna cotta was a rich and coconutty treat, cool and refreshing, and matched well with a filled coconut macaroon (something I love) and a perfumed, aromatic Darjeeling tea in a shot glass.

It felt like you’d spent an evening at a very casual, yet also very refined, dinner party in a house in the country, sitting with good company and a cold drink and being fed incredible food.

If this is the future of dining, I’m all for it as Jem and June are excellent hosts, very talented cooks and, above all, genuinely nice people. Give this a try and thank me later. 

The Cheng Supper Club will be open for reservations from April, bookable for 12 guests per evening on the first and third Friday and Saturday of the month.

Arrival is between 6.30pm and 7pm, with the six course dinner starting at 7.15pm and an optional alcohol package available featuring curated wines and beers.

Cheng Supper Club - Agden Hall, Whitchurch, SY13 4RB - Reservations and inquiries via info@chengsupperclub.co.uk.