Waitrose's Supper Club in Haywards Heath: what was the verdict?

Waitrose launched a new Supper Club recently. Find out what it served and what diners made of supermarket dining.

Waitrose's brand new Haywards Heath store launched a limited-time-only Supper Club during April and May, offering guests an exclusive three-course meal with specially-selected wine pairings for dinner, drinks on arrival, nibbles and music for £35 per head.  

The Supper Club promised restaurant-quality meals, carefully curated by the chefs from its three Cookery Schools.

The mezzanine level café at the Haywards Heath store was transformed into a makeshift restaurant for eight evenings, with 50 places available each night.

The concept was trialled for a short period in 2016 in its Salisbury and Newbury stores, and is part of its drive to establish itself as an all-round food destination, not just a supermarket. 

Manager of the Waitrose Cookery Schools, Karen Himsworth, said: “This aims to deliver the next level of in store dining at Waitrose, building upon concepts like our sushi bars and wine bars. We want to make our stores a food destination in the evenings as well as in the day.

“We realise a supermarket might not spring to mind when people are thinking about dining out in the evening, but we want that to change. Our aim is to create an atmosphere that is inviting whether you are having a meal for two or out with a group of friends.

“We will look at next steps after we have finished the initial eight dates, but our aspiration is for this to continue at Haywards Heath and to explore how we might introduce at in other branches across the estate.”

What was on the menu?

The menu offered a variety of choices for each course.

• Starters: Brown shrimp cocktail with wheaten bread; or an edible garden with carrot crudité, mustard seed pickled and carrot yoghurt, watercress with sourdough croutons;
• Mains: Roast chicken, ballotine of leg with braised gem, pease and asparagus with Madeira sauce; or salmon with brown butter, tender stem broccoli, Jersey royals, lemon and cauliflower purée; or roast and shaved cauliflower with maple seed granola and lettuce purée;
• Dessert: Chocolate pavé with salt caramel popcorn and buttermilk ice cream. 

The verdict

The Supper Club received some mixed reviews from customers speaking to the Daily Mail.

Meg Overy, from Ardingly in West Sussex told the newspaper: "You could have done it at home or just bought the ingredients from Waitrose for much less. I'm really surprised it wasn't better knowing Waitrose's reputation.

"The food wasn't that brilliant."

And Beryl McNulty said: "There was quite a pleasant ambience but the menu was very unimaginative, very 1970s."

However, the reaction on social media was more positive.

@waitrose lovely evening at Haywards Heath supper club! Great food and wine !

— Clive Smith (@lewessmith) May 5, 2017

.@waitrose loved your supper club! 🙌 https://t.co/Qk4DrIbcf9

— Jo Jo Harris (@JoJoHarris14) April 29, 2017

It's not clear if the Supper Club concept will be rolled out to more stores across the UK.

We think you might also enjoy:

Michel Roux Jr's lamb mince skewers with coriander dip recipe

Pretzel bacon grilled cheese with honey mustard recipe