Mi Casa

Scout Hut, Redcliffe, Bristol. Email micasapopup@gmail.com

If I were a restaurateur, I might be starting to worry about the rise of supper clubs and pop-up restaurants such as Mi Casa.

Last weekend, Kristjan Bigland and Alexis John, with a bit of help from friends and family, transformed an old wooden scout hut near Redcliffe Caves into a pop-up restaurant for two nights.

Both evenings were fully booked and they had so many enquiries that they could have filled it several times over.

This at a time when many permanent restaurants are struggling to get bums on seats.

This was the second Mi Casa event for the couple, who have each worked in some of Bristol's best restaurants.

It was an inspired choice of venue, being central yet tucked away enough to feel like a secret.

Inside, the SRS Steadfast and Bristol Sea Scouts life rings were still in place on the wooden walls, but the room had been given a colourful makeover with candles adding to the relaxed atmosphere.

The 40 diners shared three long tables laid with brown paper and each guest had a copy of the handwritten menu with their name on. Guests brought their own wine, which was opened by waiting staff at the table at no extra charge. There was a fascinating mix of people, most of whom had found out about the event through Twitter, Facebook and local bloggers.

As well as chefs and people involved in the food business in some way, there were photographers, artists, musicians and a number of local food bloggers – they were the ones snapping away at the food with their iPhones.

To one side, two members of local art collective Dirty Old Town drew a brilliant wall mural as diners tucked into the four-course menu, which had a North African and Middle Eastern flavour.

There was no choice when it came to the food and the four courses were served just as they would at a dinner party. The idea, our host explained in a short introduction, was about sharing and celebrating food.

And there was plenty of it, with several huge terracotta bowls, wooden boards and plates of each dish brought to the table. For the £25 price tag, portions were certainly generous.

The first course took the form of a selection of mezze dishes and they were all excellent. There was creamy, silky labneh (strained yoghurt), bite-size sweet potato falafels, cumin-flavoured carrot dips with crumbled feta and superior and colourful coleslaw comprising red cabbage, cucumber, almonds and sultanas.

Lamb breast is a cheap cut that needs a lot of work, skill and careful cooking to make it really worthy of star billing but it certainly stole the show here.

The lamb was crisp on the outside and the layers of tender meat inside had been stuffed with cous cous, dried figs, preserved lemon and mint that gave it a sweet fruitiness. It arrived on a bed of saffron-infused onion potatoes, crispy chickpeas, rounds of tender aubergines and a soothing yoghurt and tahini dressing.

Best of the lot was the cucumber, pomegranate, parsley and feta salad, which was, by turns, cooling, crunchy, sweet and salty.

It also looked stunning with the red pomegranate seeds twinkling like precious jewels in the candlelight.

After two memorable courses, dessert had a lot to live up to. Most of the people around me agreed that the poached pear lacked a bit of oomph and may have benefited from a hint of vanilla or simply a touch more sugar or alcohol, but the filo pastry parcel of almond, pistachio and apricot hit the spot.

A generous board of excellent Spanish cheeses from Papadeli (where Alexis is chef) and bread served with membrillo rounded off the feast just before the 11pm curfew. Diners were invited to write their comments and feedback on a board that took up the length of one wall and cash for the meal was simply placed in a large fruit bowl at the side, like a church collection.

Before the event, the owners said they wanted Mi Casa to be more than simply a plate of food and by the end of the evening, this felt a lot more than being in a restaurant.

There was a genuine sense of something quite big unfolding around us – a sense that Mi Casa is exactly the type of alternative to restaurants people are looking for at the moment.

The food was excellent and the price was very reasonable, too cheap even. As for atmosphere – well, I can't recall an evening in a Bristol restaurant that was so much fun. This was as much an event as a meal and Bookings for the next Mi Casa nights at the end of March are already going fast. You would be mad to miss it.

Prices: Four courses for £25

Food: 9

Atmosphere: 9

Value: 9

Service: 9

Overall: 9