Is it a dinner party? Is it a restaurant? Er, no, it’s a supper club, stupid.  Everyone’s doing it. Le cool (http://london.lecool.com/london/en/week)’s Maeve Hosea feasts her way round London, rooting out some of the best for us

A masala coconut dish with fish, accompanied by rice and followed by lamb kofte and chickpeas, sweet prunes and spiced aubergine is Bushra Akram’s favourite meal. The glamorous thirty-something cooking up a storm in her kitchen is a lawyer. She is well travelled but, aside from her latest love affair with Beirut – ‘The new Paris’ –, she is passionate about her Pakistani roots and the subtle flavours within that culinary tradition. Tapping into the underground supper club trend, every month she serves an intimate group of six who have found her through her Facebook http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=118199641523616 group. Heady flavours are complemented with a carefully selected wine and finished with Guatemalan Zacapa rum.

West-London hostess Shelley’s favourite wine is an Argentinean Zinfandel but she keeps that bottled up, encouraging the guests to bring their own to complement each of her themed dinners. I found Shelley, AKA Nomad Chef, through her blog (http://nomadchef.com/ ). I’ve come on ‘Viva Cubana’ night and I’m looking forward to seeing what my Californian hostess will make of the culinary muse of that Caribbean island: Mojitos that pack a punch, fried plantains, black bean soup, spicy chicken and rice and an upside down mango cake concoction.  Shelley, in her fifties has soaked up the varied flavours of several decades of world travel. Tonight she is drawing on some of the repertoire of a former Cuban lover and adding a French touch, with the help of a Francophone boyfriend at the stove.

It feels laid back and open around the table. We are sitting with a group of random ‘guests’ who range from Joe, the organic farmer’s market organiser to Katy, the media lawyer. Our night is punctuated by the live performances of one of Shelley’s youthful associates, singer-songwriter Alex Berger. A twenty-something Londoner currently enjoying some not insignificant success in New York, Alex sings about opportunity, love, of being young and hopeful.

Meanwhile, in the elegant Georgian environs of Camden Square in North London, Francesca’s Kitchen http://francescassecretkitchen.wordpress.com/ hosts an evening twice a month, boasting authentic Italian recipes with an artistic twist. Run by two Francescas – a blonde and a brunette from Genoa and Milan respectively — the evening is the result of their friendship and shared enjoyment of cooking. Since moving to London as arts students a decade ago, they first learnt how to find the best ingredients from Italian specialists and then to give their mother’s recipes a twist. The rise of the underground supper club provided them with a creative outlet.

Under low lighting, 20 of us share large tables in the generous living/dining room area. The décor – retro Italian furniture and art – is exquisite. It’s a lively atmosphere but somehow lacks the conviviality of Shelley’s table, where the effortless enjoyment was carefully conjured through her masterful hostessing skills. Nevertheless, the occasion intrigues with its twists and turns on what is what: Home, food, art.

Entitled ‘White and Green’, our dinner consists of: fish fillet cooked in foil with potatoes and salsa verde; spinach and ricotta balls in hot butter sauce; and white sausage Ziti with cauliflower in béchamel sauce and mint meringues.

“Food is such a direct way of communicating with people,” enthuses Francesca the brunette. “You sit down and you eat and you drink, you are happy.”

Bushra’s Table: £75 including drinks; Nomad Chef: £30, bring your own wine; Francesca’s Kitchen: £30 bring your own wine