The burgeoning pop-up restaurant scene has hit Balham, which is good news for those who enjoy fine dining for a fraction of the price, writes Alexis Thompson.

I'll let you into a secret. Once a month, an aspiring restaurant owner serves a lavish five-course meal for next to nothing at his home in Balham. And better still, anyone is invited to try it.

"Except it's not a really a secret anymore", says 24-year-old Jimmy Garcia. He says he often has more than 80 people turn up to his Southwest Supper Club, which he also runs from Secondo, a quirky bar/ cafe in Clapham.

He says: "Its popularity has spread largely through word of mouth. People go, and if they like it they then recommend it to their friends – which is great, because it creates a lovely 'friends of friends' atmosphere."

And there is now a queue of my own friends desperate to try out Garcia's food after I paid a visit to his last supper club at Secondo.

Here, Garcia was serving food for 85 people, which is no easy task.

"It can get a little stressful", he admits. "But it's also such a buzz. To see so many people having such a good time is a great feeling of achievement and it makes it all worth while."

The place was certainly buzzing that night, full with cool London hipsters wisely jumping on board the pop-up restaurant trend, with a charismatic jazz band providing the entertainment and a bar serving alcohol.

Sat among strangers who quickly became friends as the night progressed, I enjoyed a superb four-course meal for only £30 ahead. This included a caramelised plantain and papaya salad for starters, followed by a creamy pea and mint soup with parsnip crisp and pea shoots. For mains I tucked into a corn-fed chicken breast, stuffed with mango and served with a Caribbean jerk sauce. And then came a dessert to die for – roasted figs in red wed wine and anise, served with honey-clotted cream and a beignet.

It wasn't just the quality of the food but also the presentation which impressed me, with all of the dishes looking like something you'd find in a Michelin-starred restaurant.

The beauty of pop-up restaurants is you can enjoy top-quality food at a fraction of the price in intimate surroundings. And there's some good news for food lovers, they are now cropping up all over south-west London. Many are hosted in people's homes, while others hire out more unusual venues to cater for their ever expanding number of guests.

Garcia runs the Southwest Supper Club once a month from his home, where he usually charges £25 for five courses, and once a month from Secondo. But he says he'd like to try out more unusual locations to host it.

He said: "I would love to have a big enough mailing list to have one supper club once a week with three separate locations, and also have the opportunity to do supper clubs in secret locations such as open-top buses and boats."

He promotes his events using a Facebook page and by posting individual invitations through people's doors.

Garcia says: "People are always interested when they get an invite through their door because it makes it more personal."

Garcia says his ultimate dream is to open his own restaurant. He should succeed: His passion for food is clearly evident and his enthusiasm for what he does is infectious.

He adds: "At university, during the holidays I would get my friends from back home to chip in £10 for ingredients and then I'd cook us a five-course dinner. With the change I'd buy alcohol so we could have a bit of a party afterwards."

"I love cooking something for people that they wouldn't normally cook for themselves at home. For me it's not about making a profit, it's about putting a smile on people's faces. I don't really want the supper club to be just a meal, I want it to be an experience.

Garcia's next supper club will be held at Secondo in Voltaire Road, Clapham North on September 30 and October 1, where he'll also have a salsa band playing. To find out more, visit his Southwest Supper Club Facebook page, or join the mailing list by emailing southwestsupperclub@gmail.com.