Delicious Asian-Influenced Dishes At This Usually Off-Limits Club

This members' club throws open its Brasserie doors to non-members at weekends, and the excuse to stick our noses into an otherwise off-limits building feels like reason enough to visit.

Turns out the Asian-influenced menu is a better reason still: our starters are spectacular and surprising, on a menu that sounds more conventional than it is. Brixham crab toast comes as a large shell crammed with meat, red chilli and lime juice to brighten the richness, and with tiny fragments of  toasted bread mixed through and balancing out the creamy texture. Crispy duck salad is studded with pomegranate sweetness and toasted sesame — a bit bitter, a bit smoky, a bit sharp.

Main courses are more straight-bat: great ingredients prepared simply. The Dover sole is dusted with flour and grilled to perfect softness, and the wild mushrooms side is so packed with earthy flavour, they feel richer and meatier than the veal schnitzel main. The schnitzel's a bit on the tough side, but hey - it’s being compared to London’s softest Dover sole, and that’s a difficult act to follow. Wine list, chocolate-tahini dessert and service all have that establishment-luxe thing going on, along with a bit more approachability than you might expect from members’ club territory.

The Brasserie at Devonshire Club, 5 Devonshire Square, EC2M 4YD. The Brasserie is open for non-members at weekends.