POLLEN STREET SOCIAL

If the last time you joined a social club was at your mother’s behest in your awkward school days, fear not. This is neither a Scouts get-together nor an over-plumped gentleman’s establishment, and you won’t need a secret key to get in.

You will however, receive a key on entering what is Jason Atherton’s restaurant just around the corner from Sketch off Regent Street, a high-end eatery that invites you to hang out – surprisingly casual connotations for this kind of modern gastronomy and part of town. No woggles necessary here, choose unobstructed by course conventions and wear what you want too.

The main action is in the dining room, a light space with wooden floors and art by Simon Oldfield. Small plates mix it up with mains (which can be ordered as half sizes to make your own tasting menu); stand-outs include the cauliflower and squid, roasted halibut with a porky paella, and the Angus aged beef with duck fat chips.

If you just want a nibble and a cocktail head to The Social Room (you can even do it guilt-free first thing in the morning with the breakfast martini garnished by a sliver of toast) which has a no-booking bar and smaller versions of the a la carte’s choices.

The most sought-after seats however, are at the dessert bar. Operating something like a sushi bar with fresh morsels rolled out by a team of chefs in front of seven high bar stools, the choices range from classic tiramisu to the more avant-garde ‘ham, cheese & herbs’ (a strangely satisfying concoction of savoury and sweet) and the tooth-rotting PBJ, a twist on the peanut butter and jelly sandwich also seen in Soho’s Spuntino.

As for that key you received? Swap it for a going-away gift on your way out and enjoy a little more Pollen Street hospitality with breakfast in a bag for the next morning.