The Spy Bar, Raffles London at The OWO

OWO is an acronym for the Old War Office. A stone’s throw from the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace, the hotel’s baroque architecture is considered one of the most compelling design feats from the Edwardian era. It was originally completed in 1906 when it used to be known, simply, as The War Office. Through the decades, MI5 and MI6 ruled the corridors and spies abounded aplenty, apparently, as did heroes of the British Empire such as Winston Churchill, TE Lawrence (of Arabia) and James Bond creator, Ian Fleming. After years of painstaking renovation and hard work, Raffles opened their UK flagship in September 2023.

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The results are nothing short of stunning. As well as boasting a mind-boggling nine restaurants and three bars, art by contemporary masters such as Idris Khan and Yinka Shonibare is scattered liberally throughout. With its multi-right angled marble staircase and hanging chandeliers, the inside entrance makes you feel like a gate-crasher at the most ornate and exquisite Vogue shoot. The courtyard, a football-sized space beyond reception, resembles a secret Parisian or Roman luxury hideout. The hotel has over two miles of corridors and the basement offers a different atmosphere altogether; labyrinthine, carpeted, low ceilinged, with pipes adrift and on show. Somewhat Kafkaesque, it’s somewhere to get lost in. Somewhere, arguably, to lose people in. Somewhere to keep dark secrets in. Somewhere so secret that the Spy Bar requires a member of staff to lead guests to it.

We descend in a lift with two exits. The corridor is less ornate than the ground floor or the courtyard. It feels like a throwback to the 40s with its copper fire extinguishers and its red and black patterned carpet which seems to stretch into infinity. Around an innocuous corner, surrounded by innocuous painted white bricks stands an innocuous dark wooden door. On it, a small plaque way higher than eye line, perhaps positioned to mislead or misdirect, says everything it needs to say. 007. The member of staff seems to vanish (a secret passage maybe!?). We wonder if we should knock or push the door open. With some trepidation, we do the latter. The small room could be Orwell’s 101 rather than one created by Fleming. Rather than a secret drinking spot, we find ourselves in a small burgundy space, greeted by a man in a tie sitting behind what looks like a Cold War desk. Typewriter? Check. Ring dial phone? Check. Spotlight? Check. Hand sanitiser!? Err, well, yes; check! He ticks our name off a very secret list and places stickers over our phone camera lenses. The sticker reads ‘For Your Eyes Only’. Finally, then, with the flop of a hand, we’re ushered into the inner sanctum.

It’s womb-like in The Spy Room; atmospherically lit, with more burgundy and a buzzing clientele channelling its inner espionage fantasies. Perhaps most impressively, above the bar’s glowing and glistening bottle selection, hovers the sleek, silver side of an Aston Martin DB5, the hero vehicle from the Connery classic, Goldfinger. Seating only extends to 52 guests and we’re escorted to a smaller, side room. Octagon-shaped, walls are brick, seating is velvety and vertical Dan Flavin-esque light sticks illuminate the intimate space. Individual cocktails top £2000 but we’re here for the Macallan James Bond 60th Anniversary release which explores six decades of the man, the mystery, the myth, with specifically curated Macallan Double Cask 12 years old whiskey pairings and the occasional snack.

Decade I is a Poached Scallop Quenelle served with Sauce Nantua. There’s another connection here with Goldfinger; we can’t quite hear everything our waiter tells us so. The quenelle is a mixture of creamed scallops with an egg binding. It’s smooth, is a pleasant curiosity and is served in a small, black leather attaché case for extra espionage effect. A lobster bisque foam and fingernail of caviar add for a complex oceanic taste. Later I re-watch Goldfinger but can find no clue. My friend is even more of a James Bond aficionado so he sets upon re-reading Fleming’s novel. Hey Presto! Bond is driving through France, Orleans to be precise. He doesn’t like Orleans, would have preferred to sleep on the banks of the Loire, his belly full of ‘quenelles de brochet’ – a pike quenelle. So it’s not even something he eats, just something he dreams of eating; an obscure reference, therefore. The whiskey cocktail for Decade II comes with Myrto absinthe and bitters. It’s a smooth experience without a sting and has a tantalising caramel aftertaste.

Decade III, IV and V are all cocktails. The first of these is inspired by the negroni Bond drinks in Rome in For Your Eyes Only. It’s mixed with mushroom and pink pepper, Campari and sweet vermouth. Although its ingredients don’t suggest as much, the mushroom is infused with chocolate, or more accurately, it’s the chocolate which is infused with mushroom. The drink is thick and syrupy but not insipid. It leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste and is tantamount to a slow, edifying chocolate liquor; if you’re a chocaholic, like myself, this is a highlight. Decade IV comes with maracuya and Sauternes. ‘Maracuya’ is Portugese for passion fruit and this cocktail references Ian Fleming’s love of Jamaica – he lived in a villa on the northern coastline in Oracabessa Bay for some years. This is more sprightly and has more of a whiskey aftertaste than previous mixes. Decade V is served with Nettle & honey, Chardonnay and CO2 and we’re suddenly in Daniel Craig territory. Craig hasn’t yet visited the Spy Bar but if you know him and can coax him along, our waiter has generously offered a free drink to all concerned. The honey provides a sweetness and the CO2 some soft, smaller bubbles. A pleasing nuttiness lingers.

Music throughout sets the spy’s mood well. No Bond themes are presented but sexy, cool, romantic interludes are all represented in an energetic and expertly curated selection. We arrive to vintage Stones but are also treated to the spy-infused, ska trumpet jazz of Lee Morgan’s The Rumproller, the more romantic 60s gypsy gallivanting of Caravan Palace’s L’enfol and the sultry, groovy and lyrically suggestive Love Me Right by Lavern Baker.

The experience lasts close to three hours and for Decade VI, we’re offered our second and final edible; Smokey Madong Chocolate with Roasted Cocoa Bean. I had no idea what Madong chocolate was so Googled it. It seems to originate from Papau New Guinea and is, apparently, ‘a surprising almost meaty chocolate from volcanic land.” The chocolate itself is served with a gold leaf tear on what can only be described as a slab of further dark chocolate the diameter of a cricket ball and about a centimetre thick. This, in turn, rests on a bed of cocoa nibs and small silver globules which taste like maltesers. Oh. And the Madong chocolate has a curious if not unique bacon aftertaste. Served with a neat 007 Macallan whiskey which has been matured in a cherry/bourbon cask for 18 years, this heady combo is the closest most will come to being injected with an intravenous choca-alcoholic drip.

‘Immersive’ is a bit of a buzz-word these days and more often a redundant one. But, with the OWO’s unique history, its attention to detail and its unique collaboration with Macallan, the word couldn’t be better applied to this 18 and over Bond experience. The man himself might try to persuade you You Only Live Twice but for those of us who only live once, this is definitely worth a shot before it’s too late. Oh, and don’t forget to eat beforehand at one of the hotel’s nine restaurants.