Pubs and Bars / Reviews
Her Majesty’s Secret Service – bar review
The smell of mint fills the room as the two bartenders begin one of the first tasks of their shifts at Her Majesty’s Secret Service, a cocktail bar hidden off the beaten track above Clifton Down railway station.
Freshly cut leaves soon cover the bar ready for the evening’s mojito orders or even #festivalchic, a novel creation served in a wellington boot.
Bartenders from Hausbar further up Whiteladies Road take the seats closest to the action before their own service begins, comparing notes and swapping stories.
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Kilner jars on shelves behind the bar hold unusual ingredients for the stranger cocktails on offer here – some of which are served not just in wellies but also miniature toilet bowls and sweet dispensers.
There is candyfloss in one jar, and marshmallows are a key component in the Scout’s Honour alongside tequila and lime juice. Choose one drink with Japanese characters in its name and get it served in a noodle soup box with noodles.
Thankfully, you can still have an old fashioned or margarita if you want to, with all the drinks contained in a passport-style menu filled with bespoke illustrations of the cocktails (costing from £8) and the contraptions they are served in, and even a crossword and a page for doodling.
This bar has gone through several incarnations in the last few years. Most memorably Whitelock & Grace, accessed by doorbell through the rear of the building through a car park, it has also been The Colour Inn and Charlie’s Bar.
The team behind Her Majesty’s Secret Service are new in town, escapees from London’s Cocktail Trading Co. who have been tempted to Bristol by its flourishing drinks scene.
Look for the flag, push open the door with a handle shaped like an antique musket, and arrive through a red telephone box.
It’s a long and thin room inside, with plenty to catch the eye from propellers to a piano – “where Bond would hide from his associates” say the boys behind the bar, as they carefully tidy those mint leaves ready for the evening’s festivities to commence.
Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Whiteladies Gate, Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 2PH
07808 227 662