The Bletchley

I feel privileged and I went along to a soft launch night of Lollipops new bar called ‘Bletchley’. Upon entering the bar I was blown away as I really do feel like I had travelled back into time back to the war with it’s dark lit atmosphere and the noise of air raid sirens going off and everyone dressed in war time uniforms. You are all given a war jacket to wear to make you feel like you are in the war. Then you are asked to choose your favourite colour mine being Pink so I was called ‘Agent Pink’. Now onto the fun part of ordering my cocktail. For my first cocktail I had to solve a code mainly by using the initials of my name using a electronic enigma machine then you had to decide which smell out of the numbered test tubes that had liquid in them was your favourite then writing down that number. There was so many different smells and some I could not decode the smell but all smelt really nice. I chose a citrus smelling one as I just love citrus fruits. You then can call the operator to give over your unique code. The drink is then created based on your code and the chosen smell you chose. All drinks are unique and created upon your code and smell so will never be the same. My drink contained Rosemary, Cardamon pods, Ginger, Redcurrent and Rum which was so sweet and tangy it really did make my taste buds explode and tingle with sheer delight. It was so delicious and wish I could have ordered another however the good thing is that you get given a envelope with your Agent name on it and inside is listed the ingrediants of your unique cocktail so you could technically create it again at home plus inside the envelope was yet another code to solve to get your next cocktail. Again once you get through to the phone operator you read of your code and this time she asks what is your chosen country so I chose Malta as I am half Maltease. Alas though I will never know what my second created cocktail would of been as you only get 2 hours in the Bletchly bar and because this was a soft launch drinks did take too long to create and come and it was now time for the second group. I do highly recommend to anyone to go and check this bar out as you really will be blown away.

If you're looking for a quirky bar/experience then this is the place to be! As soon as you head inside, you can see that the attention to detail is so high, the whole place looks like a bunker and you have to wear this jacket as uniform. You're able to choose the level of difficulty you want to play, they all require some brainpower and are super fun! The one we tried determined the ingredients of our cocktails, which tasted fab! Without giving too much away, I would say that this is a great experience and worth a try, brilliant as a date, with friends or even as a teambuilding night out!

The setting of the cocktail bar down to the music, siren sounds and posters on the wall is fantastic. You do feel that you have been transported back in time and the soldier jacket you get to wear adds to that! 

I was a little disappointed with the staff's greeting on arrival as I expected them to be in character. given that this was supposed to be an 'immersive' experience... they most definitely was not!

We were shortly handed our first code to crack by another member of staff, who again simply handed us the instructions and told us we had 20 minutes to solve it but was in no way enthusiastic or set the scene. Admittedly the first one did involve some clue hunting and actually involved a little bit of brain power and you then had to phone your answer through to the operator, which was a great touch! 

We were then served our second cocktail and given our next 'code to crack' which really wasn't a code at all, you simply had to smell scent bottles and choose a colour to call yourself and phone through your choices. The code after this pretty much involved the same thing, not a code to crack, no clues to solve just your personal preference. In our final code stated that you would be told who was the spy from your group and SPOILER ALERT - this simply meant a small white sticker with the word 'Spy' on it was placed on one persons glass, nothing more than this.

I really feel that the staff could be in character, much like the Breaking Bad immersive experience, this really is where this company falls down there is no characterisation and the service really leaves a lot to be desired. To call yourself an immersive experience, having characters there that set the scene and really get involved can make or break it. I have been to many other immersive experiences where the staff has been great but this is not the case here and it's a real shame because it has the makings of a great experience. 

We got to our table a little early at 7:20pm and we were finished by 8:10pm - not even an hour to get through the so called 'codes' when the booking was for 2 hours but we were offered another challenge for an extra £10 each so I guess the booking is made longer in the hopes that you spend more money. 

£35 for 3 cocktails and the setting, especially give the bar was in Chelsea really isn't too bad but the experience itself was a bit of a disappointment, others in reviews have mentioned cracking codes in the booking of tickets and they have taken photos of letters they were given on the night addressed to their agent names, we received nothing of the sort! Their instagram page also has photos of much fancier cocktails with colours matching agent names, ours were nothing like this. 

It's a long way to go for not even an hour and I had such high hopes for it.... also the instructions had a lot of typos and grammatical errors on them which is a real pet hate of mine! 

The Bletchley...think coding and cocktails in uniform ;-) A very quirky evening out with the ABQ team. Solving clues is the theme from the start, from booking your tickets to getting your cocktails. Yes, you have to put some work into it! If you love quirky, immersive and cocktails then this is a must!

I have been wanting to come here since the bar opened, but it took a while to actually visit - it wasn't a disappointment and we had a great time.  The set-up is great and the attention to detail is fab.  The cocktails weren't brilliant but I guess you only have yourself to blame for that!  They weren't that strong, but you don't really come here for the cocktails and it is much more about the immersive experience.  A lot quieter than when it first opened, but still worth a visit.

Ready to go on a Mission! Become an agent at The Bletchley and crack codes to get amazing cocktails!

My friends and I had a great experience. As soon as we found the secret location and make our way down the war room, we were back in time to the 40's during WWII. The concept is fun and very clever. There is no menu and all the drinks are personalized but the only to get them is to enter personal data into a cipher machine, crack codes and transmit fun combination to a secret agent at the bar. 

We had 3 cocktails each: a welcome one, and then two personalized ones. They were all delicious and surprising as sometime we had no clue what we were ordering. 

Definitely recommend a visit as you're guaranteed to have a fun time and you don't need to be a history or a maths buff to enjoy the experience .

Code breaking before you get your drink, how cool is this! I absolutely love this place, it's slightly hard to find as the entrance is hidden behind the restaurant. However once you managed to get in, it's a completely different world. Staff were friendly, everyone got a uniform and definitely felt like you were in a movie scene. The puzzles were fairly easy so yes you do get your cocktails pretty fast. Cocktails were special and unique and all my friends love what they got. The only downside is probably because the bar can get a little noisy so not a place for date night if you are looking for somewhere quiet and chilled out.

My cousins are mad escape room junkies and got me rather hooked in Barcelona (great wet weather activity) so when this popped up, I couldn’t resist having a go. You quickly realise where your money goes - the bunker is well designed and everyone gets their own uniform to put on. You get your first cocktail when you’re seated and instructions for your first code - the theme is well thought out; however don’t expect anything on the level of an escape room difficulty as the tasks are quite basic - I think, to ensure that you receive your cocktails; which really isn’t so bad. It would be interesting to see whether they can take this idea up a notch and scale it into a full on escape room experience. Overall, the cocktails were flavoursome and the atmosphere buzzing - definitely a great conversation starter for an interesting date night.

Tip: make sure you have some nibbles or dinner before hand - The Worlds End Market upstairs is a good shout for pre-drinks, nibbles, or dinner.

Good For: date night, catch up with friends, small groups, something different.