[3] In 1872, Charles Sonnhammer and Emil Loibl, the owners of the London Pavilion music hall, established an "oyster warehouse" at 18 Coventry Street.

[6] During the Second World War, James Bond author Ian Fleming had the idea of taking captured German U-boat officers Werner Lott and his second in command, for a day out and lunch at Scott's with the aim of getting them drunk so that they would reveal how they had managed to evade British mines in the Skagerrak.

The plan failed but not before the restaurant filled with police officers from Special Branch after the head waiter overheard the party speaking in German.

[7][8] Later, when Scott's was still in Coventry Street, Fleming made his regular spot at the restaurant, a right-hand corner table for two on the first floor, the favourite also of Bond.

Inspector John Purnell and Sergeant Phil McVeigh, who were both unarmed, were on the spot and were able to give chase in a London taxi despite several shots being fired at them.

[7][12] In 1988, Kingsley Amis reviewed the restaurant for The Illustrated London News, noting that the decor was "luxurious to the safe side of vulgarity".

[13] In 2013, the Financial Times reported that Scott's had been patronised in the recent past by former US President Bill Clinton, actor Tom Cruise and Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos.