The Gun, one of London's most celebrated gastropubs, has much going for it and I don't recall ever seeing a bad review of the place, and as such, following a summertime visit there, we thought we might be the first. However, that was not our first visit there with the previous experience being wholly better. With the score a level 1-1 in the good-bad stakes, we didn't post at that time wanting to consider the issue a little more before potentially dissing a gastro icon. Today we returned to The Gun for lunch and had a nice meal. Accordingly, with the score now standing at 2-1 in positive territory, it's time to commit a few thoughts to paper.
Our conclusion overall is that our disappointing second visit there can potentially be attributed to a capacity issue faced by the pub during sunny summer weekends. We went for Sunday lunch and both the outside terrace and the pub inside were at full capacity. In turn, both the service and the plates leaving the kitchen were found wanting. One plate of prawns was returned to the kitchen because they were off while a simple eggs benedict arrived at the table cold. They seemed to be struggling with the demand.
On the first occassion of our visit and on today's visit, the weekday lunchtime format sees a rather less crowded restaurant allowing the kitchen a greater focus on the food, commensurately raising the standard. On both these occasions the food has been very good indeed but stops short of being great. Accordingly, we believe that this is a great gastropub for locals but is not a destination place, certainly not for West Londoners who might be tempted to make the longer journey for a special dinner based upon The Gun's lauded reputation.
Aside of the food, the venue is quite inconvenient in many respects with no car parking facilities (and resident permit holders only on the surrounding streets) and not conveniently on the tube network with Canary Wharf being a little further than most would care to walk we think, not least because the surrounding docks block a direct route. Otherwise, Blackwall DLR is your best bet.
Much is forgiven though because this is a brilliant pub with a brilliant history. A short summary on the wall tells of its 250 years of activity as a public house including the iron foundaries that produced naval guns (hence the name I guess), Lord Nelson's visits and, more sadly, a fire in 2001. Fortunately it has been restored to its full glory. I do think though that if I were a local I would be upset that my most amazing local pub had gone so gastro that it is now so much more restaurant than pub, but that really is by the way. Finally, inside, there's much to enjoy visually with old flint guns and muskets on the wall as well as military paintings and prints. Even with the abundance of white table cloths, the sense of history is palpable, all of which adds to the occasion.
Our conclusion overall is that our disappointing second visit there can potentially be attributed to a capacity issue faced by the pub during sunny summer weekends. We went for Sunday lunch and both the outside terrace and the pub inside were at full capacity. In turn, both the service and the plates leaving the kitchen were found wanting. One plate of prawns was returned to the kitchen because they were off while a simple eggs benedict arrived at the table cold. They seemed to be struggling with the demand.
On the first occassion of our visit and on today's visit, the weekday lunchtime format sees a rather less crowded restaurant allowing the kitchen a greater focus on the food, commensurately raising the standard. On both these occasions the food has been very good indeed but stops short of being great. Accordingly, we believe that this is a great gastropub for locals but is not a destination place, certainly not for West Londoners who might be tempted to make the longer journey for a special dinner based upon The Gun's lauded reputation.
Aside of the food, the venue is quite inconvenient in many respects with no car parking facilities (and resident permit holders only on the surrounding streets) and not conveniently on the tube network with Canary Wharf being a little further than most would care to walk we think, not least because the surrounding docks block a direct route. Otherwise, Blackwall DLR is your best bet.
Much is forgiven though because this is a brilliant pub with a brilliant history. A short summary on the wall tells of its 250 years of activity as a public house including the iron foundaries that produced naval guns (hence the name I guess), Lord Nelson's visits and, more sadly, a fire in 2001. Fortunately it has been restored to its full glory. I do think though that if I were a local I would be upset that my most amazing local pub had gone so gastro that it is now so much more restaurant than pub, but that really is by the way. Finally, inside, there's much to enjoy visually with old flint guns and muskets on the wall as well as military paintings and prints. Even with the abundance of white table cloths, the sense of history is palpable, all of which adds to the occasion.
The menu this lunchtime is admirably ambitious though we must confess, following our El Bulli trip, we feel maxed out on food adventure and want something easy. Accordingly, we forgoe the Pig's head terrine and Grilled ox tongue and start with Wright Bros oysters (Colechester) and champagne, and Potted Morecombe Bay brown shrimp with toasted sourdough. The oysters were juicy and briney and generally delicious. The potted shrimp, topped with capers and parsley and a squeeze of lemon was good and plentiful though just one piece of toasted bread left me a short at the end with the offer of more a little late in the day.
On the main course, we had a ribeye on the bone and the day's special, an alaskan king crab claw (though I think they meant leg). The ribeye was good, a little over cooked for medium rare and a little less juicy than would have been perfect. Good flavours but short of the density of taste and char that you would expect at The Hawksmoor for example. Priced at a not inconsiderable £26, this is not a cheap option and needs to be able to compete with the likes of The Hawksmoor for quality of meat and cooking. The chips were quite tasty and what I would call old school, chips styled in the fashion of the day before French-fries slimmed them down and vegetable oil made them less unhealthy. Chip shop chips were never really crunchy in the way 'fries' are generally served now but they did have flavour and if these weren't totally old school, the DNA was there. We liked them though advocates of a slimmer crunchier variety of chip might not.
The Alaskan king crab was good and the kitchen had done most of the hard work accessing the meat making my job easy enough - eating it. You can't really go too far wrong as a kitchen with king crab (can you?) though at the risk of some bias, the king-crab we cook at home is better. Served with mayo, hot melted butter would have been a welcome addition. That said, it was good Alaskan king crab so I can't complain.
Overall, that word keeps coming back, good. It might even be joined by another word, 'very', to make very good. But it's never quite replaced by 'excellent' which is an altogether better word. And with only one glass of champagne and one glass of red wine (and no dessert), the bill came to £84, which is quite a lot for a pub lunch for two, meaning in the value for money stakes, it's not quite good enough.
Overall, that word keeps coming back, good. It might even be joined by another word, 'very', to make very good. But it's never quite replaced by 'excellent' which is an altogether better word. And with only one glass of champagne and one glass of red wine (and no dessert), the bill came to £84, which is quite a lot for a pub lunch for two, meaning in the value for money stakes, it's not quite good enough.
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