Following an unintentional summer break from blogging (what can I say? I have been too busy eating!), what was going to be the trigger to get me back in gear? Was it The Bull and Last, or even Dinner @ Heston? Both were on top form and will certainly be blogged in good time, but the real inspiration of the last few weeks has been The Gun in Docklands.
It has awesome beer, for a start. Good range, and friendly, knowledgeable staff on hand. One chap wandered over when he could see we were near the bottom of our glasses and chatted to us about the flavours we liked, gave us a tasting glass, and delivered us the perfect beers to enjoy with our food. He also brought us more bread, which, it being possibly the best bread I have ever had (little rosemary loaves with very salty butter), was a fast way into my good books.
We all had fish to eat, which the pub gets fresh from Billingsgate (round the corner) each morning. Mine was the daily special, and special it was. Fillet of sea bass with gnocchi, chanterelle mushrooms and a herb butter sauce. So delicious, and another welcome chap wandered over at one point and started chatting away about how the chef makes the gnocchi and why it’s so good.
A portion of beer-battered fish and chips was soft and flaky, and a real pleasure (although I did spot a couple of sideways longing glances at my amazing dish).
And another triumph was the whole grilled lemon sole with caper butter, which was fresh, tasty, and which Midori did absolute justice to, as can be seen by the before / after shots below. Did the chef ever have such clean fish bones returned?? Incidentally Midori was dissatisfied with the end result – plenty more fish on there but ran out of time!
Before
After
Ultimately, The Gun is a spectacular all-rounder. I would say the food was the highlight, but then the service might be the best I have experienced – a harmonious mix of attentive and casually chatty, perfectly at ease. And the beer! All in all, well worth a trip into the deepest Docks – and, by the way, it also offers a free taxi service from the Canary Wharf offices at lunch time.
