The Gunmaker’s pub holds a special place in my heart. When I first arrived in London I was a young naive thing, fresh off the plane from Perth on my first overseas adventure. Sometime in 2004, I went on a pub lunch with my new colleagues at Investis and we ended up at said pub. Perusing the menu, I saw a pork pie. Now in Australia, pies mean small pastry contraptions, filled with mince beef and served warm at the footy with a dollop of tomato sauce on top — or perhaps tomato sauce injected into your pie if you are so inclined — whilst it did say pork pie, I thought that perhaps this was their preferred choice for meat pies like it is with sausages, you tend to see a lot of beef sausages in Australia instead of pork. “Bring on this pork pie” I said, “with this ploughman’s lunch package deal”. All I knew about a Ploughman’s Lunch was that it came with cheese and pickle, which sounded rather relevant to my interests. 

When the pie arrived, it was cold and filled with this suspicious looking jelly substance. I couldn’t hide my disappointment. I love pastry and pork but COLD? Noooooo! My colleagues noted the dejected look on my face and enquired as to why the long face. I explained with embarrassment that I was not expecting a cold pie and certainly not one with meat jelly. They laughed. I ate my cheese and my pickle, finished my salad but I could not eat much of the pie. The jelly was a step too far. 

Despite being seven years ago now, this incident still sits fresh in my mind. It was recounted to my husband, Brad, as we sat in the pub waiting for our meal at the Gunmaker’s a few months back. The funny thing is I’ve come to love a good pork pie over my time in England. 

The food at the Gunmaker’s is still as good as ever, with a daily changing menu and real ale list. I opted for the rather rustic Fish and Chips whilst Brad went for Toulouse Sausages and Lentils. 

My fish was lovely and fresh (Plaice IIRC) and I liked the roasties. The mushy peas was one of the nicest I’ve tasted in a long time. Well portioned too. Not sure about the grilled tomato that they included but more vegies never hurt anyone. 

Brad’s Toulouse-style sausages were super meaty. The lentils were incredibly flavoursome but there was perhaps just a tad too many for him to finish. The roasties were crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Not sure about the basil garnish on both plates, it’s such a strong flavour and I don’t think it adds anything to the presentation, which is quite nice as it is. 

All in all, it came to around £25 including a beer for Brad and a Diet Coke for me — I had to Boris Bike to my office in Covent Garden afterwards. It’s perhaps not worth a special journey from afar but it’s most definitely worth a trip if you are a local looking for lunch. 

The Gunmakers
13 Eyre Street Hill
Clerkenwell, London EC1R 5ET
Phone: +44(0)2072781022
http://thegunmakers.co.uk/