London – Eating & Drinking – Pubs & Bars – Pubs
Many elements must converge to make a great pub, and The Gunmakers is one of a handful of central London pubs which exemplifies this.
The main drawcard is the always-changing selection of immaculately kept real ales. Landlord Jeff takes great care of his beer, and won’t serve a shoddy pint. He’ll typically have 2 regular ales & 2 rotating guests based on the season – you’ll often find a lineup like Harvey’s Sussex Best, Purity Mad Goose, Theakston’s Old Peculiar and St Austell’s Tribute. If you’re really keen you can sign up to the Twitter feed (@thegunmakers) and find out what beers are on that day!
You’ll also find a lager on tap, Guinness, cider, a range of spirits, and a stellar winelist to choose from – whilst Jeff likes people to get interested in real ale, again, the primary goal is for the customer to enjoy themselves.
You can still have nice beer in an awful pub, so what sets The Gunmakers apart? It’s a cosy, friendly place with chatty, above-capable staff and a great vibe. They’ll even do table service if it’s not too busy – when did you last get that in London?
You want more reasons to go there? The food’s brilliant. Jeff’s made a distinct effort not to go full-gastropub, nor turn it into a restaurant, but serve up well-thought-out pub grub made with high quality ingredients by their excellent chef, Sebastien. Last night I had the steak sandwich, which I immediately recommended to my friends as “the best steak sandwich I’d ever tasted” – they sceptically acquiesced to my advice, and upon tasting it there were lit-up eyes and nodding all-round.
It should be tattooed on landlords’ foreheads backwards so they read it every time they look in a mirror: “Treat your customers well, and they’ll come back, and they’ll bring friends”. The Gunmakers does this in every way, and now my friends have started taking their friends there.
It’s a gem.
Check out my review of The Gunmakers – I am mrfrisky – on Qype