Gun, The

The Gun, Docklands: Verdict

The Gun is one of the more honest propositions in London's pub dining scene: a Thames-side historic pub in Docklands where the atmosphere does a lot of the heavy lifting, the kitchen; under chef Bruno Minucelli; earns its Opinionated About Dining recognition without overreaching. If you're coming from central London for a gastropub meal, this is a worthwhile detour. If you're already in Docklands or the Isle of Dogs area, it should be your first call for a long lunch or an after-work dinner that doesn't feel like a compromise.

What You're Getting

The Gun occupies a converted Georgian pub on Coldharbour, a narrow street running along the Thames in E14. The space divides between a ground-floor bar area with exposed brickwork and timber, a dining room that looks out toward the river. Seating is pub-format, tables are close, the room has texture, but this isn't a polished fine-dining environment. The spatial appeal is the building itself: low ceilings, period features, a terrace that becomes genuinely good in warmer months. Right now, as the evenings stretch out, the terrace is worth specifically requesting when you book.

Service here is pub-trained rather than restaurant-trained, which matters for how you read the price point. Expect attentive but informal floor staff, the kind of team that knows the menu well and will give you a straight answer on what to order, but won't be performing tableside. For a neighbourhood pub, that's a feature. If you're benchmarking against London's formal dining rooms, the service gap is real, it's part of why The Gun works better as a relaxed lunch than a special-occasion dinner.

Opinionated About Dining ranked The Gun at #551 in Casual Europe for 2024 (recommended in 2023), which places it in credible but not elite territory. That consistency, at a pub price point in a neighbourhood where dining options thin out quickly, is what earns its place on a shortlist.

Booking and Timing

Booking at The Gun is easy, this is not a venue requiring weeks of advance planning. A few days ahead is typically sufficient, weekend lunches are the busiest window. The pub opens at 11:30am daily, closing at 11pm Monday through Tuesday, midnight Wednesday through Saturday, 10:30pm on Sundays. Lunch on a weekday is the least pressured visit: the room is quieter, the terrace (weather permitting) is accessible, the kitchen is operating without the Saturday evening volume. For groups, a call ahead is sensible, the pub format means table configuration matters more than in a restaurant with flexible room plans.

How It Compares

Compared to London's top-end dining, The Gun is playing a completely different game, that's the point. CORE by Clare Smyth, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, The Ledbury, Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library, and Dinner by Heston Blumenthal are all operating at price points and formality levels that make them a different decision entirely. Within the gastropub category specifically, the more instructive comparison is Hand and Flowers in Marlow, which sets the ceiling for what British pub dining can achieve. The Gun doesn't reach that level, but it also doesn't require a trip out of London or a Michelin-level reservation.

For visitors building a broader London itinerary, our full London restaurants guide, London hotels guide, London bars guide, London wineries guide, and London experiences guide cover the wider picture.

Pearl Picks Nearby

If the Thames-side setting matters more to you than the pub format, or if you're planning a wider UK dining trip, consider: Waterside Inn in Bray for a formal riverside alternative, L'Enclume in Cartmel or Moor Hall in Aughton if you're prepared to travel for the UK's leading dining, Gidleigh Park in Chagford for country house dining, hide and fox in Saltwood for a smaller, more focused operation. Internationally, Le Bernardin in New York City and Lazy Bear in San Francisco represent what the best of the casual-fine spectrum looks like if you're calibrating expectations.