9 The Gun
The award-winning Gun is one of three pubs owned by Tom and Ed Martin, says Mark Taylor, with two more openings planned for the next few months
The Gun Coldharbour, Docklands, London, E14. Tel:0207 515 5222, www.thegundocklands.com
A Grade II-listed pub dating back to early 18th-century, the Gun is situated on the banks of the Thames and is directly across the water from the Millennium Dome.
There has been a public house on the site of the Gun for more than 250 years and the surrounding area was home to the dockside iron foundaries that produced the guns for the Royal Naval fleets. Legend has it that Lord Nelson would frequent the Gun and meet Lady Emma Hamilton in an upstairs room for secret liaisons. These days it attracts foodies from across London, as well as workers from nearby Canary Wharf, all attracted to the bar menu and beer, as much as the fine dining and wine.
Closed for years after a fire, the Gun was opened in September 2004 by Tom and Ed Martin and it now serves more than 800 meals a week. In the kitchen, head chef Scott Wade (ex-Drones and Mirabelle) is responsible for a broad selection of dishes.
The pub menu offers bar snacks like pint o'prawns with mayonnaise and Old Spot bacon sandwich with brown sauce. The dining-room menu has such starters as potted duck with pear chutney and sage brioche, and mains like grilled Aberdeen Angus rib-eye steak with snails, Café de Paris butter and skin-on fat chips.
Named "Best Gastro Pub" in Time Out's Eating & Drinking Awards 2005 - something that co-owner Tom Martin puts down to the pub's excellent food and drink offer and its professional service - the Gun is one of three pubs owned by the Martin brothers (the others are the Well and the White Swan, both in Clerkenwell) with two more openings planned this spring.
Behind the scenes at...The Gun
Owners/licensees: Tom and Ed Martin
Head chef: Scott Wade
Wet:dry split: 45:55
Covers a week: 800 to 1,000
Covers for diners: 40-cover dining room in the main bar, 50 covers on the terrace, plus two private dining rooms
Best-selling dishes: The Gun fish pie and sauce Mornay; South Down lamb Barnsley chop with roasted garlic mash, cep duxelles, mint jus; petit pot au chocolat, griottines, langue du chat.
On the menu: Old Spot bacon sandwich with brown sauce; boiled beef and carrots with thyme dumplings; rum and raisin parfait with mango sorbet and bitter-chocolate ice cream
Top tip: Tom Martin says: "Try to be the best all the time. It's all about consistency of the product and the service, trying to keep on top of everything all of the time and absolutely believing in the product, rather than rolling it out just to make lots of cash."
Best business ideas/innovation: Barbecues in summer, using fresh fish and seafood from Billingsgate.
New for 2006: Tom Martin says: "We're opening two more venues in the next four months. One in Victoria Park with all-day food, a patisserie and a rotisserie. And we're also opening a more traditional neighbourhood pub in London Fields."
On the menu...
Seared scallops, parsnip purée & black pepper oil, £6.50 Pork tenderloin stuffed with dried fruits & sherry vinaigrette, £13.50 Passion fruit jelly & panna cotta, £4.50
Recipe
Scott Wade's potted duck
Ingredients
1.8kg/4lb duck legs
600g/1lb 5oz duck fat
1.6kg/3lb 9oz lard
500g/1lb 2oz pork tenderloin
1 bouquet garni
6 carrots - peeled
1 onion - quartered
3 heads of garlic - halved
1 bottle of Riesling
1lt/1¾pts water
Muslin bag containing star anise, cloves, black and white peppercorns
Method
Render down both fats with water. Add half the Riesling, duck legs, pork tenderloin, carrots, onion, garlic, bouquet garni and muslin bag to fat and water. Cover and cook overnight at 80°C/176°F. Pass through a sieve and flake meat into a bowl set over ice; flake in carrots. Cook green peppercorns with the remaining wine for 7 minutes. With two forks, work meat while adding green peppercorns, the rest of the wine and enough melted fat to get consistency. Press into small ramekins and seal with melted butter.
