Historical version 4 of Gunmakers, EC1R 5ET (view current version)

A lovely little pub just off Clerkenwell Road, on a quiet back street.

A modest and understated frontage, with a couple of tables sitting outside, opens on to a small bar area near the front. Further seating is up several stairs, where wall-length mirrors are rather strikingly engraved with the pub's name and there are comfortable leather banquettes along the wall on either side. There's a larger, brighter, but rather more bland, room down the stairs at the back.

Two ales are on handpump at the bar, Landlord (£3/pint, according to the website), and a guest beer. In early-September 2008, this was Brakspear's bitter (£1.50/half). Both ales were very well-kept, the Landlord being particularly refreshing. There are eight draught taps, covering basic lagers and Guinness, as well as Staropramen and Hoegaarden, and Addlestone's cloudy cider.

Food is served noon-3pm and 6pm-10pm Monday to Friday, and noon-5pm Sunday. The menu covers a good range, interesting without being overly ambitious, and ranges from £8 for a Greek salad and £9 for the burger, through to £14.50 for a steak (see website). There are also decent crisps (Salty Dog brand) and pork scratchings.

This place certainly deserves to be busier than it was on a Tuesday evening, though its relative calm made it all the more pleasant a location to spend some time.

See also:

Last visited by Ewan, 2 September 2008. Opening hours and food times taken from website, September 2008.
OS X co-ord: 531172 OS Y co-ord: 182118 (Latitude: 51.522245 Longitude: -0.109081)
This is version 4 (as of 2008-09-02 23:17:11). View current version. List all versions.