Gunpowder Tower Bridge — Restaurant in London

One Tower Bridge is the new place to be! It has some fantastic restaurants in the new and modern complex and is ideally located right by beautiful Tower Bridge. There is something for everyone from cheap eats (Rosa’s Thai, Vapaino) to special occasions (The Coal Shed, Tom Simmons). It is also home to the Bridge Theatre which offers affordable tickets to the public!

We visited Gunpowder restaurant in Tower Bridge offering modern Indian cuisine. We had previously visited its sister restaurant, Gul and Sepoy (which sadly recently closed) which we loved so were rather excited! I was certainly not disappointed with Gunpowder. The menu consists of smaller and larger sharing plates and has a good mix of meat, fish and vegetarian. The restaurant itself is smart and the bar area (where you can eat) is gorgeous.

We were recommend to share 4-5 dishes between us (3 smaller and 2 larger ideally). We tucked into the Gunpowder aloo chaat (£6) which had great textures and flavours. One of our highlights was the Bhnuna aubergine and crispy kale salad with goat cheese (£8). There was tons of flavour in the kale – it was super crispy and the goats cheese (more like a sauce on it) made it even more moreish.

The Spicy venison and vermicelli doughnut (£5) was outstanding. The vermicelli was so light and the venison was just so bloomin’ tasty. The fennel and chilli chutney accompaniment was a real winner. It was spicy and powerful but not overwhelming. We absolutely loved this dish! We also tucked into the Porzhi Okra Fries (£6) were a great change from potato fries and were super crispy.

Accompanying our small plates we had a mock-tail (£5) and a Bow Barracks Gimlet Gin with Lime Juice, Ginger and Honey (£9) which was refreshing.

On to the larger plates we tried the Nagaland house crispy pork ribs w/tamarind kachumber (£9). This was a really impressive portion (or tower!) for the price. There was a decent amount of pork on the bone and tons of sauce. Lastly, we had the Kerala Beef Pepper Fry (£11). Sadly, this was not up to the standard of the other dishes and had far too much onion in for me. We wish we had tried the Kasmiri Lamb Chops but there is always next time!!

Gunpowder restaurant in Tower Bridge has some fantastic options on this exciting menu, from indulgent to healthy, there is something for everyone! The atmosphere is sophisticated yet unpretentious and we would recommend you visit for a fantastic meal or simply enjoy a drink or two at the...

May be I'm about to be over critical but it's just I expect better.

Poor table management We had a reservation for 2 at 9pm, and came early to request whether this could be changed to 4. We were denied, yet when we arrived at 9pm (only the 2 of us) we were seated amongst 6 empty tables, which remained empty for the remainder of he night.

Delays It took over half an hour for our starters to come out of the kitchen. But, it was nicely acknowledged and complemented with a bowl of fried mini calamari rings

Errors in ordering So our waited insisted we ordered the aloo chaat, when we do so believe we specifically asked for the lollipop chicken. To insist we did not was not good service (never ordered aloo chaat in my entire life) But one could say it was our statement against his.

Our delivery waiter was very nice. However, it is not comforting knowing that I must rush through my dinner. What I mean by this is he would come by and start taking plates away whilst we are still eating, and savouring and pacing. Ok if there is an empty plate, but not a plate with food still upon it. I found myself snatching at the last parts of the egg curry before it got taken away from us.

The food The food was very good. The egg curry masala excellent. The banana leaf wrapped fish, again very nice. Although what loved most about this plate was the complimentary pickled cauliflower. That was spectacular. We also ordered the lollipop chicken and half baby chicken. May be the lollipop chicken had a little too much masala and could have been slightly more crispy. Otherwise good. The half baby chiken came with a wonderful sauce. It was also present on a bed of salad (which we didn't get a chance to eat because the plate got taken away before our opportunity) that looked very appetising, drenched in the sauces from the baby chicken.

Overall the service let everything down. The food was good, but because of the service we denied even staying for dessert. So unfortunately no comments about dessert can be made.

It was opening week, but still many 'kinks'...

Went sat night for dinner, got late for my reservation by an hour, turned up asked for a table of 3; after a bit looking around host goes sorry can't do, very busy, I insisted and told him then that I was late for my original booking an hour ago, kindly then agrees and seats us. Turns out many empty tables and for the rest of the evening guests were only going one way: leaving the restaurant - no new guests arrived to all the empty tables. So no idea why he felt the need initially to turn me down - but oh well. Nice to have seated And the food arrives. And so do the fruit flies. Yes!!! This ex Michelin star is host to fruit flies with your food - like eating by a dumpster. When I asked the host, he nonchalantly explained they are around in this weather and some odd explanation about them serving food outside. I suggested a simple solution could be a UV bug zapper...to much amusement got told restaurants aren't allowed to use them 😂 - especially high end Michelin star ones 🤯 At least the food would be good - which it was for the most part. Thee chicken came out raw, I doubted myself initially, but when the rest of thee table agreed I proceeded to ask the waiter if the chicken is meant to be that pink in the centre- a unique style we are not familiar with perhaps? Was relieved to learn that we weren't that camp, it was no style, just not cooked properly. It looked raw. He was kind to offer replacement which at that point was too late anyway - experience already ruined, not much to recoup. And then comes the bill, no courtesy discount or complimentary gesture of goodwill. Put me in the difficult position to ask to reduce the service charge, which he kindly removed. Unfortunately didn't take the cue to at least ask what was wrong etc. Lost opportunity. And then the icing on the cake: lo & behold!! The Michelin star has a UV bug swatter 😆. Conveniently put out perhaps after my promoting - enjoy the...