An Evening at A Grelha, London

Anyone familiar with the delightful East London areas of Poplar and the Isle of Dogs will know that there isn’t an abundance of decent boozers on offer, but tucked away down a side street just off Cold Harbour Lane, is historic riverside boozer The Gun.

A Grelha: What’s The Deal? Every summer, The Gun plays host to an outdoor Portuguese restaurant A Grelha. The scenic spot overlooks The Thames and the alien-like 02 and on a sunny day the smell of barbecuing fish wafts on to the Isle of Dogs luring in hungry locals.

A Grelha, The Food: We visited on a brilliant summer's evening and unfortunately for me, due to the weather, most of the day’s fresh fish (sourced from the nearby Billingsgate Market) had been eaten.

There was still a number of Dorado (Golden Bream) left though, so I snapped one up straight away. I was asked if I would like to choose my fish from the remaining ones sitting on ice at the front of the restaurant. I thought this was a nice touch and went for the largest (natch).

While the fish was on the grill, our bread was served with a tasty Portuguese twist – sardine paste.

To start we had clams in garlic, herbs and butter and mussels in tomato and red pepper sauce. Both were fresh and delicious.

My Dorado was served up whole and we also opted for a Monkfish Espetada (hanging kebab), which came on a standing skewer alongside chunks of grilled onions and pepper.

All main dishes on the menu are served with buttery new potatoes and salad.

Monkfish has a much meatier texture than some fish and made a great contrast with the softer Dorado.

A Grelha, The Drink: With our meal we shared a very enjoyable bottle of white - Tom and Ed Martin’s own house wine brand chosen and blended somewhere in France. This was the only non-Portuguese part of our meal. Oops.

A Grelha, Toilet watch: Doh! Forgot to snap it.

A Grelha, The Final Word: Get yourself down there for a cerveza and some fresh fish in the sun while the summer lasts: www.thegundocklands.com