[3] The policewoman Barbara Bell describes Gunter's in the 1930s as a place where she could pick up wealthy lesbian women for affairs, saying, "I never did, but I had plenty of opportunity.
[5] In Georgette Heyer's Regency Romance novels, Gunter's were mentioned frequently as the suppliers of refreshments and wines to the main characters' households.
In Mary Seacole's autobiography she states that even Gunter would have envied her reputation for the sponge cakes that she provided for the British army besieging Sebastopol in the Crimean War.
The cafe appears to be referenced in Graham Greene’s novel The End of the Affair, in the 2-shilling expense line item that the private eye Parkis submits to Bendrix.
“The coffee place was more expensive than I cared for,” Parkis explains, “but it was the least I could take without drawing attention.” In Patrick O'Brian's The Letter of Marque, Gunter's staff were hired for a private dinner party by Sir Joseph Blaine, head of British intelligence, who was particularly keen to impress his guests.