Restaurant Review – The Barking Dog

Situated on the Malone Road, The Barking Dog is one of those places I’ve seen loads, but have never actually ventured inside, that is, until last week. Upon entering, the hustle and bustle hits you immediately, there aren’t any soft furnishings to be seen, so the noise is pretty loud, especially when the restaurant is full of weekend dinners, glad to have escaped the confines of an office cubicle.

We were seated at a long mismash of wooden tables, which to be honest, wasn’t ideal for a large group (especially with the already loud restaurant around us), but I could spy a number of large square tables which would be perfect for a group of people to huddle around (maybe next time I’ll ask). The decor is simple but effective; framed cutlery sets and wooden tables, menus served on wooden clip boards, it’s all very shabby chic, but manages to be more chic than shabby, and the whole place feels quite upmarket – quirky, yet modern.

To start, we ordered a selection of tapas, which arrived alongside a series of mismatched side plates (a nice touch, and a great talking point). The tapas were small – as they should be, of course – and delicious. Each tiny portion was cooked to perfection and I’d recommend them all, but the pork belly must receive a special mention.

Next up, I chose the famous beef shin burger. There’s a 20 minute wait for this beast, so I knew it was going to be good, I just didn’t realise how good. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t know what to expect, I just saw the words beef shin, burger and 20 minutes wait, which sounded like a recipe for something that I definitely wanted to be involved in. What arrived appeared to be a beef burger on the outside, yet once you bit into it, a centre of deliciously tender beef shin was exposed. What more could you ask for? Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t just man-vs-food-shove-anything-inside-a-burger style bravado, this is a stunningly cooked burger (they ask how you want it cooked too, which is always the sign of a good burger) with a sumptuous beef centre. Perfection.

Check out the rest of the menu here.

This is definitely a restaurant that I’ll be going back to, maybe I’ll even try something different, if I can pry my eyes away from the beef shin burger. Check out their website, Twitter or Facebook for more information.