The Barking Dog
33-35 Malone Road
028 90661885
NOTHING says pay day quite like new shoes and a night out. That painfully austere last week of the month followed by that gloriously excessive first.
I'm a spend it rather than save it type of girl and so to celebrate a bank balance out of the red and into the black I took myself up to the Malone Road for a feed in one of my long-time favourite places, The Barking Dog.
I've a habit of heading for the next new thing, the newly opened trendy spot, but now and then it can be comforting to go back over the tried and tested. So I've recently been on a trip down memory lane to my old favourite haunts, with mixed results – some have managed to retain their high standards others not so much.
The fact I had to book the Barking Dog on a miserable midweek night and arrived to find the place teeming is a testament to how it has held on to its popularity. We were shown to our table at the window, which was just perfectly positioned with a view of both outside and the restaurant – I'm a journalist, I'm, nosey by nature I like to watch what's going on around me.
I ordered a bottle of Esk Valley sauvignon blanc, while we looked through the menu. I love buying myself wine it's a sign of just how much I appreciate myself, a thank you from me to me.
For starters we ordered a selection of small plates or Barking Dog tapas, cured Salmon tartare, Kilkeel crab on sourdough, crispy pork belly bites, smoked Toulouse sausage and beef shortrib. It sounds like a lot but the portions were small and bite sized and, at just £12 for five, cheaper than ordering two starters.
The beef shortrib was by far the star of the selection – charred on the outside, soft in the middle, slow cooked and in a sharp pickling vinegar. The crab was zesty with lime, the sausage in a lovely rich tomato chutney. My dinner companion didn't care much for the pork belly but I was more than happy enough to scoff the lot.
Mains and the menu was sectioned into three, pasta, fishmonger and butcher. There was spiced pork shoulder ravioli in pasta, a whole sole with chorizo in fish and the famous Barking Dog beef shin burger that's been on the menu for as long as I can remember.
I went for the tiger prawn herb gnocci while on the other side of the table Peter Hannon's rib eye with chilli butter was ordered. The gnocci were amazing in a really rich herb pesto with loads of Parmesan, crunchy on the outside soft in the middle, a carb laden indulgence. The prawns were disappointing both in size and quantity. I had to fish to find them and when I did they were tiny and overdone. I still cleaned my plate.
I don't know who Peter Hannon is but that man produces a great steak. It was aged correctly, full of flavour, cooked pink and perfectly blushing. The menu said it came with chunky chips but they were so much more than that – rough cut with crispy edges. I assumed they'd been cooked in dripping because they were fabulous.
Verdict: The Barking Dog has lost none of its bite over the years.
Tapas five for £12
Gnocci £14
Ribeye £24
Esk Valley Sauvignon Blanc £19.50
Total £69.50
