The Barking Dog
33-35 Malone Road
Belfast
BT9 6RU
028 9066 1885
barkingdogbelfast.com
AT THE best of times, which you don’t need me to tell you these are not, the usefulness of restaurant websites can vary as much as the quality of their food. Some seem to get along just fine with a non-existent internet presence – lucky them – while others may specialise in fancy graphics or hilarious social media bantz while forgetting the information bit of the super highway with out-of-date menus, prices or opening times.
The Barking Dog’s website is not one of these. Not only are the food menus bang up to date, but there’s also a Covid-19 menu, something that must be at the forefront of anyone’s mind if they’re planning on heading back into the dining-out world again. We’ll get to the food later.
A ‘customer dining brief’ and ‘customer safety information sheet’ outline the precautions the restaurant is taking, with the first document telling you what’s expected of customers – be mindful of social distancing, don’t get up unless you’re going to the toilet, listen to what the staff ask you to do, that sort of thing – while the second lists what you can expect from the restaurant.
There’s been “a rigorous risk assessment in accordance with all official guidance issued by the Northern Ireland Executive and relevant trade bodies” which, along with staff training “was carried out by a professional third-party company specialising in advanced safety systems”.
Among the hygiene procedures, that seem to fall short only of replacing everything in the restaurant with stuff untouched by human hand every 30 seconds, there’s “a full daily anti-viral fogging procedure for extra protection”. Never words I expected to read, write or be comforted by, but here we are.
You’re also told what you can’t expect from the restaurant. Staff won’t be wearing masks because government guidance says they’re “not beneficial” if social distancing, hygiene etc are all up to snuff.
And staff aren’t wearing masks, and while it feels there’s a bit more space around, the fact the place is busy also makes it feel like things aren’t all that different to the way there were.
That government guidance means there is more than one way for a restaurant to approach the post-Covid world. Every space is different and while Perspex screens and visored-up workers will be the norm for some, others like the Barking Dog will need to, or choose to, go about things differently.
Apart from seeing staff wiping down everything on a regular basis and giving the hand sanitiser dispenser at the back of the dining room a thorough workout every time they pass, the effect is to give the impression of business as usual.
It’s a swan gliding across the water, with the work constantly, furiously being done beneath the surface.
Some people may rather the swan was kitted out in a hazmat suit, but as long as regulations are abided by – and that’s clearly communicated – getting back to normal may come around a little quicker.
What’s that? The food? Well it was very good, as you’d expect from the Barking Dog’s reputation. It’s quality bistro/high-end gastropub stuff on the well-wiped-down menu, and it’s done with the sureness of a place able to stay in business for more than a decade.
Crunchy, then soft, pebbles of lightly dusted prawn are made to be dredged through a lumpy, bumpy, spiky tartare sauce. The steak tartare, a disc of pristine chopped raw meat, comes together in a sort of alchemy when the raw egg yolk on top bursts to release its richness through the gherkin/caper/mustard/beef mix.
A hulking, beautifully marbled sirloin steak with chips from another planet isn’t cheap at 5p off £30, but you’re on the Malone Road and steak and chips of this quality – if you’re lucky enough to find them – are going to come with a pretty hefty price tag. Hefty satisfaction too.
Another piece of meat of distinction, a bacon chop, comes with roasted cauliflower, apple purée, raisins and sweet potato champ. The scallions in the champ are almost raw but with sweetness coming from everywhere else, they’re needed.
Desserts are straight from central casting too: a cheesecake, a creme brûlée, a brownie, a sticky toffee pudding. The peanut butter brownie is good, the sticky toffee pudding is better, the ice creams they come with are pretty much perfect.
It’s all served up by friendly staff, like everyone, adjusting to doing things that were second nature a few months ago in a completely – or sometimes very slightly – different way. It something everyone will have to get used to.
How would I like my steak? With an anti-viral fog, please.
THE BILL
Scampi £8.95
Steak tartare £8.75
Sirloin steak £29.95
Bacon chop £22
Sticky toffee pudding £6.25
Brownie £6.75
Lemon martini £9
Clockwork orange cocktail £9
San Pellegrino orange £2.75
Total £103.40
