The Barking Dog
So my buddy Rob just came to visit from America, and I played tour guide with an impressive five cities in twelve days. We did Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Inverness, trying to eat like kings as we went. We were fortunate enough in Belfast to have a meal so good, it made my top ten list of all time. To give you an idea of how rare an honour that is, the list only has five entries – spanning my entire life. I’d eaten at the Barking Dog before, but only for a quick bite with colleagues once (and it was still delicious). So I had to take Rob as it was very close to our flat (side note: Hillbrook Serviced Apartments are a great place to stay in Belfast).
To start, we ordered the tapas, which was five items for £12, which I thought was basically stealing from them. We were not disappointed. The flavour these little dishes packed was unbelievable. Rob and I had more trouble than two grown men should have had deciding who got the odd numbered bites. These are, clockwise from the bottom left: smoked sausage in tomato chutney, crispy pork belly bites, beef short rib, wild garlic pesto arancini with aioli, and marinated goats cheese with roasted red pepper (also pictured is Rob’s Foxes Rock Irish Pale Ale, which he very much enjoyed).
Next came the mains. Rob had the fish pie, which I’d had before and recommended. You can’t see everything that’s in this pie from the picture, as it’s just the mashed potato top, but it’s filled with, like, five different kinds of fish.
Now, the tapas had been really really really impressive. But my main just blew me away. I almost cried it was so good. Spiced pork shoulder, butternut squash ravioli, and parmesan that combined in a sweet and savoury combo that promised it would forever replace my desperate need for companionship. I seriously only thought food tasted that good on a honeymoon (and only for first-timers). This picture comes nowhere close to capturing its glory, but in the same way that porn is to sex, here is a photo:
For dessert (yes, like kings, I said) I ordered the provocatively-labelled chocolate nemesis with almond praline and coffee ice cream – the happiest ending I could have imagined:
And for Rob, honeycomb ice cream with chocolate sauce (cue a Teal’c-esque, “indeed”):
As I’m set to begin my PhD in the Fall in Belfast, I will be returning (as often as my poor student circumstances will allow) to the Barking Dog, and you should most definitely do the same, should you be lucky enough to find yourself in Belfast. Foodies never die. That is all.