Dogs n Dough, Manchester

In a dark, dark town there was a dark, dark street
and in the dark, dark street there was a dark, dark house,
and in the dark, dark house there were some dark, dark stairs
and down the dark, dark stairs there was a dark, dark cellar
and in the dark dark cellar….
Dogs n Dough lived!

If you aren't singing along, you probably didn't watch CITV in the 1990s.

Dogs n Dough are one of the newest city centre fast-food-esque establishments to be enticing in all the cool kids, and a few greedy folk like me. A couple of Sundays ago, we found ourselves hungry like the wolf with nowhere in mind - thank god for 'the list'. 

Something happened when I was a child which nearly put me off hotdogs for life; a story which sees me ridiculed by my family to this very day. It happened when I was six, and I am now 31. 

Dad: 'What did you have for lunch at school today?'

Rachel: 'Hotdogs'

Dad: 'Did you eat it all?'

Rachel: 'I ate the sausage, but I didn't eat the dog'

Cue fits of laughter at my expense for the next twenty five years. They bloody love it. I have a horrible feeling that this one has legs until I am at least 40. I've never been that keen since. Stupid name for a sausage anyway.

Anyway, I was starved and curiosity got the better of me. After a little rendition of the Funnybones earworm, we found ourselves in a dimly lit room with a green hue, leather clad booths and a spooky looking bar. We were greeted by a nice chap who ran through the menu with us and brought over some drinks. My husband was most impressed that they have Anchor Steam in bottles, which is a staple for most craft beer enthusiasts.

As is standard these days, we did get a little over excited and probably ordered way too much food. On Sundays they have a ridiculously good deal; free sides with every dog or pizza. We found ourselves the proud owners of a margherita, a chili dog, BBQ beans, dog bites (jalapeno and cheddar dough) and a portion of cheese fries.

Chili Dog: a beef frankfurter smothered in beef chilli and sour cream. I'm not a huge fan of the frankfurter, but these weren't half bad! Nice and spicy with a good crunch to the skin. The quality of the chilli wasn't overlooked either. The only thing I would have liked to see added is cheese. Cheese improves most things.

Margherita: my husband's fast food of choice is always the humble pizza. This one came served in a cardboard pizza box, ideal for absconding with leftovers. The base was nice and crisp, and it had plenty of cheese on top. Winner.

Cheese fries: best fries in Manchester bar none. They even outclass my favourites from Liquor and Burn. They were like crack. The cheese was melted all the way through, and the addition of a little sea salt was nothing less than genius. I made an utter creature of myself with these.

Dog bites: these are what the Americans would describe as jalapeno and cheddar biscuits. Very much like a savoury scone in texture, these were soft and still warm and had a subtle chilli kick. Perfect when dipped in chilli or beans.

BBQ beans: you can't go far wrong with spicy beans. The only thing that could have improved these would be burnt ends, but you really cannot argue for two quid.

All this food plus drinks cost us less than £25. We felt we were robbing them! Go to Dogs n Dough if you are hungry. They are feeders of the highest calibre, and will definitely be seeing us again!

Just for the record, there were no skeletons hiding in the basement. Not even a dog skeleton... Hopefully.

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