Out For Dinner At The Dog In Pentrich
Published On Sunday 1 Jun 2025 by Sticky Beak
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The Dog at Pentrich is [now] the sister site to Tony’s Bar and Grill in Beeston, a restaurant His Nibs and I recently visited, and enjoyed. It’s been a fair while since we’ve pootled out to Pentrich, so we were eager to see what the Operations Director, David Theobald, and his team were about now they’re at the helm of this local country pub.
Even though it was early evening, we were by no means the first ones in the pub, either at the bar or in the restaurant. The Dog is both dog- and child-friendly; dogs in the bar area, children in the restaurant. We were greeted very warmly by a lovely young lady whose name I forgot to get (doh!), and shown over to our table. As soon as we were seated, she asked if we would like some table water, and also got us sorted with some alcoholic drinks: New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc for me, pint of Madri for The Man.
It was the first day of the new summer menu, and there were plenty of scrummy temptations on offer. To start, I ordered the King Prawn Pil Pil (£7.95) followed by Chargrilled Tuna Steak for main (£18), and The Man had Pork Belly Bites (£7.95) and Owen Taylors Pie of the Day (Steak and Ale this particular day, £15.50). Whilst we waited, I took in the décor, and I have to say that not much has changed: it’s still a neutral colour palate with lots of rural prints, and bold blinds at the windows.
The restaurant is still the more modern, contemporary space, with a more traditional feel in the bar; this means you get the best of both worlds under one roof.
Both starters were a good size and nicely presented, and with no preamble, we tucked in. I got half a dozen plump King Prawns, bathed in a melted Garlic and Chilli butter and two slices of griddle-charred Focaccia that got torn into pieces and left to soak up the excess oil – it was too good to leave any! The sweet, juicy prawns balanced the spicier Chilli nicely, and I loved that, although the fiery Chilli was certainly palpable, it didn’t give any unpleasant lip tingle.
His Nibs was a very happy chap with his cubes of Belly Pork; the creamy meat was paired fantastically well with the rich, earthy, sticky Teriyaki glaze. A crunchy, Asian-inspired ‘slaw was flavoursome and colourful, bringing a crisp, cool element to the dish. Both of us said that we’d happily have our choices again, and conveyed this to our server when she did her check-back. I have to say, the starters were a good size and those pesky pangs of initial hunger had been satisfied nicely.
As you all know, The Man is a spudophile, so he was torn momentarily between mash or chunky chips to go with his pie; in the end, he went for the chunky Chips and they really did look super. With their skins still on, the chips had that gorgeous nutty hint to their fluffy inners, and there was no trace of oil on the golden outers to mar the flavour coming through. Tender stem Broccoli and Green Beans were still firm to the bite, their bouncy notes clean on the palate. When it comes to pies, you can’t muck about with mediocre pastry; it’s game over if you do. Taking that first bite (after letting the plumes of steam escape), His Nibs grinned in total approval at the twin joy that was the thick, ale-pimped gravy and super-tender chunks of beef steak. Seriously, this was an absolute treasure. As if that wasn’t enough savoury indulgence, even more joy came via the extra jug of gravy – this was so fantastic that the last of it got poured over the remaining chips; no chance His Nibs was wasting a single drop!
Every so often, my sense of mischief comes out, and this was one such occasion. I just figured that I’d see if Chef was worth his mettle and could cook fish without drying it out, so I chose the Chargrilled Tuna Steak. Tuna is quite easy to over-cook, and you can really tell; it takes on that dried texture of tinned Tuna, when it should be juicy and bouncy like other fresh fish, if done well. I have to say, this was a total cracker; still gently pink in the middle (though obviously cooked), and pale beige on its surface, the flesh was gorgeously moist and there was no tell-tale [left to languish on the pass] crust to the outer. The sauteed Sweet Potato cubes had comfort factor 10 to them, contrasting with the tangy Lime and Ginger dressing that was drizzled over them and the crunchy Asian stir-fry of vegetables.
I had also ordered a side of Caesar Salad (£3.95) because you never know what the portions are going to be like somewhere new, do you? In the event, I didn’t need to really have the side, but because it was there, I scoffed it…and jolly nice it was as well. Pleasingly, it hadn’t been totally drowned in dressing; there was an adequate amount to be appreciated and gently coat the crunchy, crisp Lettuce without any sogginess: yay!! If I had one criticism - and I am being particularly particular here - it would be that the Parmesan was grated, rather than shaved; not that this detracted from the unique flavour of this hard cheese. What I did rate, though, were the freshly done (and clearly done by hand/homemade, not machine/factory produced) croutons; they were amazing in their crispness and flavour. Ruddy bravo, Chef!
All desserts at The Dog are £7.95, even the Cheese platter, which is pretty unusual as these normally carry a supplement. As a cheese lover, it was nice to see The Dog doing things a little differently. Tempted though I was by the fromage, I ended up ordering the scrummy-sounding Peach and Raspberry Crumble with Vanilla Custard; I also love a fruit crumble, and especially so when they’re homemade. No surprise when I tell you that The Man ordered Sticky Toffee Pudding with Ice Cream and Toffee Sauce.
It's a good job that I was pretty full from my meal as it took me a good 5 minutes to cool the fruit down sufficiently to be able to eat it! As the saying goes, though, good things came to me who waited; the marriage of the Peach and Raspberries was superb – proper summer flavours. I loved the gentle toastiness of the golden crumble topping, and there was a good amount of it to enjoy. The Vanilla custard came in a separate little pot, and I ended up dunking my spoon in with every bit of crumble that I had; I know not everybody loves custard as much as I do, so that’s why it’s handy to have custard portioned off.
His Nibs is known for his sweet tooth, and it was going to come in very handy on this occasion. As I clapped eyes on the dessert, I said to him “Gird your loins, sweet cheeks, you’ve got a slab and a half of pud here!”. Wasting no time at all, the spoon was brandished, and that first cut made. Pleasingly dense, with a luscious depth of flavour, this minx was a real gem of a pud. No less terrific was the rich Toffee sauce, paired here with an amazing, Vanilla bean-flecked Ice Cream, whose creaminess was breath-takingly super.
This had been a marvellous meal, matched by fantastic customer service from our server. So happy were we, that we booked a table for the Pie Night that The Dog do every Monday evening! So, watch this space; hopefully there’ll be another review coming soon. Hot Wings happily given to this lovely country pub and restaurant.
To book a table call 01773 301818 or visit www.thedogpentrich.co.uk and hit the ‘book a table’ button in the right-hand corner. The Dog at Pentrich is open Mon-Thurs Noon-11pm (Bank Holidays may differ, and Fri-Sun 9am-11pm
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