the skinny dog hotel - 155 high st kew 9853 8023

i can't believe that no one has thought to review the skinny dog before now. perhaps it has something to do with bigmouth not even knowing where it is... but seriously, a classic pub if ever there was one. it has recently gone the way of all pubs and been renovated, so it now has a fantastic beer garden. but, look closely through the cracks in the facade (or behind the pillar to the table of drunken quasi-respectable businessmen) and you will find an essence of the original dodginess that makes the dog what it is. of course, if it's real dodginess you're after- just go down the road to the clifton hill- i'm sure they'll be happy to oblige.

but back to the dog. they are most famous for having one of the best chicken parmas in melbourne. it is absolutely huge (must use them hormone chickens) and the reputation is well-deserved. a waitress once told me that only 10% of people ever finish it, but that can't be true- can it? (tell you what- if you order a parma at the skinny dog post a comment and let us know if you finished it- i'll just do my own survey, thanks very much.) the dog also does a veal parma, but my bf assures me that if you're after veal, the scaloppine is much better.

the new menu (as in, post renos) has little gf and v signs next to the gluten free and vege meals (hey, i told you these things rank high with me!) and the choice is not as limited as you might expect in a pub. of course the food is typical pub food. don't order the potato cakes, because they really are the exact same thing you could have got at your high school cafeteria- but at the dog they give you some sauce. the pizza is not too bad, but it's not exactly wood-fired and the chips have been known to possess a distinctly "frozen and recooked" taste to them.

but hey, it's a pub, right? there are definitely some nicer items on the menu, like the massive vege burger and the aforementioned veal scaloppine. dessert sales seem to be a big thing with them, kind of like the mcdonald's ,Aeuwould you like fries with that?,Aeu it doesn't take a genius to figure out that maybe they should just make their meals a bit smaller, eh? but if you do find room in your stomach post your massive dog meal, i recommend the sticky date pudding.

my bf and i have been known to while away many a friday night there, staking out a table with comfy seats and listening to everyone else's full pitch conversations for something to do. now if only we could get that bald guy to quit with the dessert routine...

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