Eating Burgers and dogs come in many guises

AFTER a long day at the office, the burgers and hot dogs on offer on the Nethergate were the Tonic required to set the world right.

Even on a summer Tuesday night there were still enough people in there to give the atmosphere a friendly but relaxed feel with the bonus of it being quiet enough that you got served straight away.

Booking a table probably wasn’t necessary but you never know and it won us a table tucked away in the corner nicely, just next to the bar – not too shabby.

As is usual, I was late so my friends had already sampled some of the options at the bar, though the recommendation from staff to go for a bottle of Goose Island IPA (£4.50) didn’t go down well with our picky youngest member. No accounting for taste sometimes.

However, he did enjoy the quality of the false greenery on the walls that give the place a natural feel and decided to stare at that rather than engage in normal conversation with the rest of us. No accounting for the politeness of teenagers these days either.

Anyway, enough ribbing for that young man.

On to the food – the menu at Tonic is a daunting prospect at first look and gets worse as you realise there are so many mouthwatering options to choose from.

The menu is so long, it needs a contents page at the start that includes starters, nachos, seasonal salads/wraps/baguettes/ triple deckers/baked potatoes, dogs, burgers and sides as well as veggie and vegan burgers.

After spending half the night whittling the options down, I went for the pulled pork dog (£10.25). I’d had it before and found it superb so I opted for round No 2.

Every “dog” is a bratwurst served with fries and “slaw” – changing to sweet potato fries costs £1 extra.

I was disappointed when my dish arrived to see the cheese on top looking a bit stodgy. However, the hotdog with pulled pork topped by the cheddar inside a bun did the job – even if it wasn’t quite to the very high standard I’d had before.