Fun, feasting and daring cocktails at Fitzrovia's Firedog

A neon-lit 'cave' surrounded by pop art and bold, bright colours? Sounds more like an art exhibition or a Shoreditch nightclub to me.

But after an evening's feast (and feast really is the best description here!) I've been convinced that you CAN indeed mix dining out and going out together in perfect eclectic harmony.

"When myth and legend was first written, the Firedog had been forged" is the quirky introduction this Turkish meze-come-cocktail bar greets diners with.

Reporter Katherine Clementine loved the bold, eclectic artwork inside Firedog (Image: Katherine Clementine)

Hungry to see how these unique ingredients blended together, my partner, Tom, and I headed to the venue on a Friday night.

Set in the fringes of Soho, Firedog, with its open flame charcoal grill, is great for a feast, and we feast we did...

Cocktails

Firedog is worth a visit for a cocktail session alone.

After eyeing up our neighbouring tables' pink cocktails topped with candy floss we were excited to kickstart our evening.

Each carefully crafted drink comes with it's own drama. I loved the theatre of my Havana Especial rum cocktail 'No Smoke Without Fire' (£13.50) presented with a flaming lime 'bowl' packed with a punch of Wray and Nephew, with my own marshmallow on a stick to toast and tuck in to.

"Very inappropriate, but very fun. The best aperitif cocktail on the menu" (Image: Katherine Clementine)

Tom's tongue-in-cheek 'Skell-bent' (£11) Stolichnaya vodka came with a apple sherbert to 'snort' (not really!) with a sugar paper roll. "Very inappropriate, but very fun. The best aperitif cocktail on the menu", he said.

Dinner

We were recommended to select one option each from the 'Firedog' grill with a side, plus two-three meze options, served either hot or cold.

Our cold meze choices of creamy Hung yoghurt, red pepper, feta £5.90, a light, fresh bowl of Smoked aubergine, lime £5.90 and Hummus, burnt sumac butter £5.90 were brought out first to share.

A real feast for two - yum! (Image: Katherine Clementine)

Simply put, the served-warm, creamy hummus was stunning , or "alarmingly good" as Tom put it. We were sad to go forth knowing hummus will never taste as good as Firedog's.

The charred octopus, smoked corn puree (£8.90) was recommended by our lovely waitress and received a huge thumbs up. "I don't think much can top that, good God", said Tom.

He also devoured the "packed with flavour" and "really well spiced" crispy sujuk with hung lemon yoghurt and honey (£7.90).

The fried sweet green peppers, sumac mayo (£5.90) were a tantalising tongue tickler to enjoy alongside all the other dishes.

Now for the big guns - the Firedogs. I tucked into the zesty preserve lemon, charred spring chicken (£15), which paired beautifully with house white Pecorino wine and my crunchy, perfectly cooked greens side (£4.90).

Tom opted for charred lamb cutlets, olive marinade (£18) with a side of Cyprus potatoes (£4.90).

When I asked how they were, he replied "I'm not just enjoying the lamb, I'm fascinated by it. I'd only need to give it a stern word and it would fall apart. Delicious."

The 'firedog' in action (Image: Palm PR)

But stuffing our faces aside, towards the end of dinner we realised something. Had it not been for the pumping music we would have been sat. Completely. Alone. On a Friday night. An odd feeling!

The lack of other diners in the venue certainly didn't put us off the food, however, and the music combined with the setting kept the atmosphere alive.

Desserts

The mains had set the bar very, very high indeed so unfortunately the desserts couldn't compete - although they were still enjoyable.

Pistachios all round for dessert (Image: Get West London)

The chocolate option is usually a winner but the hot chocolate delight with raspberries and pistachios (£5.90) did little to excite.

It was a rather confused sort-of-brownie-sort-of-cake pudding.

However, Tom enjoyed the pistachio and quince filo (£5.90) describing it as a "gorgeous contrast of flavours and textures between the crispy filo and rich pistachio and cream".

Conclusion

Firedog's cocktail selection are enough to stand alone and provide a fun start to a Friday night before hitting nearby Soho.

Bold artwork greets you in Firedog (Image: Palm PR)

Whilst it's atmosphere doesn't necessarily suit intimate dining, I'd highly recommend the generous menu to share with fellow foodie friends before rolling out fully satisfied!