The Salty Dog

The Salty Dog Hotel and Bar is not one of my usual haunts. Sitting along Bangor’s coastal road, it boasts superb views of Bangor Marina and Bangor Bay (also known as the Vale Of Angels after St Patrick had a vision there ((allegedly)). It’s beer garden at the front is small and always popular with tourists. I can’t comment on the hotel side of it as I have never stayed there. I also can’t comment on the food as I have never ate there. The menu seemed quite pretentious to me as I have simple tastes, but it was busy with people happily dining so I must assume that the food is at least a decent standard.
The bar area was quite spacious, with a modern contemporary feel, with art hanging on the walls by local artists for sale and waiting staff in uniforms, who were very polite and attentive. Three things particularly grabbed my attention.
1: I was child fully delighted to discover a Scottish beer on tap which was called Salty Dog. I am easily amused and could not resist getting myself a pint. It was similar to any standard draft lager except it had a lemon flavour to it. Perfect for a warm sunny day.
2: Again, I am easily pleased and was delighted to discover that once an hour, the waiters place a dish of hickory barbeque flavoured popcorn at every table. Even if you have previously had a popcorn portion, they simply replace it. This may not be a big thing but to me it was a classy touch and added to my enjoyment of the place.
3: Most importantly I guess, is that despite the Salty Dogs pretentious feel, it is actually dog friendly. Dogs are welcome inside the bar area, where people regularly dine. The only rule, understandably, is that the dogs are controlled and kept on their leashes. This seems to be a popular feature and seems to work very well for them. Even with it being dog friendly, the place is of a high standard if service and cleanliness and they have managed to merge the two competing standards with pleasing effect.
Of course. Some people simply won’t dine in a place that allows pets indoors as they are dining, but I don’t have a problem with it. I’d prefer dogs to screaming children any day of the week!!! All in all, the Salty Dog gets a huge thumbs up from me!

Been in here following a beer and cheese event I attended, which was held outside at the back garden area, the event was great we got to sample local cheese and local craft beers, it was great to see what local suppliers have to offer, we payed £10 for a bottle of beer and a burger all local and the burger tasted gorgeous, it was cooked in a barbeque oven, was very moist and flavoursome, the homemade sweet chilli sauce was gorgeous just the right amount of spice and made from scratch, I wish I had the recipe lol, the salty dog has an outdoor seating area with brilliant views of the harbour, the staff were friendly and easy to talk to, this was my first time here and I will be back.

One of Bangor’s finest, frequented by Hollywood A-​listers and North Down A-​listers alike. The Salty Dog has an unmatched ambience, certainly unmatched in Bangor, and the cuisine is as good as you get any where in NI. They pride themselves on local fresh produce and this translates to their menu which is full of seafood (it’s on the coast).
The staff in the Salty Dog are exceptional, they have excellent knowledge of the menu and the wine lists. Don’t make the mistake of asking for a white wine because they have loads and it will only expose your lack of wine knowledge as it did on my case.
It seems that other reviewers have had mixed experiences of The Salty Dog but every time I’ve been in I have throughly enjoyed myself and my grub.
I am heading back again soon — so it’s 4 stars for now and they might get the coveted fifth if the latest experience matches the previous ones.

Spending a night here. Always nice for a spot of food and a drink but the rooms don’t match the downstairs. We got the short straw and got a room at the back of the hotel facing someone’s back garden beside an air conditioning unit. So the view was not great and it was noisy. It was also very dated. Lots of pine furniture which had seen better days. Scuff marks on the walls. Some really poor finishing touches to the place. Eat here. Drink here. But stay the night somewhere else.

A bit underwhelming is the feeling here. My mom and dad came to visit and as we had no space I put them up in the salty dog. The room was perfectly nice but there were a few gripes. There was no lounge area, the only place you could go to socialise was the bar which isnt very comfortable after a few hours. We had dinner there and were presented with 5 different menus which made it very confusing as to what we could actually order. What is wrong with one simple menu! Cocktails were way over priced and took quite a long time to arrive. We had a lovely waitress but it was her first night on the job and the poor girl seemed lost. I felt a bit sorry for her! The food itself was lack luster. The chef was going for nouveau cuisine but in my opinion missed the mark. Wont bother going back which is a shame as it has the makings of real potential.

For some reason I forget this restaurant exists, however, we received vouchers for our anniversary so headed down on a Friday night to sample the delights.
The restaurant itself is very well decorated, very glamorous and luxurious. Not what you would expect from the bar area.
A new menu had commenced that day, so the waitress seemed a little unsure on some of the dishes but I think it slightly harsh to critique on that. The new menu had a great selection — I opted for the salt and pepper burger. Great portion sizes, really well presented and most importantly tasted great. 5* so far!
My only let down was the dessert. I prefer a more indulgent selection, but that’s personal choice. I settled on the lemon posset with mango and passionfruit sorbet. The sorbet was good but the posset was a lot more runny that I would have liked and my husband agreed. It had popping candy on top, which I thought might be nice but it felt like they just threw it on trying to be different. Didn’t really work for me.
Overall though I would give this place a 4*, being the first night perhaps the posset has since been perfected. I wouldn’t say no for a rejudge.

Restricted menu, over-​priced, small portions, pretentious and definitely not somewhere to go if you just fancy a Sunday lunch. Definitely a ‘posh’ place to eat and it just seems to be trying too hard. Not as good as reviews led us to believe!

Great place, Friendly service, great food check it out.

A really nice place.
Been there many times.
Good service, decent prices.

This is one of these places that you just have to walk in and look around to appreciate how much pride the proprietors and staff take in the establishment and their work.
The surroundings are gorgeous and the location is fantastic. We came here on a Sunday afternoon, myself, my friend, and her little girl, and it was busy and bustling.
We were greeted immediately and shown to our table despite not having a booking, and had our drinks order brought to us while we perused the menu. The menu itself is small but luxurious, and only uses the finest local produce. I’ll warn you, it is a tad pricey (but worth it!)
I went for the salmon, my friend had the cod, and her daughter had the fish and chips from the children’s menu — all of it was fantastic. Very, very, very nice.
The only complaint I have, which is my pet hate, is the fact that they give you the stupid wee mixer bottles when you ask for a coke. One is never enough so you have to get more and more which ultimately hikes the price of your bill higher than in should be.
All in all, The Salty Dog is fab, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will definitely be back, when I’m feeling flush!

There are an awful lot of bars in Bangor and this is one of the least established ones. Bars that aren’t in the main pub area of high street seem to struggle but this place seems to have got itself a dedicated following and a good, strong customer base.
It has more of a reputation as a restaurant and somewhere to eat rather than to go on a pub crawl or for a bit of a boozing session. This is probably a good thing as the atmosphere here is always relaxed and chilled. The staff are friendly and know what they’re doing. Food and drinks will come to your table in a timely fashion and will be delivered in a professional, efficent manner with the minimum of fuss.
Certainly worth checking out but it will need to go some way to out-​do the likes of the Jamaica Inn and Coyles which are the best bars in Bangor, in my humble opinion.

The Salty Dog takes me to another one of my work Christmas dinners. Recommended by our supervisor at the time, having recently come under new management, we decided that The Salty Dog would be the ideal place for our meal.
Overlooking Bangor’s marina and out to the Irish Sea, The Salty Dog really has the perfection location. Of course, when we went it was wintertime and pitch black. Ah well.
We we all arrived (all being nine of us), the place was packed with joyous diners and merry revellers. Referred to our table (which was right beside the door on one side, just tucked behind an alcove, and beside the bar on the other), we soon realised it was going to be a long night. Loud and leery, the place was full of general hullabaloo and madness. Drinkers draped across the bar at this early hour were juxtaposed with crazy dancers on the nonexistent dance floor between our table and the bar. It was interesting to say the least.
Our table was too small to accommodate all nine of us, despite being booked for ten. The food was very good, though, and huge plates of roast potatoes, vegetables and other sides enabled each person to help themselves as they pleased. However, the inability to move ones elbows for fear of bumping into the person beside them meant that clumsy old me dropped a lovely dollop of cranberry sauce on my electric blue pencil skirt. Oh dear, oh dear.
Needless to say, craic was most definitely had, and the surroundings were beautiful. Thankfully (and ironically) the bar was vacated towards the end of the night, which was rather pleasant. I would love to return at a different time of year, seeing as Christmas really does put a new spin on things…