I'm a bit of an adventurous eater; I still regret passing up lamb's testicles a few months ago when I was in Syria, but there are few things I won't try, given a chance.

I was travelling in China, attending a friend's wedding. One night (the day after the landslide trapped us in a rural village, if I recall correctly -- it was an awesome trip), my friend helped us go to a restaurant that serves dog. It looked like a cross between a pet shop and restaurant, actually, but we weren't there for fish or birds or reptiles.

There were about 8 of us, all from the wedding, although we knew my friend in different ways. He couldn't be with us, as he was havving a birthday dinner with his mother and new wife. He gave us a piece of paper with "Please give us ___ grams of dog" or the similar, in Chinese. We wound up with around 100 grams each (1/4 pound).

It came in a hot pot style format, with a gas burner and wok in the middle of the table, and the meat provided mostly cooked on a platter; we could reheat it as we wished.

What's it taste like? Dog, I guess. If I had to provide a reference point, I suppose it tasted the most like pig. But it didn't. It was stronger, a little tougher, and also greasier. The skin was thick and tough, and there were lots of smaller bones that made it almost more like eating chicken. I got a drumpaw. There was a lot of seasoning on it, so I can't say for sure, but it wasn't especially tasty.

Would I eat it again? Well, never say never, but it was fatty, tough, strong flavoured and didn't have the ample meat we've bred on to the more popular food animals.

Lots of people wouldn't eat dog, and I accept that -- we all have our choices; I don't drink, for example -- but I don't see it as being any less valid a choice than eating the (smarter) pig, for example. If you had a cherished pig as a pet, I reckon bacon would seem pretty horrible to you.

Except for all the bones. You get a lot more pork per bone.