Richard Mangion is so confident about his menu for dogs that he boasts: “It’s nothing that I wouldn’t eat myself.”

The Sliema restaurateur has joined a growing global trend by offering man's best friend ‘human-grade’ meals.

Pampered pooches at The Compass Lounge can choose chicken, beetroot and oats for €3.50 or splash out on rabbit with brown rice and peas for €3.90.

There are fish and beef options too: “The same beef we use for the burgers,” Mangion says.

His restaurant, a dog’s stroll from the sea, is one of the few in Malta that offers such a service to pets. While most provide dogs with a bowl of water or some treats, few create a special menu.

Mangion was inspired by a similar idea at a restaurant he visited with his dogs Cooper and Sushi but thought that he could create healthier, freshly cooked meals.

After testing the diet on his own American Pocket Bully dogs, he extended it to his four-legged customers earlier this month.

“I feed them to the standard that I eat,” he said.

“There is nothing better than natural and that shows in my dogs.”

When Times of Malta visited recently, there were two dogs demolishing their dinners.

Coco, a golden retriever, had opted for the most popular item on the ‘K-9 menu’: fish with carrots and sweet potato.

“Clearly, she loved it because she gobbled it all down in a couple of seconds,” said her owner, Kenneth Bowman, who said it was also less hassle for himself.

“You don’t have to think about what time you need to feed her before or after you go out,” he said.

Another satisfied customer... golden retriever Coco gobbled down her fish within seconds.

Eli Foley, who was at the restaurant with her dog, Oscar, is a fan of the idea behind the menu.

“It’s nice to come to a place where everything is done for you and you know what’s going into it,” Foley says.

The menu lists all the ingredients and details the nutritional benefits of the different dishes, such as how rabbit is beneficial for tissue repair.

As each dish is cooked to order, impatient pets must wait for their dishes to cool down in the kitchen before they are served.

Mangion says the menu has attracted new customers to the restaurant, which he and his partner opened in 2012.

“I’ve had customers come with their pets that I’ve not seen before,” he said.

No one appeared fazed by the canine customers, with some dogs getting bonus cuddles as people passed by their tables.

Canine visitor Oscar tucks in to his food. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Behavioural problems with his canine customers are not a regular problem either. Mangion said that 99 per cent are well-behaved, before adding, with a smile: “there is always that one per cent.”

The dog-lover, who prefers to refer to his pets as his ‘K-9s’ because they are “my companions and there is no better friend”, is committed to continuing with his dog’s dinners and keeping costs low.

“It’s not about the money. It’s about giving back to pet owners that are customers themselves,” he says.

“The menu is here to stay.”