Saturday, August 16, 2008

Lunch at Hagan O'Reilly's Irish Pub

A new Irish pub opened up this week in Winter Garden, Florida, so I had to give it a test run. My sister and her hubby are down for the week, and it seemed like a perfect place for lunch. We all like Irish pubs, with their basic tasty foods and good beer. We had an assortment of Irish cuisine at the table, including Shepherd's Pie, fish and chips, and bangers and mash. Of course we accompanied the food with some good brews. The pub has a special tap system that injects nitrogen into the beer to create "the perfect pour". I'm not sure it had much impact on the Murphy's Red or Harp lager, but my Guinness and Smithwick's combination definitely benefitted from it. The pub called this particular combo a "Blacksmith", just a different variation on the black and tan theme. The photo shows the two-layered blacksmith. Originally I ordered a Guinness and Boddington's, but there seemed to be some problem with their Boddington's tap, so I needed to switch to Smithwick's. The drink was just as creamy and smooth as I think it would have been with the Boddington's, so I'm not sorry to have changed. The food was excellent, and once they have the kinks worked out, I'm sure Hagan O'Reilly's will be a very popular new restaurant.


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Never in my life have I ever heard a cook(hector was his name defile and degrade a server with such trashy talk. He should spend more time in the kitchen where it is needed. The fish and chips were smelly(used cheap pollock instead of cod) the stew tasted like flour and the sheppard's pie was obviously old and off-tasting. never ever go here

Al said...

Wow, I'm sorry your experience was so different than ours. We were there on the 3rd day they were open, so I guess everyone was on their best behavior, and the place was busy enough and new enough that the food was fresh. I hope they just had an off-day, and that your experience isn't representative of the way they do business now. Thanks for your comment!

Anonymous said...

Very different experience for us! My husband and I were there for dinner last week. We found the food to be tasty, and the service efficient and friendly! The manager, authentically Irish, was professional yet warmly endearing. The place was downright charming! A real Irish pub experience!

Al said...

I'm glad your visit to Hagan O'Reilly's echoed ours. I'd hate to see them turn sour so quickly. I guess it must have been a bad day when anon visited. That's a shame, but it happens. Thanks for your comment!

Unknown said...

Hagan's is holding their first annual Irish Beer Festival on Oct. 11 from noon to 6 p.m. (I thought this may be of interest to you!)

Al said...

Brooke, thanks for the heads up! Unfortunately, I have other plans that will preclude me from being there. I hope they have a good turnout so that they have this event again. Maybe I can make it to the next one. Thanks again!