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.
Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts
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.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Guinness Stout Ice Cream Float
If Miller High Life is the "Champagne of Bottled Beers", then Guinness Draught is the Milkshake of bottled beers. I have not found a beer with a creamier texture than the Guinness bottle or can with the nitrogen filled widget in it. It's just like drinking Guinness from a keg. With that being said, I decided to try something I have been thinking about for a while - a Guinness Stout ice cream float. My family looked at me like I was nuts - ruining perfectly good ice cream by pouring beer (ugh) over it. People do it with coffee all the time, which is just another dark bitter drink, so why not Guinness? So I tried it. It didn't turn out as I expected. It seemed that the two flavors just didn't meld together like I suspected they would. The beer still tasted like Guinness, and the ice cream still tasted like vanilla. Hmm - not bad, just not exciting. So, it's back to the drawing board, looking for a beer-inspired dessert.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
