Irish Cheese

Bill and Karen Irish adventure

As published in the Naperville Sun, The New Beacon News Courier News Herald - March 13, 2009

By Bill and Karen for Garlough GO

Around this time of year we all feel a little more Irish and the head of our favorite local Irish pub to celebrate St. Patrick. In anticipation of this, I went to three local Irish pubs to see what is coming.

As you can imagine, they all prepare for some serious celebrating. Bill checked the beer and pub grub stage, when Karen came up with a fun and easy recipe to help celebrate the CAP.

Let's see what happens on the bill of Irish drinks and a couple of young people have visited the pub in downtown Aurora Ballydoyle (also located in Downers Grove), Tommy Nevin Pub in south Naperville and Quigley Irish Pub in downtown Naperville. As they say, is a tough job, but someone has to.

The three pubs were busy with customers, and decorations have been rising. They shared many similarities. They have a wide selection of beers on tap, a wide selection of Irish whiskey, offering traditional Irish food menus and provide Snuggs, conversation areas or semi-private. The tradition behind Snuggs was to separate women and children of the area's main bar, that only men were allowed to drink in public. This does give women a place to socialize and have a drink.

When verifying the selection of beer, I think these ads offered between 14-25 beers on tap. They were charged the same, the Imperial (20 oz) Pints from $ 5.50 to $ 6 each. 10 oz pints and a half () and 16 oz (Pints standard) are also available and the range of $ 2.75 to $ 4 each. Guinness Stout, Black & Tan (a mixture of half Guinness and half Bass Ale) and half & half (Guinness and Harp Lager) are the favorite St. Pat's.

The three pubs offered Smithwick (the W is silent) Red Ale, and you can enjoy this beer by itself or combine it with Guinness to create a blacksmith. I found this to be smoother and less bitter than Black & Tan. If you want general information on lager versus beers, please visit www.mychef.com, scroll to the bottom left box and click on the columns of wine past.

Irish whiskey is a favorite of another St. Pat Ballydoyle had the greatest choice, offering 19 choices. Besides the traditional Jameson (known in the south of Ireland) and Bushmill's (experienced in Northern Ireland), the property owner informed Ballydoyle Pub, Phil Cullen, discussed the merits of various whiskeys. He noted that Middleton Rare is the best (mix) of the best, but carries a high price. If you are looking for an Irish whiskey at a reasonable price to order a table for men and women, try Celtic Crossing.

Irish Food

Three pubs offer traditional Irish dinners like corned beef and cabbage, Irish stew pie and lamb. I also found Boxty dishes, which are potato pancakes that are rolled like a crepe and a variety of toppings. Bookmarks are fillings of corned beef or chicken and spinach. They ranged in price from $ 10.95 to $ 12.95 for dinner. These meals were a staple food during hard times in Ireland and were considered a sign of poverty.

For pub grub bar, three pubs offered a version of bites of corned beef. A combination of corned beef and cream cheese that is rolled into a ball, breaded and fried. It comes with a sauce that varies pub. Ballydoyle Irish Chips also available, which are fried potato chips are sprinkled Irish house "dust". They are tasty and slightly sweet and come with blue cheese dressing.

To finish your meal St. Patrick's Day, look on the website for a fun, drinking Irish.

Can we leave you with the toast of Ireland:

May you always have walls for the wind

Shelter.