Delaney’s features traditional Irish food as well as more western food. I have sampled their baby back ribs, which were well worth the price. Another great meal is their traditional Irish breakfast. They serve their Irish breakfast all day for approximately 138 HKD (around $17.25 USD). For appetizers I had the smoked salmon and the mussels with chili tomato sauce. All of the food is excellent.

One of my favorite parts of this bar is the beer selection. They have a wide selection of beers from around the world. However, my favorite beer that they sell is Kilkenny’s Irish Cream Ale. I have only been able to find this beer at Irish bars in Hong Kong and in Ireland. Pints cost 63 HKD (approximately $7.88 USD).

The atmosphere is great and can get pretty loud when it is busy. It is especially busy on weekends and on St. Patricks Day. There is a daily happy hour 5 – 9pm. They also frequently show live rugby and soccer matches.

Website:

http://www.delaneys.com.hk/

Location:

Delaney’s Kowloon

Basement, Mary Building, 71 – 77 Peking Road, TST

Delaney’s Wan Chai

G/F & 1/F, One Capital Place – 18 Luard Road, Wanchai

The Dublin Jack

1/F, 17 Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong

Grand Irish Breakfast

Buried under the marketing of its big-brother, Guinness, Kilkenny is a creamy secret that Irish beer drinkers need to uncover for themselves. //Photo: Jason Ruiz

Long before Against Me! was writing songs about drinking Guinness, St. Patrick’s Day was a holy day of reverence for Irish-Catholics. Now, what’s become a of day celebrating a culture  known for its dark beer, it’s ironic that green is the overwhelming drink of choice.

KilKenny isn’t the black, viscous sludge that’s become synonymous with Irish beers, but it’s a big part of the island’s history. Originally brewed by Smithwicks, which is Ireland’s oldest brewery, the beer borrows it’s name from a town in Ireland and it’s recipe dates back to the 14th century. That means this beer is older than this country!

It’s a nitrogen-infused, cream ale that’s red in color and smooth in texture. Using nitrogen to pressurize the barrels produces smaller bubbles than carbon-dioxide allowing for Kilkenny and other stouts and ales to maintain their creamy head. When poured from the draught, it resembles a Guinness until it makes the transition from muddy water to a brilliant amber color with a silky garnish of foam.

The beer is a bit deceptive because it drinks like a much thicker beer but tastes much lighter. Like it‘s more famous parent beer, Guinness, Kilkenny is not a very stiff drink (4.3 percent alcohol). However, it does go down a lot easier than the “milkshake of beers”.

Once only available at the Dubliner Pub in Washington D.C., Kilkenny can now be found nationwide on tap as well as in cans with nitrogen widgets to help deliver that pub feel at home.

St. Pattys Day crowd at the Kilkenny House spills out into the streets

First, let me just say I simply love this place.  It is a true Irish pub, run by great people and frequented by regulars who love Irish music, good drink, and a great pub.  On Saint Patrick’s Day it seems all the regulars come to celebrate at their favorite place and they each bring a dozen of their best friends with them!  Needless to say the place was predictably packed, so much so that the crowd spilled out onto the the streets, soaking in the wonderful weather and the perfect pints.

Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale

Speaking of perfect pints, the Kilkenny House had a pleasantly welcome surprise for me on this most joyous of holidays.  It seems the week before they received a few barrels of my favorite Irish beer, Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale.  Like I said a couple of weeks ago on this blog, if you were able to find this brew at your Irish Pub of choice on Saint Patrick’s Day you should consider yourself luck.  Well, thankfully that luck found me!

By Dave McBride

Let us begin with a beer that may prove difficult to find in some parts of the United States, Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale.  It seems to be in very limited release in the New World, but if you happen to come across this little liquid gem in your local Irish pub consider yourself lucky.

Kilkenny Ale is brewed in what is claimed to be the oldest operating brewery in Ireland, the Smithwick’s brewery in Kilkenny which has a brewing tradition that dates back to the 13th century.  It is a “cream” ale and it pours in much the same way Boddington’s does, but it is has a color and taste along the lines of an amber ale like Smithwick’s.  This combination creates a truly delicious brew.

Kilkenny is a staple on the Emerald Isle, as well as in Irish pubs in Canada and the United Kingdom.  For years it was unavailable to thirsty Irish pub patrons in the USA.  However, in 2009 it finally made it’s debut in the colonies at The Dubliner, Washington, D.C.’s most famous drinking hole.  (And while we are at it let us add The Dubliner to our Pub Talk guide to St. Patty’s Day.  It is a truly great Irish pub!)

For me, Kilkenny defined my drinking experience during my trip to Ireland.  While it is certainly true Ireland’s pub’s are filled with great libations, including the best pint of Guinness you will ever find, whenever the bartender would ask for my order I seemed to always drift toward Kilkenny.  Perhaps it was the novelty of having something I could not find back home, but I think it was more the flavor that was the attraction.  It’s time to end the tragically limited release of this wonderful brew and bring it to the masses

by Dave McBride