Ireland’s pubs are everywhere. All countries. All cities. Almost every town.
And I often joke about Chinese and Venezuelan tourists coming to Orlando, but in park-based entertainment, when I was able to get Chinese and Venezuelan food that they could return to their home decades ago, I was sending postcards to me when my British friends started sending me postcards from his world traybell. “hallo! from the Claddagh in…O’Neill’s In…McCool’s In…The Dublin Cafe in…”
There’s even a song about it by the Hikings.
Wherever he goes in the world, regardless of language, culture or food, it is where he was always rolled up.
“It feels like home,” he told me years ago during a stopover in New York. Probably on Smithwick in Ofranagan.
That makes a lot of sense for those who generally didn’t know when to return to familiar faces or places.
And I think that’s one of the reasons why the Castle Irish Pub & Restaurant, where Shane Wheyne is, appears to have broken the College Park Code coker when it comes to restaurants.
From thousands of feet away, from outside – the things you know exactly what the castle is and what will get there. The pub front screams from the archaic summit of Brandon Hill, a high point in Kilkenny County. It’s where Hoyn is called and his family has been involved in the pub business for several generations.
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“My great grandparents, my great grandparents, and my grandparents all went back to Ireland and owned a pub,” he says. “It was one of the small towns in the village. It was the Pub Slash Grosserie Store, the Thrush Hardware Store.”
And his uncle hooked many family artifacts 25 years ago, but when he opened his own pub, Kitty Hoyne in Syracuse, New York, Hoyne worked for a while before going to Florida, you’ll find some heritage items at the castle as well.
“I have an old book they used in the hardware store, a list of my grandmother’s flower shops, and the cash registers they used that are over 100 years old.”
It’s great to be surrounded by family history as I continue to write about it. Hoyne tells me.
“They come in from time to time and it’s great that we continue to be legacy despite us being 4,000 miles away. They’re proud that people can experience that hospitality.”
Here you’ll see Happy Hour, a 20-ounce “proper pint” for $7, with mountain plates of fish and chips ($19). Also mushy peas.
“It’s our bestseller,” says Hoyne. “Double almost everything on the menu.”
The huge fragments of beautifully battered and brown haddock are as white and flakes as they enter such a place, whether in Honolulu or Moscow. Like the former, perhaps Hoyn put a bit of local talent on the menu along with Mahi.
However, it’s not for fish and chips. no.
“Our restaurant has classics like Shepherd’s Pie, Fish and Chips, Bangers and Mash, but there are also really good burgers as people want them to come in and have really good pub grabs, good sandwiches and good wings.
I’m not ordering mahi at an Irish pub so you have to sample it yourself, but I was ready for a Castleburger ($21) ($21) and a generous half pound with fried eggs Dubliner Irish cheddar that my happy hour guests thought was flowing the fried eggs you and I wanted. We also asked for a curry side and got the feeling of Cahir Curry Chips appetizer ($12). It’s light gravy, but has a lovely flavour.
The place where gravy really sings is on two other traditional plates. Shepherd’s creamy addict ($18) and the lamb beef mashup is perfect for you. It’s the same magic I found with Guinness Irish Stew ($20).
“It’s something we eat to keep warm in the winter,” he says a bit astoundingly in his tone. “We wore it and couldn’t keep it up. Everyone was ordering it. Everyone was talking about it. People tried it and brought friends.”
What it is: a brown stew with mounds of beef and lamb chunks, peas, carrots, celery and potato mash. Another version of the pie. It’s a chompy thing. But it’s solid. Serve with a cube of Hoyne’s grandmother’s soda bread. Both dishes, if you have a room, will be in good condition to absorb another pint. Or a noisy slice of chocolate cake. Guinness is among them.
You can also soak in surround. Almost everything is made in Ireland and is flying away. Floors, bars, panels, etc.
“We wanted to do that right,” says Hoyne, who met his wife and partner Katie. “Essentially, the pieces of wood you see in restaurants were hand carved specifically for us. All the furniture was sourced in Ireland. All the lighting. All the tiles. The only way to do a proper Irish pub is to bring everything from Ireland.
That’s undeniable. I can understand. And the locals seem to love it. They were on the patio with their dogs, in the bar with their peers, and “fitting” with their colleagues.
It’s a bit in the corner to the left of the bar as I walked, and it’s a real nod to tradition as I had a bar back home for years.
“The perfect fit is like a private area where VIPs from local towns stroll a little further away from regulars. At the time, it would be a bank manager or a parish priest.”
At College Park, there are office happy hours, baby showers and local politicians running to the office. It’s hilarious. And with both my visits, it’s very full. This is what pub owners actually want, whether in Sydney or Kathmandu.
The castle is a homage to Kilkenny, the county of Hoine, where the fantastic and famous castle of the same name is around 600 years old, like Granag Castle, sitting in a few fields from Hoine’s childhood home.
“The castle is synonymous with Irish culture and countryside, so that’s what it is,” he says. “But we are in Orlando. There is one of the most famous castles here too. So we put together two.”
Another thing about the castle… They last long.
Hoyne wants his follow suit. Because of its appearance, College Park is included in the plan.
Do you want to reach out to me? Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram @Amydroo or the Osfoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. Join Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook Group for more foodie fun.
If you’re going
Castle Irishpub and Restaurant: 2625 Edgewater Drive, Orlando, 407-270-8101; theCastleirishpub.com
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