It was a hot and lazy Sunday afternoon – my girlfriend just came over to work in KL the night before and we stayed up late to unpack. By the time we hit the sack it was already dawn. We slept in and the clock blinked 2:00 PM when we woke up. I was famished!
The problem with finding food at 3 pm in the afternoon (after showering and all) is that a lot of places are closed for lunch, and dinner hasn’t started yet. It’s the period of limbo between the two main meals of the day when most places just hunker down to weather out the heat.
I decided to bring her to Island Cafe in SS2. It’s one of those HK style restaurants which offers everything from lamb chops to fried noodles and peanut butter toast in between. It’s open at odd hours, it’s near to my place and they serve beer. In my books, that makes it a great place. 🙂
Nothing beats a cold bottle of beer on a hot afternoon to go with your lunch.
I ordered my usual – Pumpkin Cheese Baked Rice with Pork (RM 16.90). I love this dish coz it’s slightly different from the regular run-of-the-mill cheese baked rice other places offer – it’s baked and served in an actual pumpkin.
I love pumpkin – it’s an acquired taste, I hear, coz a lot of people don’t like it. It’s sweet and the Pumpkin Cheese Baked Rice is made in such a way that the sweetness of the pumpkin is infused into the rice. It’s topped with two pork chops and melted cheese. You can even eat the pumpkin flesh if you dig into it with a spoon – the “bowl” is a real pumpkin.
…and look at what I found – Kilkenny! 😀
I noticed that Island Cafe has Kilkenny in bottles. I didn’t know they serve Kilkenny over here! I usually drink Kilkenny draft from pubs. I thought it would be nice to get a bottle to go with my lunch, considering the heat.
Jeanie had the Bamboo Rice (RM 15.90) which is basically fried rice served in a bamboo container with chicken wings on the side. However, it tastes surprisingly good with Kilkenny. I like experimenting food pairings with beer. It’s more common with wine but the more flavorful beers like Kilkenny goes well with certain dishes too!
Jeanie also had a glass of the Irish beer with her rice. She thought it was rather unusual but novel to drink Kilkenny outside of a bar. She loves Kilkenny too but like me, her experience is limited to bars. I just found out that it was only recently that Kilkenny produced bottles for sale in certain modern food courts, cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars that does not already serve Kilkenny Draught.
I think it’s great! The taste is pretty similar (although Kilkenny on tap tastes a bit smoother) and it’s nice to have the option of ordering an ale instead of the usual lagers while out eating local food.
I reckon it beats the hell out of the Mango Snow Ice (RM 8.50+) Jeanie had for dessert. I’ll prefer another bottle of Kilkenny as dessert. 😉
There’s nothing better than an icy cold, sweating bottle of Kilkenny in your hand while eating a long lunch during weekends. It’s good to see it come out of the pubs and into modern food courts, cafes and restaurants so that I can drink it when I crave for local food. 🙂
interestingly i’ve only been there for 1 drink despite staying so close, sabahan syndrome again. lol
Haha! Indeed. 🙂
I like Island Cafe coz it’s a place where you can eat at all times of the day AND get a beer to boot. You can’t beat that.
I go to SS2 and SS6/Kelana Jaya despite having to pay the RM 1 SPRINT toll and drive quite a bit. I guess it’s coz I used to live in Dataran Prima and then Kelana Jaya so I miss the restaurants and cafes there.
Damn i’m hungry. that pumkin bake rice is the yums. killkenny comes in bottles now?
Yeah, it’s my favorite dish in Island Cafe. It has pork, cheese and comes baked. Can’t ask for more. 😀
Yup, Kilkenny is available in bottles now – they just started producing it in this format very recently. It’s good coz you can enjoy it in modern food courts and cafes instead of just pubs. 🙂
Hi HB. Can you get it from supermarkets too?
Hmm…that’s a good question. I haven’t seen Kilkenny bottles around when I’m out shopping and I do that a lot regularly so we can cook sometimes. 🙂
Let me ask for you. 😀
Hi HB. Can you get it in supermarkets also?
Oops. Sorry for the double post.
No worries! I’m in the process of upgrading to a higher capacity VPS so comments shows up faster. 🙂
Anyway, let me ask ya! Cheers bro! 🙂
it surely would be nice to have kilkenny’s appear on supermarket shelves sometime soon =) always been a big fan of those draft ones but cant actually have my own keg at home could i? haha
Hello BY! 🙂
Yeah, it would be nice to pick up a six pack of Kilkenny bottles from the aisles in the hypermarkets. 😀
It’s fun to drink at home while watching TV series with your friends or gf.
Well, I guess you can have a keg at home but you’ll have to be quite prodigious in your drinking to finish it before it goes off. Heh!
Food looks good. Drinking at two in the afternoon. When I used to drink, I only drank at night and in pubs and the like with the right atmosphere, music and all.. But then, we’re all different…
Yeah the food is pretty good over at Island Cafe. It’s one of those Kim Gary style restaurants – they serve anything under the sun from fried kueh tiaw to lamb chops and everything in between. The difference is Island Cafe serves beer as well. 🙂
Well, yeah, during weekends a drink or two in the afternoon is pretty refreshing. Heh!
It’s more of a food pairing kinda drinking – beer with food instead of drinking in pubs, which is more about friends and having fun together. Whole different atmosphere altogether – both has its merits. 😀
Island Cafe is very versatile – extensive menu so everyone has something they like. 🙂
I think Kilkenny is sold in supermarkets too.
Interesting! Which hypermarket? I’ve never seen it around. I know the Kilkenny bottles only came out late last year and I’ve been grocery shopping since then – been doing a fair bit of cooking nowadays too. 🙂
I haven’t seen it in hypermarkets though – it would be nice to have some in the aisles to put in the fridge. I bet it’ll be awesome to swig from a cold Kilkenny bottle while watching TV series or reading a good book during lazy weekend afternoons, eh mate? 😀
How much is the price for 1 bottle (how many mL) of Kilkenny in KL?
Hmm…it differs from place to place – for example, some pubs would sell it at a higher or lower price from another pub.
…as a general guide, it’ll probably be around RM 10 – 15, depending on where you go.
A Kilkenny bottle from a modern food court would be cheaper than a restaurant e.g. Ming Tien sells it for less than RM 10 per bottle.
Island Cafe in SS2 sells it for RM 13.90 per bottle, not inclusive of service tax, which is priced at a range similar to pubs.
The bottles are standard 325 ml ones at 4.3%. 🙂
Wah, your explanation is very detail. I just want to compare the price to here. 440mL 24pk, $71.99. Which mean $3 per can.
Okay, is that SGD, USD, AUD, Euro, pounds or some other form of currency?
Hmm…come to think of it, I think I’ve seen Kilkenny in cans. I just can’t remember where. 😡