Scruffy Murphy's Irish Cafe-Pub

We've been to Scruffy Murphy's several times for breakfast. They have one of the best eggs Benedict on the island, though the service is mediocre at best and the music way too loud for breakfast. 

We decided to try it for dinner last night and were thoroughly disappointed. 

I ordered the veggie burger which was literally mashed potatoes on a bun - possibly the worst veggie burger ever. And my husband ordered the tuna loin sandwich and said that he would have preferred eating his shoe it was so tough. Also, if you sit outside, which was one of our main reasons for choosing it, you end up in a smoke cloud as there is no way to cut the smokers from the non-smokers. 

But I will say that the service was much better in the evening and the music was either off or too low to hear. 

All in all, I don't think we will be returning. We spent $110 for 3 adults and a child. 

Sunday Roast ($16), quintessentially british. Traditionally served only on Sundays, but Scruffy serves it daily. Each order comes with two big slices of meat, each at least 180-200gm, mashed potatoes, julienned cucumbers, carrots and beans, and of course a yorkshire pudding. Beef is tender without losing its moisture. Overall pretty good, like it the way it is. 8/10

With a soft spot for pies and stews, I was torn between Lamb Stew ($14) and Steak & Guiness Pie. The former won. The cubes of lamb was soft and tender. But found the gravy too salty. Yes, a stew is supposed to be hearty and flavourful, but it proves to be too salty even when I am eating it with bread. 7/10

Dessert of apple crumble ($10) was sadly disappointing. The crumbs were rancid, resulting in a very unpleasant oil taste. They can be more generous with the sugar here. Left the place wanting more desserts! Will probably pass on this next time. 5/10

For full review and more photos, please visit http://sightsmelltaste.blogspot.com

Finally, I got to visit an Irish pub for the first time in Ireland. Scruffy Murphy’s at East Coast Park. We tried out Shepherd’s Pie, Roast Leg of Lamb and also Irish Stew. Food was reasonably priced, about S$14 per portion.  The guys tried some Australian cider S$11.90 per pint as well.

The portions were hearty and nonetheless the al fresco seating by the beach was relaxing. 

For pictures and details, have a look at my food blog @ http://sofood.wordpress.com/2010/05/29/biteverything/

Trading in my high heels and short skirts for hiking boots and short shorts to parade in East Coast Park aint exactly my idea of a relaxing afternoon.. Much less walking from Mac's to Bedok Jetty in the freaking hot sun! But persevere i must for the sake of breaking in my new hiking boots and building up my stamina for Everest.. So after a strenuous walk in the park.. a pint of kilkenny seems like an oasis in the desert!

The attraction of an Irish pub lies in its stunning kilkenny on tap ... delectable Irish stew...and the cozy comfy casual ambience an Irish pub alwaz oozes out.. A perfect place to enjoy the beach scene with a beer in hand as the sun sets.. Go for a bulmers if u yearn for a refreshing drink or go for a kilkenny or guinness if heavy duty beer is what u r after..

We decided to share a irish stew as finger food don't appeal and frankly the CNY pub grub seems like a total rip off so we played it safe by ordering the quintessential Irish signature.. the Irish Stew! The stew came in a slightly more reddish color than i'm used to at Molly's but it tasted alright though.. The lamb was tender n the meat fell off pretty easily... Came with a slice of toast to dunk in e sauce..e carrots r soft n tender but my only grump r the potatoes.. It's a tad hard n unlike Molly's where it came mashed (which i lurveee).. it came as hugh chunks of potatoes which i don't fancy.. Sure i can simply mashed it by pressing it down with my fork but it juz doesn't taste the same.. Basically juz a pretty average stew..

Overall.. u can't really do wrong with an irish pub by the beach esp in a hot n humid afternoon where an icy cold beer seems like paradise.. Nothing wow about the food but i guess that's not the charm here anyway...

Wimbledon! Not everyone loves tennis, but a selected few (such as myself) would patronize a sports bar just so we can soak up the cheering atmosphere and knock off a few pints at the same time.

Scruffy Murphy's Irsh Cafe-Pub had a nice little poster hung outside that indicated they were screening Wimbledon. In addition to the seamingly attractive offer, they had a clause that stated you need to check with the duty manager for screening times.

So everyone's warming up their seats, enjoying that cold beer under the stars and good weather, when they decide to CLOSE (when the final sets were in play).

I'm sure that 'clause' they had was to allow them to say "but we didn't say we would screen the whole game". Argumentatively, they got away with it, but did they consider how damaging that would be to their reputation as the place to go to to watch a game.

What's the point of having that big screen TV and poster. They should have just put on their poster: "We close at 12am regardless of the game". That warning would have probably gotten us fans to go some place else and still maintain a neutral impression of the place.

So I shared this bit of information with some other friends. Turns out that on previous occasions, they would stay open beyond closing time if there was a soccer match in play. Well, aside from soccer match times being more predictable (outside weather influences), it's clearly an issue of bias management.

I will NEVER ever go to this place again!

Was there for a birthday night out with a group of friends at about 2300hrs. Managed to bump into this joint and was told that it closes at 0200hrs and decided to patronise it since we were told that the joint could switch TV SPORTS Channel for the Tott vs Manu game from (0015-0145hrs) which we only intend to stay for the first half till like 0100hrs.

Ordered drinks and happily anticipating for the switching of channel and most importantly the game. At about 0015hrs, we requested the staff to switch the channel but they mentioned they will "TRY" and no promises(citing that it will extend their operating hours due to last min influx of customers) !!!! After a gruesome 15 mins wait, we were still staring at some wrestling shit and again, requested to switch for the game but to no avail.

After contemplating, decided to ask for the manager and was told by the staff that she will appear shortly, waited for another 20 mins( 1st half almost done with) and yet she was still not around.

Decided to head off somewhere, unable to comprehend with this kinda shitty and unresponsive feedback.

The service of the this joint is atrocious and uncompromising. Furthermore, with a manager of such caliber to train and educate the staff, i strongly do not recommend this place.

Great location on east coast with plenty of parking. Been here a few times.

Juicy beef burger but could do with better quality fries.

Do note that dogs are no longer allowed anymore unless in the past. My dog would get a doggie bowl of iced water while we enjoy our beer.

Good beach pub ambience, relaxed and non-pretentious. Decent beers (wish for more microbrews, though) and food is surprisingly good pub food. And the people-watching is superb. Recommended after a visit to the East Coast park.

I go here quite often with the family. The adults like the Strongbow cider and the kids like the variety of snacks and children's food and also the fact that they can wander off fairly safely and play (provided they don't get run over by cyclists and bladers!).

The menu is quite extensive and includes salads, burgers, fry-ups and snacks but also some more substantial meals too (such as roast beef). Most things we've eaten here have been good apart from, ironically, the Irish Stew (as it is an Irish themed bar). The meat in the stew was tough and not very palatable and I didn't think it was good value for money. The trouble with things like this is that I'm now reluctant to try it again so if it happened to be an off day and it is usually fine, then I'll no doubt never know.

I'd describe the general feeling of Scruffy's as casual dining. There's nothing too fancy on the menu and you wouldn't go there particularly dressed up because it isn't that kind of place. They do have a variety of seating though including an air conditioned lounge so if you did go wearing your fancy new suit, you could sit in there!

Always on the lookout for a good Western/American style breakfast fry-up, I decided to try the Big Breakfast at this beach-front pub-restaurant on a Sunday morning. Note though that Scruffy Murphy's only serves all-day breakfast on weekends and PHs. At $10.50, it came with canadian back bacon, baked beans, button mushrooms, eggs, toast, and what I think are English sausages. An invaluable breakfast tip: if the menu doesn't say you can choose between sunny-side up or scrambled eggs, stick with the default and don't be a smart aleck and request for specials! The eggs here(which I requested to be scrambled) were insipid and uninspiring, and the rest of the meal turned out to be rather salty and greasy.

A big-minus for this place: coffee, which you've to order separately, came at $4.50 a cup! For this price, you'd think they'll at least give you free-flow coffee, but no. Well the saving grace for this place would be no GST and service charge, and the rather relaxing ambience (this IS East Coast after all). Scruffy's excellent location next to the walkway beside Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf also makes for a good people-watching experience. Service-wise, cheerful and informal. Will I come back? Probably not for breakfast, although this place looks good for a pint or two in the evenings after work.