Review of Murphy’s Brewhouse recommendation in Kenmare

Posted by The Banshees on 06/15/24 04:19 PM

Hi- my daughter and I visited this pub this afternoon based on the recommendation in the latest edition of the Ireland guide.
We were not impressed. The food was passable at best ( we ordered the nachos, the beef burgers and gin and tonics). The service was awful. The prices were terrible. In short we were very disappointed with this establishment.

For gin and tonics, they charged extra and separately for each tonic! Ridiculous.
Also, we were on the phone with our son and the bartender came up and asked us to “turn the volume down” - we weren’t yelling, by any means and for the record, it is a pub, I just thought it was rude of him to come up to us at the table and ask us to turn the volume down. It was quite infuriating.
For the nachos, we asked for additional jalapeños, which never came. We also requested mustard for the burger (the patty was very dry, and the bun was soggy from all the ketchup) and the server didn’t bring the mustard until the burger got cold, so at that point we had had it.
Please do not add this pub as a recommended place to visit in Kenmare for an inexpensive bite to eat. It’s not.
Bean and the Batch, a cafe just up the street is a much lovelier spot to visit with amazing coffee, great sandwiches, soups, bites to eat and just sweet customer service.

Posted by Frank

Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA

06/15/24 04:30 PM

23626 posts

Since this is your first and only posting on this site and it is a negative rant, it is hard to judge your credibility. It may be as you describe or you could have added a little hype -- who knows??? I will make a note in my guidebook.

Posted by Larry

06/15/24 06:02 PM

2857 posts

And looking at other review sites (e.g. T.A., Yelp) it seems that the majority reviews of Murphy’s are high. For whatever reasons the above reviewer had odd expectations. To me, it is ruder to have a conversation in public on your speakerphone than someone asking you to turn the volume down. As for “inexpensive”, the menu is available online and to me the prices seem within reason for a pub in this area. Looks like per the menu they sell various straight gin, not gt’s.

Posted by Kathy

Minnesota 🎒

06/15/24 06:23 PM

16537 posts

Welcome to the forum -
Sorry you didn't enjoy this particular pub but I think the separate charge for the gin and the tonic is a cultural custom, although maybe not at all pubs. As a responder over on reddit last year posted to a ? from someone wondering why their whisky and coke in Ireland was served - and charged for - separately:

"Splits (the coke or 7up) etc are charged separately unless you're in a particular nightclub and they're doing a set price drink (and for that you're getting a splash of the mixer). You get to mix your own ratios when served separately and you can see you're getting full measures of the spirits too."

"They are served separately because some people might use a mixer with two separate shots of alcohol, for example. And yes, always charged separately - helps with the tracking of the bar items and accounts"

So nothing 'ridiculous' about it: it's apparently just the way it's done in some places. You're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. :O)

Also, we were on the phone with our son in the US and the bartender
came up and asked us to “turn the volume down” - we weren’t yelling,
by any means and for the record, it is a pub, I just thought it was
rude of him to come up to us at the table and ask us to turn the
volume down. It was quite infuriating.

Honestly? The polite thing to have done would have been to take the call outside or somewhere other than at your table. It's generally considered poor form to have phone conversations within earshot of other restaurant/bar patrons, including here in the States. They may even have gotten a complaint from an annoyed customer so I'm in the bartender's corner here.

It's always a bit sad when the very first post from a new member is a complaint so I do hope you find much to love about Ireland!

Posted by wasleys

Lincolnshire, UK

06/16/24 07:42 PM

2279 posts

I note you've also posted an identical review on Trip Advisor, but using a different name...

Comminity Guidelines also advice

Your review should be 100% focused on what will help others, not an
outlet for you to complain...... strongly avoid any emotionally charged statements and broad generalizations.

As always there are two sides to every story with the truth somewhere in the middle.