PJ Murphy's Irish Pub

Irish theme pubs can be real hit-and-miss affairs. Although comfort food can soothe homesick British hearts, incessant Irish folk ditties can be enough to drive many off their proverbial rocking chairs.

The menu at PJ Murphy's combines authentic Irish fare with the likes of American burgers and shrimp salads.

The starters did not bode well for a good craic. The prawn cocktail ($46) was a miserable-looking offering of five small, soft prawns thrown on to a few pieces of lettuce.

The mussels in garlic sauce ($57) rated slightly better, with a decent serving of New Zealand green lip mussels in a standard creamy sauce. The mussels, however, didn't have much flavour, and were tough from overcooking.

For our mains, we opted for traditional dishes. The Turf Cutter's Pie ($78), accompanied with a pint of Murphy's ale ($20 with the pie), was a tasty enough shepherd's pie, although it could have used a quick flash under the grill to create a crusty mashed potato top. The corned beef and cabbage ($108) was a generous portion of thinly sliced beef layered over half a head of boiled cabbage and a few potatoes, smothered in a very plain mustard sauce, which could have lifted the dish had it not been so floury.

Although unfair to expect five-star standards in a pub, fresher-tasting ingredients and an improvement of the starters might warrant the prices. A two-course meal for two, including two lime sodas ($17 each) and a pint of Guinness ($43), came to $386 without service charge.