Every year my friend Matt likes to celebrate his birthday at Matt Murphy's in Brookline Village. Except that for the last 2 years, he hasn't lived in Boston. He actually drives up from upstate New York to go to Matt Murphy's, which is a testament to how much he likes this place. For those of you who haven't been to Matt Murphy's in a while (and up to a week ago, I was one of those), it's not the Matt Murphy's of the old days.
I had heard that Matt Murphy's had undergone some changes, but I wasn't expecting what I saw when I walked in for dinner last week. The Matt Murphy's of old had this sort of charm to it. It was dark, crowded, with funny bookcases filled with games and random books and live music on the weekends. You could get beers on tap from bartenders with cool accents and fish and chips wrapped in newspaper with homemade ketchup. The new Matt Murphy's looks so different that when I first walked up to the door, I though I had walked up to the wrong restaurant. It looks totally gussied up. With a new roof, embedded speakers, flowers, dim lighting, it actually reminded me a lot of Pomodoro's, just two doors down.
I guess these changes aren't a bad thing, but it certainly does make for a different dining experience. I felt a little underdressed when I walked in. Oh also, they now make you wait for your entire party to arrive before they'll seat you. We got there early so we could actually get a table, since this place fills up very quickly and has limited seating, so that part of the Matt Murphy's experience hasn't changed. After I took a quick look at the menu, I realized that to pay for the fancy new surroundings, Matt Murphy's has raised it's prices. It wasn't cheap before, either, so now it borders a bit on the expensive side.
But on to the food. Here's a very nice cheese plate that we all shared. And i still like the bread that they give you, will slabs of butter that taste extra creamy and buttery.
Oh, and here's my glass of Pear Cider. You can't go to Matt Murphy's without having a drink. I also like this beer that involves the word "hen" in its title. It's a bit creamy, though still light. And of course, they have Guinness.
For dinner, I ordered the potato leek soup. Which was very tasty. I liked the crunchy onion thingies on top.
And for my meal, i got the cheese sandwich. I certainly liked the bread that was used. And the cheddar was very good, though a bit too much for me. The fries are also excellent.
Matt loved the lamb stew that he got. I think it has Guinness in it. and though I've never tried it, I suppose that if it's worth driving all this way for, that it's gotta be worth it. All in all, I did enjoy our evening at Matt Murphy's, though I still long for the old Matt Murphy's. The new one might be all pretty with flowers, but you can still relive the old days, cause you still have to walk through the tiny kitchen to get to the bathroom.
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