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Thursday, 5 November 2015

Halloween Chilling Out at Molly Roffey's Irish Pub @ Bras Basah



51 Bras Basah Road #01-02A Manulife Centre, Singapore 189554
Tel: 6238 0989


After dinner with the SIL, we had wanted to find someplace to chill, since it was the eve of Halloween night as well. Molly Roffey's Irish Pub was the chosen venue  due to several reasons, and they had a good live band performing for the night.  Ambience was totally chill, with elaborate lighting and great service from the crew. Best of all, the entire place was donned up for Halloween - with "cobwebs",  tiny pumpkin decor and the service crew dressed up as ghouls and witches.


The pub was established in 2010, serving beers, drinks and Irish cuisine. Named after the entrepreneurial war-survivor Molly Roffey, who was born in an indigent family but managed to do well in her own life, even sending one of her sons to a good school in Wesminster etc. A meaningful figurine to name the pub after - may Molly Roffey's Irish Pub survive long and well too, in these trying, competitive times.


Anyway, the SIL had a pint of Erdinger (SGD$18.00) and I sought comfort in a couple of glasses of Moscato (SGD$10.00). The latter was very sweet with fizzling in nature, subtle in texture yet going down smooth as silk. It was so deliciously luscious, one tends to forget they are drinking alcohol.



Then we shared a Chocolate Guinness Cake (SGD$10.00) - decadent Guinness infused rich chocolate cake that had a firm, sticky texture and a hard base. There was no lava centre, either that, or it didn't flow. The taste was a rich, dark chocolate in nature, with a subtle bitterer hint of Guinness; the harder base was even richer in chocolate-and-stout combination.  It was pretty good a dessert actually.


The live band belted out rock tunes from the recent past and the present, and the lively environment made it easy to sit and chill for hours on end with drinks and some light bites probably. I've never tried Irish food before (or so I think), and would love to return to try sometime.

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UPDATES

Okay, so I went back a few days later indeed, with a girlfriend for dinner and drinks.  The live band was still good, and even my Russian gf loved enjoyed their singing and choice of songs performed.



Tonight, the pub was bare and stripped off its spooky decorations. It did not look festive, but the cheery vibe was still ablaze; and even though it was a Wednesday evening, the place was filled with happy patrons drinking and dining away.



We started with drinks. She polished off Erdinger Weiss (SGD$15.50 half pint / SGD$18.00 full pint)  while I had Black Velvet  (SGD$17.50) - a bittersweet, smooth and utterly refreshing blend of Guinness Stout and Cider (the original version was made with Champagne!). It was delicious - from the first lick of the foam off my lips to the savouring of the final drop.


We had Singapore Styled Chicken Wings (SGD$10.00) to go with the beers, while waiting for the mains. Ironically, it was actually prawn paste chicken with a fancier name, in an Irish pub!  Nonetheless, it was aromatic with the prawn flavour on its crackling skin; the interior was tender enough - an enjoyable nibbler with the beers.


For mains, *Micaela had the Half Spring Chicken (SGD$13.00) - half day Whiskey marinated spring chicken with grain mustard and fresh herbs, served with sweet potato fries and mseclun salad. I didn't really like the fries because they were too sweet for my liking. The spring chicken, however, boosted of a slightly crispy, paper-thin skin bursting under the pressure of the knife to unravel succulent and juicy flesh, infused tastily with Whiskey's distinctive flavour.



I chose the Irish Lamb Stew (SGD$17.00) - succulent casserole stewed lamb, summer vegetables and boiled potato.  The gravy was rather thick and mildly sweet in flavour; pooling very soft and powdery potatoes, carrots and peas. The lamb was firm but not hard, but not the most tender I've tried; a little chewy. There was no gamey taste; it was a classic red meat flavour that was pleasant enough but wouldn't sweep you off your feet.

That's pub grub for you, and we left very happy girls.
















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