There are some establishments that don’t need reinventing, rebranding, or reconceptualising. They just need to be good at what they are. Murphy’s Fish and Chips on John Street is very good at what it is — and on a Friday night in Waterford, that’s worth a great deal.
At 16 John Street, Murphy’s has built its following through the unglamorous virtues: good fish, proper chips, honest prices, and the kind of battered cod that makes you realise how badly most chippers have let the standard slip. This is the real thing — the kind of fish and chips that reminds you why the dish became a national institution in the first place.
Honest prices, proper chips, and battered cod that reminds you why fish and chips became a national institution. Murphy’s is the real thing.
The drinks prices are notably reasonable by the standards of John Street, which has become one of Waterford’s more premium drinking destinations. Murphy’s keeps things accessible, which is part of what makes it so reliably popular. You can have a proper evening here without it requiring a financial plan.
The crowd is eclectic in the best possible way — the kind of mix that only a genuinely popular local spot produces: students, workers, families, the after-gig crowd, people who need to eat something real after a few pints further down the street. Murphy’s absorbs all of them with good grace and a consistency that keeps everyone coming back.
In a city that has been adding craft cocktail bars and award-winning restaurants at a decent rate, there’s something grounding about a place that just does fish and chips exceptionally well and doesn’t charge you for the privilege of sitting in a carefully curated atmosphere. Murphy’s knows its value and doesn’t undersell it.
Great fish. Great chips. Great value. Very Waterford.
The Order
Cod and chips, large, salt and vinegar. That is the correct order at Murphy’s, and it has been the correct order for as long as anyone can remember. The batter is light, the fish is fresh, the chips are proper chips — thick, soft inside, with a crust that holds. There is a burger and a range of other options on the menu, all of which are fine, but the fish and chips is the reason people queue on a Friday evening. If you want to do something else, do it elsewhere. If you want fish and chips done right, this is the address.
Good to Know
Murphy’s Fish and Chips is on John Street, Waterford City, in the heart of the city’s main evening strip. It is a takeaway-focused operation — there is some seating but the experience is built around collection and consumption somewhere nearby, ideally on the quays. Friday evenings generate a queue; it moves quickly. Cash is accepted and preferred. Opening hours run from lunchtime through late evening, with the kitchen at its busiest from 5pm onward. A Waterford institution in the most literal sense: the kind of place that would be replaced by a void.