Monkey Bar
Monkey Bar is a restaurant from the same people that are behind Au Cheval and 4 Charles in NYC. The Monkey Bar has a rich history dating back to the 1930s, where it formerly served New York City’s upper social class. In 2022, it reopened under the ownership of the 4 Charles team, and they created a menu that was very similar to the aforementioned restaurants. I was craving for prime rib, so I wanted to give this a try since I am reluctant to snipe 4 Charles reservations.
Ambiance & Service
The interior reminds me of a vibe similar to Keen’s, where it has a lot of red accents and vibe nodding back to historic early New York City. We were seated in an area that was dimly lit, at a table meant for more people, but we weren’t complaining.
The service was very quick, but the wait staff was definitely slightly inexperienced because they seem to slip here and there with orders and pacing of dishes.
If you reserve on Resy, they charge a non-refundable $2.50 per person which is not applied to the check. It is up to you if you want to deduct the tip from this.
Food
The Bordeaux Blends ($24 classic pour) came from Tempo d’Angelus, Bordeaux, France, 2021. This was defined as tight, silky, and plump. This wine tasted like a typical medium body wine, that’s not super complex to my palette. Nonetheless, it was fitting for steak.
The Baked Crab Cakes ($34.99) came with 2 blue crab cakes, preserved lemon, and remoulade. I thought these crab cakes were decent. They were packed with crab meat and did not have a whole lot of sauce in the middle.
The Prime Rib ($99.99) came with a gorgonzola aged center cut, served with horseradish cream and natural beef jus. This was quite disappointing as more than 20% of it was just inedible fat. The meat itself was good, but not the best I’ve had. It definitely had nice flavor around the edges, but we were heavily disappointed by the fat to meat ratio on the cut. Maybe the 3 thin cuts would’ve been better. I did enjoy the horseradish cream. I would pass on this and opt for something else instead. The value is not worth it.
The Buttery Mashed Potatoes ($12.99) came with garlic config and chicken jus. This was pretty good in that it was very whipped and creamy, and it had good flavors all around.
The Chocolate Cream Pie ($18.99) came with Valrhona dark chocolate, chantilly cream, chocolate shavings, and an Oreo crust. This tasted like a chocolate tort, where it’s just a dense piece of chocolate cream-like texture.
Final Verdict
Monkey Bar turned out to be just an OK restaurant. We went here for the prime rib, and we were disappointed due to the heavy amount of fat content.
Yelp Jabs
To start, wtf is the butter lettuce salad? Not cut, not dressed?
Yes, the “butter lettuce” salad is normally uncut when served as a salad by restaurants. This Yelper has not eaten out enough to avoid being gullible to order butter lettuce salads.
Out of everything we had, the burger and rigatoni are the two that I would definitely come back for anytime, any day.
The burger is what this place is primarily known for, but you can get a similar burger at any of their sibling restaurants. Is it really worth going for the burger? I think that’s a contentious topic because there are so many good premium burger places in NYC.
Revisions
- Jul 19, 2024 - Initial revision.