Monkey Magic Surry Hills, Sydney

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User Reviews of Monkey Magic, Surry Hills

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Displaying: 1 - 10 of 81 reviews

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 9 Service 9 Value 9

I had made a last minute booking on a Friday night for 6 people and it was lucky I'd rang because it looked like we had the last table in the restaurant. There was a great vibe in the room with lots of larger groups, but surprisingly we could still hear ourselves talk.

The service was very efficient considering they were full. Our water glasses were always topped up and the food all came out within a reasonable time.

We decided on the set menu ($55) which worked out to be perfect, they weren't skimpy on the food, there was plenty of variety and everything in the set menu tasted great, especially the pork belly main.

With dessert that was another story. I've had salted caramel ice-cream a few times and expected the taste to be different, this one tasted of burnt caramel and wasn't very pleasant. It could have been a bad batch but 3 out of 6 of us had ordered it, so it was a disappointing end to a great meal. Although the cheese cake and banana spring rolls did taste amazing.

Overall I'd recommend Monkey Magic, I'd 100% come back for the food and lively atmosphere.

Jan 14, 2012

CDup
16

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 9 Service 9 Value 8

Excellent ambience, entrees once ordered came one by one which made the experience even better. Fish was real fresh with good flavours. Loved the experience would be back.

Jan 08, 2012

vikrams
1

6.3 Average

Food 6 Ambience 7 Service 7 Value 5

Went on a weeknight with no booking, seated immediately, certainly not full during the night. Try the rekon chips great starter.

Food was well presented and fresh without long wait between courses. Stand out definitely was the staff, great attentiveness without being annoying. Would recommend and go again although large group may make it pricey. Overall $80 for 2 people was fairly average.

Jan 05, 2012

DDawg
8

8 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 9 Service 9 Value 7

Went on a weekend, awesome ambience, food was good. They try to make food a fancy so A for effort. Was enjoyable time with friends.

Nov 23, 2011

foodie_2011
9

9 Highly Recommended

Food 9 Ambience 10 Service 10 Value 7

The staff are the stars of this place. In my sitting, my glass of water barely went below 3 quarters. They are majorly efficient, friendly and unassuming.
The second star is the food: I enjoyed the playfulness of the dishes: the skewers were nothing on their own but the dipping sauces (esp the miso one) made it come alive. The sushi cuts were cut well and extremely fresh and then renkon chips: talk about low fat indulgence.

Value for money: eh not really or 2 people with 1 cocktail: we splurged at $150. It was cheaper with the entertainment card. Order more as they are quite tiny. Definitely be back.

Nov 06, 2011

Cirque1
119

6.3 Average

Food 6 Ambience 9 Service 7 Value 3

Came here on a Wednesday night and it was deserted. Nice ambiance however the food was very average and definitely not a good value considering the price we had to pay. All 4 of us left still hungry as we weren't confident that the other dishes will be any better than what we've had so far.

The beetroot cured kingfish lacked flavour and the pork belly was rather dry and chewy. The worst came about when I bit onto 2 pieces of fish bone which was stuck inside the nigiri sushi, and I find this absolutely unacceptable in a Japanese restaurant. It was a very thin slice of sashimi and I'm surprised the chef didn't catch it.

The waitress detectably apologized and had nothing to offer other than a replacement of that particular piece of nigiri which I did not intend to eat again. Overall a rather disappointing dining experience and very unlikely to return.

Oct 20, 2011

insayn
23

5.8 Average

Food 5 Ambience 7 Service 8 Value 3

Trendy urban style attracts the young hip crowd. Service was fast and friendly and in terms of ambience it's fantastic to bring a partner for a first date. Sadly the food doesn't quite live up to expectations. Yuzu oysters were way too seasoned, the superbly fresh fat morsels drowned in a too briny concoction. Octopus salad again over seasoned, but tender and charred nicely. Pork belly a tad too dry.

Desserts were great though, salted caramel semifreddo was a well balanced sweet and savory caramel with sour stewed apples and crunchy chewy meringue. Overall food falls short of what could have been a real impresser.

Sep 24, 2011

Kent K.
1

7.8 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 8 Service 8 Value 7

Nice fun place for a drink and a bit to eat though a bit pricey. Not a food lovers delight but good all the same.

Aug 09, 2011

kenk
64

5.3 Average

Food 7 Ambience 8 Service 3 Value 3

Food was pretty good, it was a fun place for a dinner with friends but the service was pretty poor (the waiter was inattentive and even backed away from us when we were asking a question).

Jul 25, 2011

Julia1984
3

7.5 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 8 Service 7 Value 7

Great place for a date, a catch up or with a group of friends. Restaurant is nice and dark which gives a sense of privacy, even if the restaurant is fully packed. Food is lovely and service is not too bad. We didn't book, but luckily they still had an available table. With that said, I will definitely book next time I return.

Jul 12, 2011