The Royal Munkey

Great place, the concept is reminiscent of a turn of the century British –Indian colonial times…
All the classic craft cocktails perfectly executed in the precise traditional way are a throwback of the Indian spices trade’s gentlemen drinking scene. The correct glassware and bar paraphenelia are the original ones that were used during post Victorian times in the salons and bar lounges of luxury hotels and members club in India. Stirring and shaking drinks are a very serious affair from their mixologist bartenders, also a wide selection of scotches, bourbons and mandatory boutique gins are part of their bar selection…
Their menu offerings are designed in several categories and directly influenced from the daily meals of Officers mess from the British army during colonial times. So their dishes are balanced with the right amount of heat and spices with layers of sweetness and flavors to accommodate western palates, at competitive prices.
Very friendly service staff is cladded in fashionable traditional Indian attire and perform their tasks with grace and professionalism, which add a genuine touch to the establishment. They will guide you thru some recommendations if needed and according to your demands will suggest some cocktails or wine pairings. The owners are in the premises and enthusiastically interact with patrons with some personal anecdotes which brings an extra welcoming feeling.
Décor and ambience are based on a classic casual elegant Indian– British pub concept, warthm and coziness are at play. A myriad of munkey themed decorations, strategically placed everywhere, as you sit down will have your eyes discover small details that are fun to see. Definitely a great recommended place to frequent on a regular basis.

Great concept, poor execution. The redeeming stars here are for the cocktails, which were solid, but took over 20 minutes to be delivered. Quality of food is at best equal to any spot in Curry Hill, but a few dollars more expensive and a smaller portion. My food came lukewarm and our appetizer never arrived. The staff was inattentive. Would not return.

The food here was actually really good, which made the terrible service even more unfortunate. Granted, we came on a Saturday night and it was pretty busy, but my feeling is that a restaurant in Manhattan needs to be able to handle weekend dinner rush. Here were some issues:
— maitre d doubled as service, busboy, coat check guy, and cleaner. He tried to put somebody’s jacket on the floor under our table. Ridiculous.
— more than once he interrupted dinner conversation to clean: in itself, not a problem and expected /​encouraged. But he shoved my hand out of the way to get to the crumbs, which he then swept into my lap.
— cleaned so aggressively that he moved a glass of water as somebody else was filling it, making water spill all over the table.
— service was slow, drinks were ordered and never received, and full dishes didn’t come out of the kitchen until we were basically already finished eating.
— the waitress meant well, but I think they’re told not to write anything down and so she had to come back several times to confirm what we had ordered.
— everything took forever to get out of the kitchen and to our tables. We were sitting there for an hour before our first drink even came.
I understand this is a fairly new restaurant, and hopefully tonight was an off night. The maitre d was inexcusable, but as I mentioned the food was actually good.
Hopefully they shape up. Our party couldn’t wait to leave.

Went here with 7 friends and couldn’t have been happier. Great service, great food & cocktails, great atmosphere. I’ve gone to their sister restaurant The Drunken Munkey uptown and happy to see The Royal Munkey is just as good. Would recommend!

The Royal Munkey is a super solid dinner option. If your fancy is Indian cuisine and love the art of a strong pour, this spot is for you.
The boo and I came for dinner on a cold weeknight. The host was super sweet and offered to take our coats just in case of any lingering smell it the clothes might incur. Dope.
We started off with some drinks, me the old fashion sounded divine. Her, a white wine. The cocktails are made with a great pour. For about 13 dollars a cocktail, you get a tasty yet strong drink. Kudos to that.
As for the starters, the chili cheese toast and tiger prawns were on our sights. The toast was made using Pullman’s toast (please refer to Pullman’s kitchen), this starter is exactly as is described on the menu. Cheese, bread and fresh chili pepper. Not exactly spectacular but a greasy & spicy starter to get that appetite wet. The prawn were massive. My only complaint was that the heads were pretty dried out by the time it got to the table. Nothing to suck (heyoo). Otherwise a meaty morsel to try.
Both our entrees were solid (Railway chicken & Tikki Masala). They came with Basmati rice, a crispy piece of naan and a lentil «gravy» which you could pour over the rice. Honestly that lentil was money. Super delish. We also ordered a side of cauliflower and crispy okra. Both decent but If you’re going for the okra, make sure to have more than two in your party, a sharing side most definitely.
Solid food, Solid drink. Overall a really great spot to have a date or just a night out for dining. Royal Munkey, you got me bananas over your swag.
4 ½ stars

The fried okra is as addictive as crack, and the Tandoori quail was crispy-​charred and juicy (not an easy feat.)
Service was spotty — but incredibly charming so I’m overlooking it (and they’ve only been open since November).
I’m a tea-​totaler so the cocktails were lost on me – but they sure looked 1920’s London good.
Definitely worth the trek to 2^nd Ave.

As the sister restaurant to the Drunken Munkey, I went in with some pretty high expectations. This space is a bit larger than their upper east side counter part but the menus are exactly the same. The cocktail quality is excellent, the food is delicious and the service is with a smile. We were seated very quickly on a weekend and the daily drink specials are a nice touch. They don’t have a mixology/​speakeasy vibe, BUT the cocktail quality is on par with them.

2^nd Indian food experience in the city (after Pippali), we had a great time.
Great staff, good cocktails and the food is amazing.
Highly recommended

Delicious place with old world charm! Give it a go. Chicken tikka, shrimp curry and chili cheese toast are great options.
Also nice bathrooms. Well decorated!

I have to say I was pretty skeptical of this place but the service, the food and of course the cocktails were great. I would definitely go back. I love Indian food but it’s hard to find a restaurant that’s fun and classy without being cheesy — they definitely achieved that here.
I also loved the music — they played some old school bhangra but then they changed it after happy hour to 90s rock. that was a weird choice but it didn’t matter that much to me.

Loved this place and definitely a great Indian food addition to the neighborhood. The ambiance of the restaurant was cozy with Indian accents here and there. For example, the bathroom knob had a cricket ball on it. There was a nice drink menu– I had the Indian old fashioned and it was nice and smooth.
Now, the food. We started with the chili cheese toast and pani puri. I would liken the cheese toast to an Indian version of grilled cheese that I could eat over and over and over again. If you go here, get the cheese toast.
For our main course, we went with the chicken tikka masala and shrimp curry. Both were good. I like the fact that each entrée came with naan, rice, and yogurt. At most Indian restaurants, bread and rice cost extra — not here, it comes with the meal! That definitely makes it a good value for your money.
Finally, we tried two desserts, the carrot cake (gajar halwa) and rum ball, which was on the house. We liked them both. The carrot cake was pretty authentic but I think it could use a scoop of ice cream on the side. To be clear, we still polished off the desserts.

This place is really gorgeous! I love the style — the monkey-​reading lamps are very one of a kind. The food is outstanding, and the service was kind. I was there with a large group of people as we were waiting for our drinks they gave us a welcome punch on the house it was a nice touch!– the enviroment and the people who work there were charming.

Went with friends for holiday dinner. The décor music drinks and food was amazing. We started with the chili cheese bread and it was gone in less than a minute. Puri after. Both pair with craft drinks and punch. For entrée we had butter chicken, lamb, and eggplant. I love that it’s pair with both nan and rice because I never know which one to pick. :-)
We finish off with rum cake and banana cake. Both delicious. Will be back soon to try the rest of the menu.

We did a dinner event with 25 people. The service was great and unobtrusive. They were around when you needed them and quite pleasant. The food was absolutely delicious.

This place is amazing! The Royal Munkey recently opened in my girlfriend’s neighborhood in Kips Bay and so we stopped by for dinner and drinks on a Sunday night. The vibe is hard to describe — I would say classy, but not stuffy or formal, and very warm. The food was delicious. We are both vegetarian and were not disappointed. We had the Chili Cheese Toast (couldn’t get enough!), Paani Puri, Saag Paneer, and the cauliflower side. We also had a few of their cocktails (the drink menu is very extensive), which were great. The service here is on point and the waitress even let us try a drink at the end on the house. We will definitely be back for another visit!

No bad. The music can be too loud or strange at times.
The initial walk in was an eye roll– they have some silly red velvet rope across so that you must stand and wait but it’s a bit of a clash to the other dining experiences there. Its not totally upscale or preforming upscale in a consistent way and there is a shit load of awful christmas décor detracting from the monkey theme.
The cheese bread was good, the okra was creating and yummy, butter masala a thumbs up, the small bird was flavorless. We were a group of Desis and just felt like the flavor was too mild and made one wait, hoping the next dish would be that one to talk about.

Dined here last week. You can tell it’s a brand new place by the smell of fresh paint. Walked in without reservations and was seated promptly.
We started off with appetizers, the chill cheese toast and paani puri. Both were good. The chill cheese toast had good flavors and was a big helping. The paani puri while good was missing that spicy kick.
For our entrees we ordered the meals that come with rice and daal. Both the Railway curry chicken and the paneer tikka masala were A-​ok. The gravies were good but the paneer was tough and rubbery. The chicken lacked flavors. The yellow daal was bland. Naan average.
I was def. disappointed with my meal. After hearing such raving reviews of the Drunken Munkey, I was expecting much better food at this second location. Not sure if I will dine here again unless i am in the neighborhood. They can def. work on upping their flavors a bit if their primary clientele is going to be mostly Indians.

I have been anxiously waiting the opening of The Royal Munkey. Finally they opened!!! I must say, they didn’t disappoint!!! The Food was DElICIOUS!!! I had the tiger prawns and the cheesy toast (which was spicy and yummy!!!). I also had three yummy cocktails and carrot cake which was excellent!!! The staff was super friendly and helpful, especially, the owner, Arun. Those of you who went to the prior restaurant at this location (Kipsey’s), will be happy to know that our beloved bartender, David, is working at The Royal Munkey! It was so nice and comforting to see David again!!! Please go and experience The Royal Munkey for yourself!!!

Admittedly, I’m a fan of their uptown location… So it’s great to have a Munkey that’s more convenient for us midtown dwellers. Got the same inventive cocktail menu and the tried-​and-​true recipes we all know and love from uptown, in a shiny new, larger, and seemingly more lively location. Service is great. Staff is friendly. Looking forward to becoming a «regular» and having many a meal under the model train…

Opening week for The Royal Munkey and they have it together. Staff were very nice, attentive and helpful. Went with my 6 year old so was a little worried she wouldn’t be very adventurous. Ordered the pani puri and it was different, in a good way. Crispy and flavorful. The chili cheese toast was delicious. I had to stop myself so I had room for my main dish. Chicken Tikka Masala… oh how do I love thee. This is my go to dish at every Indian restaurant. The Royal Munkey did not disappoint. Very tasty. Very pleased of the new addition to the neighborhood. I will be returning :)