The Monkey King

Kevin Michels

We love the food here and I've been going since it opened. The owners are so friendly and the staff is so accommodating. The food whether it's delivery or dine in is impeccable. These photos are from the Lunar New Year menu, but highly recommend exploring their specials on any given day. The shrimp toast is something we never fail to get - out of this world. Please check this place out if you're in the neighborhood! It's beautiful and the food is worth it.

+3

Nickie Antypas

If I could give 6 stars I would. One of the best dining experiences I have had in a LONG time. The food was exceptional. Everything we ordered was a hit. We got scallion pancakes, spareribs, dumplings, fried garlic chicken, green beans, and duck fat fried rice and vanilla/strawberry shortcake. Our service was top-tier, waitress was knowledgeable and friendly. Decor was so cute with 70s sunken living room vibes and on my opinion the menu was reasonably priced. Bathrooms were super clean and parking was easy to find. 100000% will be back

The server told us the restaurant is to showcase the kids of the immigrants which I think is a good description of the restaurant. It added a bit western twist to the traditional food so if you are looking for authentic Chinese dishes this is not the best place to be. Overall I would say the food was fair, a few things I actually feel tasted better without the sauce (the sauce for the shrimp toast and the sauce for the fried garlic chicken not really enhanced the flavour to my taste). Another observation is the portion of the small plates were very generous, same as the portion for main dish if not bigger lol. A nice place overall.

Bunnie Lucas

We came here to celebrate my friend’s birthday and it turned out to be such a lovely experience. The food was flavorful and beautifully presented-every dish had that perfect Asian-fusion balance of comfort and creativity. The ambiance is where this place really shines. The lighting is warm and moody, giving it that intimate, modern-lounge feel without being too dark. The brick accent wall, emerald-green booths, and gold fixtures make the space feel cozy yet upscale-perfect for date nights or small gatherings. Our waiter Jonathan was excellent, attentive, kind, and made us feel welcome from the moment we sat down. Service really can make or break a dining experience, and he nailed it. My only wish is that the cocktail list was a bit more extensive, because the drink I had was okay, and I would’ve loved to explore more options. The wine list was impressive I’ll admit, but I wasn’t in the mood for wine lol Overall, it was a beautiful night-great food, beautiful setting, and wonderful company. I’ll definitely be back!

+2

Nene W

I visited Monkey King last week Tuesday around 8pm. It wasn't super busy, so we were able to be seated immediately. I didnt care for the fact that they don't serve any of the steamed dumplings during the week, only on the weekends. The Pan Fried Chicken Dumplings,were ok. The whole filling on the inside kept falling out with every bite. The Fried Shrimp Toast was definitely an acquired taste, its not for me. The Char Sui and Marinated Sichuan Cucumbers were soooooo good! 10/10 definitely recommend. The Beef Chow Fun was also good. The staff was polite and attentive. Each plate is sharable. You can with 2-3 people and be full off of what we ordered. The total bill was $200, which is kinda expensive considering 4 of the 5 items ordered were appetizers. Oveall I will visit again for my favorites and to try their dumplings.

Albert G

The General Tso’s chicken tastes very vinegar forward which I am not used to, but it wasn’t bad. Mapo tofu takes a bit for the flavor to arrive but is decent overall. My biggest complaint is that there is no complimentary white rice with an entree, at least for takeout unless they forgot. Mapo tofu without white rice? White rice as an add on? That is greedy energy and I rebuke that; it goes against the spirit of family style Chinese food in my opinion :(

Yo Yo

Took my daughter here for dinner. Very nice ambiance however the seating area was very tight where other ppl butt was touching me. The food was ok the shrimp pancake thingy was tasty we ordered 2 the crab rice was on the dryer side and as well as the ribs. The drinks was way too pricey to be filled with so much ice. Two sip and it finished no exaggeration. Tasty just too much ice.

+1

Shanice L

The waiter was really amazing and the ambiance was nice. Terrible lighting at this restaurant and I have 20/20 vision. The taste of the food was not worth the price on the menu. We got the Black Pepper Steak (4/5), Crispy Garlic Fried Chicken (2/5) and Roasted Duck-Fat Fried Rice (2/5) The black pepper steak was pretty flavorful, the Crispy Garlic Fried chicken had a crispy outer layer (like the name says) but flavor ?? Im not too sure what happened with that and the Roasted Duck-Fat Fried Rice taste like regular fried rice (so I’m confused by the name) Wouldn’t go back again but I do recommend Brooklyn Chop House and Philippe Chow …

winter rose

Let's keep this review short, sweet, and to the point. Hannah was the highlight of the night. Charismatic, fun, helpful, and personal. 10/10 for Hannah. She deserves the 20% automatic gratuity added to your bill. The ambiance was cozy and nice, with no complaints there. As for the food, we could've gone to the Chinese buffet, and the food would've tasted better. The food lacked seasoning. The only things that tasted good were the dipping sauces. Also the entrees don't come with sides so it's more al a carte style. Spent $378.00 for a party of 4. We could've gone to Brooklyn Crab House instead.

+2

Nehal

Our family took an hour and half trip to this restaurant since it was promoted as a Bengali Chinese fusion place. We made reservation in advance to ensure our spot. Upon arrival we were seated in our table within minutes. The place appeared modern and slick, cool dining tables and a dining bar that is little below the restaurant floor. But I found the restaurant’s ambiance too dark, it was hard to see anything around the restaurant. The iPhone taking all the pictures in night mode, that’s how dark it was. The menu was via QR code but the restaurant had no reception for Verizon. I asked them for wifi and they gave me one that had network problems. So I had to walk outside multiple times to load the menu. Once I read thru the menu I was disappointed to see it was full of regular Chinese appetizers and entrees, nothing Bengali about any of them. We ordered whole bunch of items, starting with the soup dumplings. The soup dumplings barely had any soup, I counter, about five drops came of each dumpling. Shrimp shau mai and pearl dumplings both were basic. The vegetable dishes like pickled cucumbers, eggplant with garlic sauce and boiled bok choy were actually far better good dishes. Chicken wings were also good. The best dish of the night was the lamb ribs. They were soft, juicy, tender, had amazing taste. But it took them an hour to bring the dish out. We finished all our other food, and then waited 10-15 minutes more to finally see the lamb dish arrive at our table. The service was pretty good. Our server was very polite and friendly. The staff cordially greeted me for father’s day. Although the dinner was fine, I felt like for the price we paid the dishes could have been far better quality and quantity. I had eaten most of these dishes in other Chinese restaurants for half the price.

+14

Tania Weatherington

A few of my favourite influencers have ranted and raved about The Monkey King, and noted it as one of their favourite places for Asian fusion in Brooklyn. So, I went with really high hopes and an empty stomach. Overall I would say that it was dinner surrounded by trendy diners. Definitely not somewhere I would recommend if you were looking for a quiet, intimate dinner. But if you are looking to celebrate, this will definitely be a great spot - there were a few birthday tables, that definitely were on turn-up mode. The food was pretty good. We liked the Char Siu and Soup Dumplings 🥟. With the service, our server seemed to be quite preoccupied with other tables. We had to ask to have more water a few times, and my partner and I found the cocktails to be super small and packed with ice.

+5

François Jėrôme

I really wanted to like this place, but it just didn’t live up to the hype - especially for the price. First, I’ll say the waitress was lovely (the first one)- friendly and attentive. But almost everything I tried to order was unavailable. They were out of the Monkey King cocktail, the XO crab rice, and even the scallops, which were supposed to be a special. That alone was disappointing for a restaurant at this price point. I ended up ordering the lobster with scallion and ginger. Unfortunately, it was a miss the dish was heavy on thick slices of ginger that completely overpowered the flavor. It felt like everything was just thrown together. On top of that, the lobster was served shell-on, which made eating it with lo mein unnecessarily messy. No cracking utensils were provided, which didn’t help. Drinks were okay, and the apps were pretty mid. Another frustration there were no actual menus. You had to scan a QR code, but the signal inside was terrible, so the menu wouldn’t even load. It made ordering more of a hassle than it needed to be. Overall, not worth the hype or the price tag. And they claim the food is shareable… COMPLETE LIES! Charging over $18 for three tiny dumplings is straight up highway robbery. And one last thing - never again!

Sharon H.

2 stars for the food. 5 stars for service. Family saw a reel online and decided to try this place. They will only sit you when your whole party arrive. The staff are very nice and friendly. Attentive through out the service. Once you enter, you see the bar area in a lower ground which is cool. After-hour vibes, dimmed light, comfortable seats. The food is mediocre. They advertise as Chinese-Bengali fusion but there’s no Bengali food expect for one dessert. Very basic for all the dishes. Small portion even though they say it’s “sharing” style. Nothing comes with rice. The only dish I like it’s chicken wings, tender and wrapped with flavors. Also I can smell weed from our table. Nothing against people who smoke but I really hate that smell.

+7

Anthony

Ordered takeout for 2 Char Siu Platters. Portion size was laughable, meat and rice were nothing special and were pretty dry, almost tasted like leftovers. First picture is the portion I got, second is what is advertised. Not worth the money at all, really disappointed