MNKY HSE Manchester

Sadly this restaurant was a disappointment for us. We were super excited to try this as there were plenty positive online reviews and also videos on social media praising Monkey House. Unfortunately it did not live up to its reputation at all. Ultimately Monkey House wants to be the Ivy’s little sister but clearly did not have the funding to create the same sense of atmosphere. It rather came across like a seedy night club with loud music and red lighting. Right off the bat the greeting by the hostess was rather cold, we were led to our table, menus were plopped down and she walked off again. We had to shove our coats just anywhere as these are not taken off you, good job though as our table was located in the middle of a wind tunnel. The first thing we noticed was the sheer noise level. People were loudly shouting at each other because the music playing was unreasonably loud (and this was turned up louder again by the DJ during our visit). No conversation was possible at all without screaming from the top of your lungs and we struggled to understand our waiters. After 10 minutes someone came and asked for our drinks order, another 20 minutes later another person took our food order. He explained that there is no starter/main system and that all orders arrive when they are cooked (Wagamama style) and recommended we choose 3 dishes each. We decided on a sushi sharer, one prawn course, one steak salad and 2 sides. Our sushi sharer plate arrived promptly, 10 minutes later. To be fair this was excellent and the highlight of our meal. There was absolutely nothing to fault on the sushi. Fresh, delicious fish and great presentation. We finished this quickly and the plate was cleared away. We then proceeded to wait for another FIFTY minutes before someone came over to ask if they could get us anything else. We were absolutely starving at this point. I explained that we had been waiting for our food for nearly an hour now and asked what was going on as all tables around us seemed to be getting their food before us. The waiter disappeared to go check. Yet another waiter, who we hadn’t seen before, came up to us and apologised. He explained that he was meant to be looking after our table but that others covered for him whilst he was on his break. That our food had not been called away and the kitchen would prepare it now. He was very apologetic and said he would speak to his manager to see what could be done to make up for it. I asked why any food would be needed to be called away when we were told that all food immediately arrives when ready? No answer was given. He came back moments later and offered a cocktail on the house or a dessert to share which we declined. We just asked for the cocktail we already drank to be taken off instead. Quite frankly I find this a laughable token gesture for the non-service we received in this establishment. The rest of our food arrived within the next 5-10 minutes at a lukewarm temperature. Those dishes were nothing too exciting, either too salty or not seasoned at all. The only thing worth mentioning was the corn salad. Quite imaginative with interesting textures. When we asked for our bill this was delivered promptly. We asked for the service charge to be removed considering the service we received, I find it cheeky to put this on the bill in the first place in this situation. It generally seemed very chaotic, waiters were walking around like headless chickens. Different waiters tried to deliver the wrong orders to our table twice. Overall disappointing and unearned expectations from Monkey house as we were told that each person needed to order a minimum amount of £50 food before we even set foot in the place and left with sore throats. Based on our experience we will not be returning and recommend people avoid this “restaurant” at all cost. There is a great selection of higher end eateries in Manchester and this is not it. Management should take a long look at its set up. Your front of house staff is letting down the kitchen.

Expensive restaurant nestled next to the town hall of Manchester city. I'm going to mention the good stuff first: food and service are excellent, although it must be because the price of each item it's really expensive. Don't expect big portions, there are medium- small size. On the not so good side: it's deafening place where is not easy to hold a conversation even if the other person is next to you. It's a problem. Also, the vibe of the place is really performative. As an experience you can try but I would never return a place like that.

We visited last month and used the steak and lobster offer. This was advertised as an offer for 300gr beef and whole lobster for 29.95 and it said that it comes with butter sauce and salad. When we for there we were told that the meat lobster come on their own and not with any sauce or salad anymore even though this is what was advertised. The sides we got were tasty but crazy overpriced. The beef was well cooked and tasty, however one of the lobsters was not defrosted properly and had a very fishy and strange smell and taste. Bottom line, the food was not worth the money. The waitor was friendly and probably was the only thing that made our night special. The food took 50 mins to arrive but I guess that makes sense as we did not get starters.