No Monkeying Around – A Review Of MONKI Breakfast Club & Bistro

There’s no such thing as too many brunch places. You can say that about pizzerias. You can say that about schwarma joints. And you can say that about Vietnamese restaurants, but most people would universally agree that there is no such thing as too many brunch places. At least in Calgary anyways.

So A. and I woke up early one Saturday morning to check out the newest kid on the brunch block – Monki Bistro. They are located just opposite off the Community Natural Foods and occupy a pretty cozy spot at the corner of 10th Ave and 12th St SW. We got there at 10ish and it was already packed, but luckily for us, there was room at the kitchen counter which was fine by me as I love open-concept kitchens that open up to the entire restaurant – it’s like getting a front row seat to your favourite band. We got there in good time too, cause as soon as we were seated, a huge line-up started, most of whom didn’t get seated until we left…two hours later.

"Cozy" would be an understatement when describing this place. I don’t think I have ever been to a tinier restaurant. Shit-hole Korean restaurant Don Day, by comparison, is palatial. Nonetheless, the cozy atmosphere coupled with primate-art adorning walls and large windows that let in plenty of natural light gave this place a kind of a "happening" buzz. Not quite the same happening vibe you get from OEB or Una, but somewhere halfway in between. It’s getting there.

One of the main reasons I wanted to check out Monki was for their Banana and Frangelico cream cheese-stuffed French toast topped with Nutella and condensed milk (yes, you read that right). Who wouldn’t want to try that? However, I don’t like sweet breakfast options, so I convinced A. to order it (with empty promises of sharing my order) whereas I went with a burrata, vine ripe tomato, arugula, pesto olive oil  & balsamic panini. As soon as the server left, an absolutely mouth-watering eggs benedict dish of some sort went past us, making me instantly regret my order. Oh well, I guess I have an excuse to go back again.

The dishes were well plated, but the stuffed French toast in particular looked like a thick piece of steak. I don’t know if others would find that comparison tasty, but that’s the first thing that came to my mind. Interestingly, based on what my eyes saw and what I had read about that dish, my mind was expecting something super-rich and sweet. However, kinda like eating dark chocolate, my taste buds were deceived and disappointed. It’s a bit of a mind-fuck, but a delicious, well-balanced piece of mind-fuck. Otherwise, you would have a hard time finishing the dish. Eating a whole jar of Nutella sounds delicious, until about your 10th spoonful. After that, you are just shitting out Nutella. A thick, gooey, dark-brown Nutella.

Next up was the panini and this dish definitely grew on me so much so that I really enjoyed it by the last bite. The panini was a much mellower and earthier dish compared to the stuffed French-toast. Furthermore, I made the mistake of eating the side salad that came with a balsamic dressing. The latter was way too overpowering for the panini. The panini was pretty much toast after the first bite of salad – all I tasted was the texture of the bread and cheese. However, the panini gradually began replacing the taste of the balsamic vinaigrette towards the end and I really started enjoying the earthy taste of the cheese, arugula, and pesto.

The food was good and delicious, but it lacked the "wow" factor for some reason. A. made the very insightful observation that the dishes weren’t balanced properly. So, for instance, the stuffed French-toast was delicious, but it was too much of a good thing. It could have used some hash browns or toast on the side. Same with the panini – the balsamic vinaigrette was simply too overwhelming thus upsetting the balance of the dish. If Monki gets this balance right, my gut feel is that it will become a solid hit.

When you show up to a new restaurant with a camera, the staff pay attention, no matter how inconspicuous you try to be. The main chef chatted me up during a brief lull and we got talking. Monki is run by a pair of chefs/owners/brothers who previously used to run the Italian-joint Gnocchi’s Ristorante (which has a 90% "Like" rating on UrbanSpoon.com). Apparently, one of their reasons for wanting to start a bistro was having a more stable 9-5 pm schedule in addition to cooking a different type and style of food. It also explains the heavily Italian-influenced menu.

One major thing to note: it took us two hours from time we got seated to when we got out. Unfortunately, the food did take a while to come out. The kitchen was working pretty deftly, but they are still working out their timings and rhythm, especially in that tiny, tiny kitchen (think food truck tiny). Typically, in most brunch places, the line-ups are much longer than how long it takes the food to come out, but either way, you are looking at around 1.5-2 hours before you have paid your bill and are on your way out. Monki is no different, except here, the food takes much longer to come out.

No one’s really heard about Monki yet, but I suspect as the word of mouth spreads and they get even busier, they will have to do a better job with getting the food out faster. Also, like most brunch places, you have to wait in line again at the end of your meal to pay before you are on your way out. This is extremely frustrating, but only Vendome has managed to find a solution for this. Either way, I am definitely looking forward to going back there to try their eggs benedict.

Ranking

Ambiance	4/5
Service	4/5
Originality	4/5
Taste	3.5/5
Value	3/5
TOTAL	19.5/25 = 76%

Until next time. PO, b.

-Kiran

First Impressions: CRAFT Beer Market

Update on July 5: Notes from our guest writer, Rachel Clark!  See below.

Nothing rewards a gruelling long week of work like sitting down for a nice cold beer (or several) – so naturally, last weekend, we were inclined to get our beer on.  Having heard about not one, but TWO beer-focused restaurants opening over the past weekend, we had to investigate.  After an eventful day at the Calgary Comic Expo, Kent and I (along with our friend Steve) decided to head on over to the Craft Beer Market, which boasts over 100 beers on tap!  There had been a lot of hype surrounding this place prior to opening, so we were eager to see what all the fuss was about.  Unfortunately we missed the VIP/media opening (though my friend Tiff went – see her thoughts) so we we relegated to seeing it a few days later.

Upon entering Craft, I was immediately struck by the slick styling and vaulted ceiling, replete with polished pipelines that provided a clean yet industrial feel to the place.  Being opening weekend, it was pretty packed, but we were still able to get a table immediately.  Sadly, the upper floor beer hall was closed so we weren’t able to see what that was like, but I am imagining Oktoberfest-style benches and wenches in my mind.

The beer list is indeed very expansive, and impressively, all the beer is on tap (as opposed to in bottles or cans).  There aren’t too many outrageously unique beers on the menu – you can actually find many, if not most of these beers on tap at various places around the city – but Craft must certainly have the most comprehensive compilation in YYC.   Unfortunately, the actual selection of beers available on opening weekend was nowhere near what was shown on the menus – we were told that they were out of 46 of them, though judging by the hand-written lists that the waitresses were carrying around, they were probably out of more than that.  Of course, it’s really no surprise – after all, Bottlescrew Bill’s is often out of many of their beers, and they only have to order bottles, not kegs! – but nevertheless I felt a little let down given the prominent proliferation of “OVER 100 BEERS ON TAP” advertisements.

In general, I got the feeling that Craft was off to a rocky start – exemplified especially in the service.  Sadly, the service was rather atrocious – our waitress had to come back multiple times to take our first (and it turned out, last) beer order, and it took quite a while for our beers to come out on top of that.  Given how long it took us to get our beers, we opted against ordering any food or additional drinks and decided to relocated to Wurst after downing our pints.  Turns out, though, that you don’t need to order food to receive it, as servers delivered food to our table, TWICE! (unfortunately, it turns out that the dishes belonged to other tables, they weren’t just giving us free food).

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Special Guest Blogger: Rachel Clark!

The Craft Beer Market took social media by storm – Twitter and FB were updated on a regular basis, building a fantastic enthusiasm in the Calgary community about the newest addition to our small collection of beer-centric venues.  I was very excited to see the CBM – I like beer, and love the idea of a bar with great selection, paired menu items, and the opportunity to try new brews.

Opening night there was a line outside the door, and the people were queued up had actually RSVP’d.  But since invitations were offered to anyone who subscribed to the newsletter, I’m not surprised there was some overflow.  Once we got in, the first impression was big, bright, and shiny.  The draught lines run across the ceiling down to the bar, making the 104 beers on tap the focus of the space.  The room is huge, divided into separate levels for restaurant and bar; high ceilings emphasize the open floor plan and dark wood furnishings, so overall the place has a very strong impact.  It’s not quite as cozy as I might have hoped, but it’s probably perfect for being sandwiched between Tantra (now Mansion) and The Whiskey.

Ordering at the bar was an adventure, since the bartenders were as new to the beer and payment systems as the guests; but opening nights are NEVER perfect operations, and no one looked too stressed out.  Ranging from 6-10 dollars for .25L – .5L – around 12-16oz – the beer is not the cheapest pint you can find in the city (a true pint is actually 20oz, for the record), but not much worse than any other downtown bar.

I had the House Rye Ale, and my friend had the Mill St. Lemon Tea Beer.  The House Rye has the same ‘house flavour’ as Big Rock beers, but apart from that I had to keep sipping just to remind myself what it tasted like – very forgettable.  The Lemon Tea was a compromise after they didn’t have the first two brews we asked about, but I’m sure they’ll have the full beer list stocked before Stampede!  The selection doesn’t have anything too radical on tap, with familiar names and labels from bottled beer selection at several liquor stores in town.  But Craft has almost every single branded glass appropriate to each beer they serve, which shows a fantastic attention to detail.

It was so busy, we actually left after our first drink, but the complimentary ‘Free Appetizer’ card on the way out will ensure another visit at a later date.  Again, because of the crowds, we chose not to order any food or snacks, so unfortunately I can’t say anything about the kitchen’s prowess from this visit.

As a beer aficionado, I’ll admit my biggest concern about the place is actually those big shiny lines themselves.  The Brewer’s Association recommends cleaning draught lines no less than every 14 days – but considering that every clean you lose 3-6 pints per line, it’s a common money-saving measure to push back the schedule just a bit.  The only problem is that after two weeks of not cleaning lines, beer starts to go off.  Also, many craft beers have higher concentrations of protein and yeast debris, which means that lines get ‘dirty’ faster.  For reference, CBM’s website claims 150L of beer in the lines – that’s over 300 glasses for every time they clean, translating to a minimum loss of ~$2,625 (retail price) worth of beer every cleaning. So the question becomes, does your bar spend the extra cash on keeping things clean, or do they leave the beer a little longer than ideal to save you some money at the till?

A second problem is the actual shelf life of a tapped keg of beer – it’s usually no more than 30 days, and often much less for craft unpasteurised products.  There are usually 30-90 servings of beer in a keg, depending on the volume of the glasses and the volume of the keg.  So with 100 beers, they’ll need to sell around 6.000 glasses of beer in a month just to make sure that the turnover is high enough to keep things fresh.  That’s working under the assumption of equal opportunity consumption; that every beer is ordered just as often as their neighbour.  As opposed to having your reliable Guinness, Keith’s, and Sam Adam’s drinkers whom will not likely be chugging down Delerium or Fruli anytime soon.  To be fair though, Craft has a capacity of something like 300-350 people, so they might not have that much difficulty finishing kegs.

I hope that the Craft Beer Market experiences great success.  I’d love to have a place in the city that has beer pairing nights, a weekly cask ale, and a focus on craft products and beer education. However, I have this sinking feeling that the whole place has been set up by some very talented marketing individuals (refer to their twitter activity for examples), instead of beer enthusiasts.  As for me, I will hope for the best, and probably visit again soon to taste the food – but any beer I drink will be coming from a bottle (though one of their mottos is that they don’t carry bottles – everything is on tap! –Richard).

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Summary

It’s unfortunate that things didn’t go too smoothly on our first visit, but the extensiveness of the beer menu and the call of the beer hall make it likely that I’ll go back in the future (hopefully after they iron out the wrinkles).  It should also be noted that the beer here is not cheap – there’s a premium to be paid to have some of these beers on tap vs. bottled, though the glasses/pints are slightly larger than your typical bottle so perhaps it isn’t as bad as it looks on a dollar per volume basis.

-Richard