One day after shopping for my asian food product fix at the nearby Paris Store in Belleville, I passed by this strangely decorated bar/resto, thinking nothing of it, other than it looked, just, well, out of place, with an omnipresent stylized ape logo, and multicolored furniture, it didn't look quite right. Then a couple of trusted friends told me that their burgers were, in the words of one, 'legendary'. So I had to check it out. It turns out the chef did time in the kitchens of the Meurice, and ended up associating himself with Nicolas Barthelemy, an Oberkampf bar owner who wanted to change 'hoods.
I dropped by this afternoon to check it out, and ordered their no. 2, a minced lamb burger, with coriander, ginger, Thai basil all enveloped in a cereal bun, accompanied with home cut frites. Everything seemed fresh and homemade, although the fries were a little cold, and the bottom part of the burger disintegrated halfway through eating it. The music was moody and funky, service very friendly, and the beer and food (4€ for the pint of Stella, 10€ the burger) reasonably priced. Other burgers include satay sauced chicken, beef with thyme, mozza, pickles and beefheart tomato, and even a veggy version for the effete set.
The bar and kitchen are open until 2am, making this an interesting alternative to other nearby bobo Belleville bars (Aux Folies, Café Cherie, etc)
PS Apologies for the iPhone pic...
Monkey's
68 boulevard de la Villette, 19th
+33.1.40.18.08.10
4 comments:
That indeed is a very handy find. Thanks for the tip. How long have they been around?
Month and a half tops. It's fun. Monkey theme everywhere irks me, but burger's good, beer's cheap, and proves to be a bobo poontang stomping ground, so...
This place looks amazing! Hope it's still around.
Nice blog, btw. Not too pretentious... ;)
I'm never pretentious. Unless Dita von Teese tries to pick me up..
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