Monkey Magic, Surry Hills

Tuesday night is usually 'restaurant night' at our place (don't ask). Last night we made the trek to Surry Hills (not really for me, since I work in the city, but it was a bit of a drive for FH Alphie). He had chosen Monkey Magic in Surry Hills for tonights adventure - don't ask me how he found it, FH Alphie rarely chooses. And I'll admit, I was skeptical, as I'm not usually a fan of Japanese food, but it was a pleasant surprise.

Monkey Magic style sushi

I was running quite late, quite ironic given the relative distances we had to travel, but I had forgotten that I didn't have a bus ticket, then couldn't find anywhere that sold them. Once I had a ticket, I had to wait FOREVER for a bus to Surry Hills to arrive, which was then super slow thanks to peak hour traffic, and when I got off the bus, I walked the wrong way down Crown street... you get the idea. FH Alphie wasn't too worried though, as 'they treat cripples well' (he's still wearing his sling), I joked back 'especially ones who look like they've been stood up on a date'!

When I finally arrived, the first thing I noticed was that it looks quite empty from the street, but don't let this decieve you, as when we visited, the upstairs/mezzanine area was much busier.

Crab Leaves

We started with the Crab leaves (crab, ginger, chilli and lime on betel leaves), which were good, and had lots of crab meat, if a little tricky to eat. Then shared the Monkey Magic style sushi selection (large), which was delicious! I was a bit scared of this, as I haven't had great experiences with raw fish sushi in the past, but this was by far the best thing we ordered. The fish was incredibly soft and just melted in your mouth. I could easily have eaten the whole plate, although FH Alphie felt the same way, so it would have been a battle!

Stuffed cabbage roll

Stir fried Asian greens

Next was the Stuffed cabbage roll and Stir fried Asian greens. The cabbage roll looked nothing like I expected (now that I think about it, I'm not entirely sure what I did expect...), but it was quite tasty. Again, difficult to eat with chopsticks, although a knife and fork were provided. I loved the greens, FH Alphie would just roll his eyes and say that I always do. This time though, he agreed with me, which means they really were good.

We skipped on desert as we had to get going, and I'll be honest, I didn't even look at the desert menu, so I have no comments there.

The service was prompt (although it was a Tuesday - not really a busy night) and very friendy. All in all, a great night, it would be a great place for Friday night dinner & drinks with the girls I think (that would give me an excuse to try out something from the cocktail menu!). If you are dining midweek (Monday - Wednesday), theres a winter special - 20% of everything - but make sure you ask, as we didn't and despite it being a Tuesday, paid full price :(

Monkey Magic

3 & 4/410 Crown St

Surry Hills

NSW

www.monkeymagic.com.au

-Alphie