Red Monkey Tea House

Red Monkey Tea House

Clem Bastow, Reviewer

Thursday, February 07, 2008

The menu is free-spirited, from the range of tea-infused/inspired cocktails to the spread of tasty and cheap "tapas".

North Melbourne, which to some less adventurous types can feel like an odd little isthmus between the outskirts of the city proper and the industrial badlands beyond, is busily and quietly cultivating a delightful handful of bars in its midst while everyone sidesteps it for Carlton or the inner city. There's Rrose, Prudence and "now" - it's not new but here's our beginners' take on it - Red Monkey Tea House, which might be the best of the lot. Perched just before Victoria Street turns into Errol, Red Monkey is housed in one of North Melbourne's many lovely old shopfronts which, once dotted with share houses and failed ventures, now seem to be thriving with kitschy boutiques and cafes with a cavernous front window; the sort of plate glass windows that went out of fashion once nervous civic pen-pushers had watched too many '70s crime capers featuring Gene Hackman-types driving their cars through said windows. Inside, Red Monkey is a fine example of what happens when a bar's desi...

Full review on The Age