The Wooden Monkey

Wonderful Food and great atmosphere

Went out with friends here for the first time. Everyone was extremely pleased with the food. I had a friend visiting from out west and he had a seafood pasta, he couldn't get over how great it was and talked about it the whole trip. Loved that everything was local and fresh, considering that the prices were extremely reasonable. Can't wait to go back again.

Something in my Meal!

Recently went to this restaurant. Save your money - food is mediocre at best. $18 for a mushy lobster roll!! Along with that I had a number of cartilage and shell in the roll. Ok, that's normal on occasions to bite into a small piece of leftover shell but most of the roll had shell - ouch. Should send them my dentist bill! Spoke to the waitress and she told me the chef said that's because it's fresh! Did it just jump off the boat into the bun ;o) The manager made no effort to speak to us and I was charged for the lobster roll, which most of it was still left on the plate. Halifax is such a great city with many wonderful restaurants with amazing food & great service - vote with your dollars and support great food. Just my 2 cents. Cheers.

Good food/service, small portions

Good food, nice to see they are using many local ingredients. Friendly service and pretty speedy. We ordered the mussels as an appetizer, it was a good portion size and very tasty. We had the seafood chowder which is a tomatoey base and very delicious with lots of seafood. My husband had the special which was a pork chop and lobster tail. The portion size was very small for $28. I appreciate the local ingredients etc, but for that price, I'd expect more.

The food was good, and I really appreciate what the restaurant stands for, but for the quality of the food and drinks, the menu was significantly overpriced. When I looked at the menu and saw the prices, I was expecting larger portions, or food of significantly higher quality. There is not much selection on the menu. A lot of seafood and vegetarian dishes, though, which is appreciable. Service was kind of slow, but very very friendly. Relatively good drink menu, a little pricey for what you get, though. Poor wine selection.

Very easy going mood, monkey theme artifacts, old...

Very easy going mood, monkey theme artifacts, old wooden floors, furniture looks like has been in use for 3 generations (charming), paintings of varied styles: promote a relaxed experience, with homey notes. Music was low volume, not agressive. Intermittent air conditioning was welcome. About staff: friendly. Can be very effective if customer wished it so. I had requested a slow paced service, with time between servings, and they respected that without any change in their very welcoming behavior. There were 3 turn overs of patrons at another table while I was there. Nobody pressured me. The salad was flavourish. The marriage between feta cheese and scallops was winner. My fair trade coffee and Sauvignon Blanc wine were very good. The main dish was very good too. The server was very accomodating with my table neighbours with nut allergy. There is outdoor seating, but the ambiance is pretty plain there, compared to inside. The surrondings, while clean and safe, are definitively less charming that at other terraces in Halifax. But outdoor seating is availlable. Limited wine list, but the wine that I had was good. More extensive choice of teas, non-alcoolised drinks and liquors. I rarely comment on bathrooms in a review, but this time I have to: WOW! Impressive. Roomy, clean, plastered walls painted from floor to ceiling with country scenes from France. I enjoyed the global package. One of the plus: having enjoyed very good food at a homey place, where I did not feel like I had to hold my back rigidly straight every single minute. But still with reasonnable distinction. On a sunday lunch, the balance was just right.