Home > Bars & Clubs > Editorial Review > Inside: Funky Monkey Wine Company

Inside: Funky Monkey Wine Company

By Paul Hiebing

Orlando CityBeat
February 13, 2008

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There’s something about using monkeys in selling something that goes beyond the humor innate in small, clumsy facsimiles of ourselves: it’s the rhyming. Lots of things rhyme with “monkey,” like “clunky,” “chunky,” “spelunky” – which is probably more a reason why the purveyors of Funky Monkey Wine Company, at 912 N. Mills Ave. in Orlando, chose that name rather than something more appropriate like “Sorta Fancy Really Cozy Yummy Food and Wine Place.” Funky Monkey simply flows off the tongue better.

Décor: First off, parking is going to be a pain. There are but a few spots on the street in front, the lot by the Chevron fills quickly, and the guys at the nearby Vietnamese business won’t let you park there. Side streets are your friends. Inside the dark lighting, table seating and subdued bar suggest that Funky Monkey is slightly more of a restaurant than a bar, which the food menu supports. But don’t let that bother, especially when a plate of free -- and delicious edamame is set in front of you while you check out the wine menu. The bathrooms are neatly kept and amusingly decorated with a banana for men and two coconuts for women, but that’s about as cheeky as this Funky Monkey gets. Rather, it’s lounge-like, and exceptionally so, meaning you shouldn’t let the quirky name fool you into thinking otherwise.  

The Bar: As the name suggests, this bar serves mostly wine, with over 80 varieties available spanning a slew of styles. Prices are fairly reasonable for wine, with glasses averaging at about $8 for a low (though it is possible to get away with $4 a glass if you don’t mind looking like an obvious cheapskate) and bottles hanging around the $40-$50 range. Beers are exclusively Orlando Brewing, and having the selection be entirely local is a nice touch. At $4.25 a pint, the price isn’t all that bad, either. There are also specialty drinks made from sake, including a wasabi sake Bloody Mary for $7 and sake mojitos (in plum, blueberry, pomegranate, strawberry, Asian pear, and lime flavors) for $8.

Food: Bars in this town have a tough time surviving on wine alone, which is probably why the food menu at Funky Monkey is so eye-popping. Appetizers like fried goat cheese ($9) and shrimp and scallop dumplings ($7) and main courses like peppercorn crusted yellow fin tuna with apricot couscous ($17), grill bison burger overnighted from North Dakota ($13), and ostrich filet with blueberry sauce ($32) are almost enough enticement to make the wine your second reason to visit. But if you’re just after the alcohol the free edamame is pretty tasty, too.

Sounds: Light lounge music sifts through the space, not really making an impression other than it allows you to lie to your friends about what flavors you taste in your wine without straining your voice.

Crowd: Wine snobs are inevitable, it seems, but Funky Monkey is just comfortable enough that your average drunky will want to make this a regular after-work spot as well.

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