Raja Monkey

One of my favourite places to go out for Indian food. Great service, and great food that doesn’t break the bank — you get so much food for your money. The décor is fantastic, with photos from India surrounding you. If you want to try authentic Indian street food then give this place a try — and go for a thali! A hidden gem in Birmingham!

We had an amazing experience at Raja Monkey! Absolutely amazing food… so much flavour in everything we ordered. The service we received was exceptional, the waiting staff, and chefs were so polite and helpful and always had a smile of their faces.
Not many restaurants go out there way to make sure you have a great experience, but Raja Monkey went above and beyond! They made special dessert plates for my wife and mom… (photos attached!). This is what I call customer service! We went on Mothers Day where Mothers ate FREE! My mom was so pleased to hear this! It just added to making the lunch really special.
Absolutely amazing experience! We live in Harborne, which is a bit far from Hall Green, but will definitely try and visit more. We have already recommended to our friends and family… and my mom can’t stop talking about your the starters we had! Not sure what they were called, but I’ve attached some photos…
It was great to see the chef’s in the kitchen cooking the food… it was like a free master class… I could watch them make Dosa’s all day!

Since retiring my mum has become somewhat opinionated on the topic curry. I’m not sure quite how this happened, but when you’re listening to her discuss the merits of curry houses in Monmouthshire versus Birmingham, it’s pretty obvious who is going to be the best person to take with me to review Raja Monkey.
We arrived down on a Tuesday night and were pleasantly surprised to see there being quite a few people dining — couples, groups of friends, and a large family complete with adorable child in possibly the best onsie I’ve seen this year. Located on the Stratford Rd, Raja Monkey’s street café brief is definitely at home here and whilst it might not seem like the most obvious location, the number of people in it on a Tuesday night begs to differ.
Billed as an authentic Indian street café, the menu at Raja Monkey is reassuringly brief; an A3 of dishes including Thalis and curry, plus a couple of specials. We’re spoilt in Birmingham for curry houses, but I’m still wary of places that have pages and pages of dishes. Thankfully Raja Monkey doesn’t, which gives them the perfect opportunity to go for quality over quantity.
My mum and I shared a starter of Bhoti kebab; lamb marinated with yoghurt and mustard oil. Beautifully cooked, the lamb had a lovely smokiness and a sort of spice that danced over the tongue. With three pieces it was of good size as a single portion, although also pretty good to share too.
For main I had to go for the South Indian Thali; piquant fish kari cooked in coconut milk, mustard seed and curry leaves and served with rice, a dosa, aubergine curry and dhal. The collection of dishes all had a lovely flavour; with the aubergine being spicier, the fish slightly sweet and the lentils creamy. I didn’t actually need both the dosa and rice, as I was stealing bits of my mum’s naan bread, but the whole meal all had different flavour components which really worked. My mum had spotted a special of Murgh Raj Tikka-​Masala which was a nice twist on the British classic and wasn’t too sweet.
Raja Monkey has a lovely relaxed atmosphere which is unfussy but clear that the staff take pride in their work. The food is good value and whilst the menu isn’t massive this is a positive which allows them to make sure the dishes are each carefully prepared without pretence. Definitely somewhere I’d be happy to go back to regularly.
And Raja Monkey; It turns out it’s my mum’s favourite curry house anyway. Take that Monmouthshire.
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I visited here once before with a few friends and really enjoyed the food, I had the pav bhaji, it was flavourful, well presented and not too spicy… only criticism is that they didn’t provide the usual plate of chopped onions and lemons to squeeze on top.
I also love the authentic décor of the place, and the fact they use steel dishes just a you would in India. Bathrooms are also very clean. Hilariously the waiter understood everything we asked him, even though each of us spoke a different language every time lol.
However they advertise themselves as Indian street food café, I visited here last week with a friend, and we wanted to order some hot drinks and a few snacks/​starters to share. We were told they do not serve hot drinks unless you order a main dish, and they don’t serve starters or snacks without ordering a main dish… it was quite bizarre as I would class most street food as a quick snack. We were the only customers there and asked if they could make an exception, but we had to leave as they wouldn’t.
So I think if your looking for somewhere to go out for a proper meal, I would recommend it, but unfortunately you’ll be turned away if your just looking to have a snack there.

The name of this restaurant is so catchy and unique i pictured eating food out of a monkeys head on a table with royal Maharaja’s. Well. What i did experience on reality was some really awesome and tasty indian street food with a dominant South Indian menu. Vegetarian and meat Thali’s available. Exquisite and unique dishes. The bhao bhaji was delicious — vegetables pureed and spiced and served with buttered warburton cobs with diced onion garnish. I had the lamb madras with garlic and coriander naan. The lamb was incredibly tender and full of flavour. Melt in the mouth. The décor is very clever with the illusion of being in India with the walls plastered with indian and bollywood themed pictures and an old worn indian window on the wall. The chefs cook live in view behind a glass window which is a very cool concept. Prices are fairly decent. I would give this place a go again without hesitation. Service is very friendly and attentive.

There’s only really three words I need to review Raja Monkey.
Go. Eat. Here.
From start to finish it was an excellent dining experience with attentive staff, great décor, a menu offering great choice without feeling lost in a sea of possibilities and a drinks list of equal merit.
I immediately decided on the mixed thali for my main, (I won’t bore you with the rest of the meal — read Vicky’s review for that) and was presented with skewered pistachio chicken breast, spiced chicken wings, some more of the delicious salmon from the starter and a lentily cakey thing. I don’t know what the latter was other than delicious. All this teamed up with dahl, bhajee and chutney was simply delicious, and at less than £13 for the dish it was pretty bargainalicious too!
I’ll be (finally) going to the monkey’s big brother Lasan in a couple of weeks, it’s got a lot to live up to.

I was extremely excited to learn of this new restaurant venture last week. Owned by the same people who run Lasan in the JQ and Fiesta Del Asado (see previous reviews), it was almost guaranteed to be good. I had a look on the website before booking and realised that they had a £20 off when you spend £50 voucher — another bonus! I booked a table through their online form and received confirmation within 24 hours, so was ready to go and give it a try!
It’s a little way away from me (being based off the Stratford Road), so with rush hour traffic, it look about 30 minutes to get there. By the time we pulled up, I was so hungry I could have eaten my own arm!
Raja Monkey has only recently opened, so we nearly missed the canvas sign signaling it’s location. The Monkey logo was spotted in the end and we ventured in. The interior has been decorated very tastefully to give you a feeling of the dusty, hot Indian Streets (but whilst being clean, comfortable and stylish). We were seated straight away in a booth opposite the kitchen (you can see into the kitchen behind perspex screens), as we could see the meat being hung and cured whilst we debated our order, making choosing quite difficult.
We opted for a Chilean Gewurtraminer/​Chardonnay mix for the wine, which was very reasonably priced at £14.99 for the bottle. We ordered the fish starter to share, I went for a Mutton Thali main and Dan chose the mixed Thali. While we were waiting for the starters, we were bought sone lovely little crispy flying saucer shaped snacks with chickpeas inside. These were presented on a silver platter with some tamarind sauce and a selection of crunchy bits, spring onion and red onions to put on top (to add texture and flavor). Delicious!
When the starter came, it was demolished. Two pieces of deliciously fresh and beautifully cooked fish in sauce and spices and a soft flavorful fishcake. Bliss. This made us even more excited for the mains. We opted for a Naan to share, but were bought a garlic naan (as ordered) and an additional plain Naan. Result! Everything in the Thali was amazing. The vegetable Bahji, the lentil curry, the salad and especially the mutton (which was cooked so tender, it fell apart as you were eating it). I won’t give anything away about Dan’s Thali (I think he intends to review himself).
After we had finished our Naan, we were bought a birthday cake from the kitchen (as I had mentioned Dan’s birthday when booking). A lovely end to a fabulous meal. We washed this down with a latte and a pot of Indian Chai, which was so fragrant and calming it made us both feel sleepy.
Lastly, the bill. The kind waiter bought us the bill and explained that even though we hadn’t spend the minimum spend of £50 (yeah, I know. For a 3 course meal with wine), he had taken off the £20. The ENTIRE BILL was £27.
There was nothing that wasn’t exceptional about this meal. My only tip is, book now before everyone else learns about this modest Indian treasure hidden off the Stratford Road.