Monarch Izakaya Restaurant

I tried this restaurant for brunch, and it was definitely one of the most unique meals I had.Kimchi waffle - probably my favorite dish. Savory, mildly spicy, and slightly tangy, with a perfectly poached egg.Black sesame French toast - the black sesame flavor isn't very strong, so this was the closest to a standard brunch dish. But the bruleed bananas were a nice touch that takes it a step up. Korean fried cauliflower - my other favorite. The fried cauliflower is super crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a tangy and spicy sauce. Reminded me of a Korean gobi Manchurian. Ube ricotta pancakes - ube is also a pretty mild flavor, but the pancakes were super fluffy. The plums were a unique topping, adding some tartness.Eggplant banh mi - kind of mixed feelings about this one. The eggplant had good sweet and sour flavor, but is cut into large slices that can be a little hard to bite into. But the bread and the other fillings of the sandwich were delicious, and the potatoes were a nice accompaniment.I split everything except the banh mi with five others. Everyone else at the table got their own entrees (wagyu burger, breakfast banh mis, Benedict, and okonomiyaki). My portion of the bill came out to about $42 out of a total $260, which really isn't that expensive.The restaurant has a balcony which is really nice to sit at when the weather is good, but the entire space is beautiful. Be patient - service takes time, but it's totally worth it.

I had a wonderful brunch experience at Monarch and can't wait to go back! My best friend is vegan, and Monarch has an entirely vegan brunch menu that she was able to order from (she got the Hungry Panda, which she loved). I ordered the Breakfast Banh Mi, which I was so happy with -- it was SO filling, and the homemade bread wasn't too hard (which can be an issue with a banh mi). I swapped the side salad for the breakfast potatoes, which were seasoned to perfection. For a drink, I got the hot matcha latte, which came with the cutest little foam art! Next time I go, I'm hoping to try the kimchi waffle.

A lovely environment to have a date night. The decor inside kind of reminds me of Singapore or Malaysia lol. Don't love the small tables, but it is what it is when real estate is highly coveted. To start, we got the salt and pepper calamari. We were so obsessed with the nam jim sauce. The whole time we were sitting there, we were thinking how we can recreate it at home! We also got the steam buns, shiitake fried rice, and spicy minced pork noodles. We were pretty full by the time the entrees came, which was surprising because the portions looked pretty small.

The service: absolutely welcoming, lovely, kind, attentive. The space: well planned, cute, comfortable, great options depending on time of year (ext balcony and int booth option which are my favorites). The food: yes, yes! Yes!!!! So goood!! I first came here in pre-Covid times aka forever ago lol... on a whim, had lunch on the balcony in spring/summer. Loved it. Vowed to come back. More recently, my partner and I went. Had brunch. And boy.. was it good! Lawrence is a gem and although I never met the other owner officially, I guarantee she is too! Great spot. Great food. And we will be going again! Esp since my bf doesn't really care about food as much as me, and he still raves about this place! Love that!! Molding him into my lil foodie lol! Must try items: eggs Benny, the omelette, the scones!! I usually don't do scones but there's are soooo good!! They're moist and tasty! Im like why are all scones not like this? WTH! I thought I wasn't into scones till I tried these! Now I'm hooked! I was super impressed by the omelette tho. Don't sleep on it! I promise! She's unassuming but the flavors are incredible!! And I tried the umami bomb cocktail. Not as strong as I thought but powerful drink. If you like umami and cocktails, I'd say give her a go :) Go to monarch. And then go again and try something new! You won't regret it!!!

What's good: Nice setup, decent food, friendly staff, and well priced.What's not good: They looked understaffed, slightly longer wait just to see the host, and smaller portions.Walked in on a warm March Sunday for brunch and were seated on a table of three after waiting for close to 10 minutes to just see the host.Went straight to ordering which included a $5 coffee (which unfortunately wasn't too warm), and ordered from their Vegan brunch menu which looked pretty promising! Ordered the Hungry Panda ($19), where the Mushroom Thai "Sausage" caught my attention. The sausage was just ok, but the Tofu Scramble was extremely delicious (a little heavy on salt). The plate also fills up with potatoes which were fairly dry.Also included in our order were Shitake Fried Rice ($19) which was heavy on oil, and KFC Fried Cauliflower ($14) which was pretty decent.Service was slightly slower, and food took around 20-minutes to arrive after ordering. Overall though, was a good experience and we will visit again whenever we are in the area!

I came here on a Sunday night. We sat upstairs where the seating was split into two sections. We sat in the smaller section with just three tables. The tables were quite close to each other so it wouldn't be the best option for a private conversation. The restaurant seemed to have nice decor and an open upstairs patio for warmer months, but this section kind of felt like an after thought to squeeze in more people. The sill above the window was lined with leafy green plants which did help with the ambiance a bit. To drink, I had the Wind Up Bird. It was fruity and pleasantly sweet. For an appetizer, we shared the korean fried cauliflower. It was delicious with crispy, doughy cauliflower topped with a sweet and spicy sauce. My partner also enjoyed the crab ragoon. This is a great spot for vegans and vegetarians as they have an entire vegan menu with lots of options. For my main, I got the vegan bibimbap. It was a generous portion size and served in a hot stone bowl. The rice was crispy on the bottom and topped with tender zucchini, mushrooms, kale, kimchi, and other veggies. On its own, the dish was a bit bland, but the accompanying chili sauce provided good flavor. I also asked for chili oil which added a nice, subtly spicy kick. I'd love to come back to try the rest of the menu!

Unbelievably incredible. The upper section of the restaurant is so beautiful and their kimchi fried rice is absolutely amazing like my Korean mom's. And I won't GATEKEEP ANYMORE .. THEY HAVE THE BEST SCONES!!! IN THE CITY AND EAST COAST . I SWEAR BUY A SCONE AND YOU WILL HAVE A COSMIC Out of BODY EXPERIENCE. You're welcome!!! Everyone is incredibly friendly and charming that works here.

Solid 5 stars for Monarch.It's a very quaint and cute cafe that serves interesting Asian flavors. Their black sesame French toast sign outside was very alluring, so my partner and I came in to try out the dish. It was very flavorful and we enjoyed the concept a whole lot. We also ordered some hot tea and the yuzu tart for dessert. Both dishes were excellent and I highly recommend. Great place for a date or girl lunch/dinner!

This restaurant is so cute! The interior is decorated so nicely and is super welcoming. The front seating area is really well lit and gets lots of natural light, whereas the back has a great vibe with the ambient lighting.I loved the food as well. The pan seared dumplings had amazing flavor. The wrappers had a nice bite to them, the filling was perfect, and the sauce on top was delicious. I had the Eggs Benedict, which was so filling! The Canadian bacon was Szechuan flavored, and I loved the fusion twist. The staff was wonderful and very kind as well. Minus one star because we were seated right under the AC, and it was constantly dripping dangerously close to the food. The experience was overall good though, would definitely come back (and request seating elsewhere).

Modern East Asian restaurant with a full cocktail bar. We dined in on a Monday night and were seated immediately. Menu is well organized and vegetarian friendly.We decided to lean veggie with this meal. We started with the addictive cabbage. It's perfectly cut cabbage with the quintessential East Asian soy sauce, garlic, and crispy onion blend. Topped with sesame seeds. It's simple, classic, and as the name suggests - addictively delicious. It hits all the taste buds.I had been drinking mezcal earlier in the evening, so I continued the trend with a mezcal based cocktail. I wasn't able to quite identify it, but the drink had this umami or earthiness characteristic of Asian cuisine.We also had the onion roti which was a confusing way of labeling a scallion pancake. Thin and crispy pancake. Slightly greasy (as I prefer). It was served which a curry sauce. I didn't taste much curry flavor to it. Initially, I thought it was a light brown version of hoisin. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the "onion roti".Next came out the agadashi mushrooms. Crispy and juicy maitake mushrooms served over a dashi broth. I'm surprised how well the breading stayed together despite being soaked in the broth. As expected, this was a super umami forward dish. Ultra savory with woody, nutty, and earthy flavors to it. After that was the Korean fried cauliflower. Not sure, I'd characterize it as Korean style. The breading was a thicker beer batter style. Definitely crunchy and crispy. Not in a Korean way but more of a British fish and chips style. Another savory forward dish. Topped with a sweet and spicy sauce that was nostalgic of sesame / general Tso Chinese take out, but with a distinctive spice element. Last, we had the eggplant in a bean sauce. The eggplants were scalloped which was a prep style that I haven't had before. I liked the execution and texture of the eggplant. Dish had dill and celery which took over. It was another dish that had this peculiar savory / umami quality to it that I couldn't quite pin point.Service was attentive and the pacing of the dishes was perfect. I appreciated the overall creativity of the dishes here. There was one gender neutral restroom which was very spacious and handicap accessible.