Momotaro

There are strong similarities between the western gastropub and the Japanese izakaya, notably that both kinds of establishments serve up fantastic food alongside a superlative selection of drinks, elevating them above your usual pub. Three Monkeys, along Sheung Wan’s Hollywood Road, is a fantastic example of both – serving izakaya-style grills alongside boutique cocktails, crafty beers (and beer cocktails!), wine and bubbles, sake, umeshu, awamori and more. It’s also one of the most stylish two-storey watering holes in Hong Kong.

In Japanese folklore, the three wise monkeys represent the maxim to see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil. When it comes to Three Monkeys, whose stylish, two-floor venue can be found along Hollywood Road in Sheung Wan, we can only see an incredibly good long list of izakaya-style grills, and an even longer list of specialist cocktails, beer, wine and eastern spirits (particularly Japanese specialties). We can only hear the sound of god times, maybe a private party or cocktail reception happening upstairs. We can’t, in the end, say one bad thing about what has to be one of Hong Kong’s best hybrid izakaya-gastropubs.

If there was a fourth wise monkey, perhaps he’d be pinching his nose and advising smell no evil. Bust through the doors and into the hubbub at Three Monkeys Hollywood Road premises and all we can smell are divine izakaya dishes getting cooked to perfection on specially made Kama-Asa grills. Japanese A5 Wagyu beef, skewers of Nagasaki Neck chicken, shishitou (Japanese jalapeno peppers), and even the legendary fugu (prepared by experts – not deadly) are the kind of high-end dishes on offer here. It’s the food, the venue, and Three Monkeys incredibly well-curated drinks list that makes it such a popular upscale pub, and a destination for those seeking a celebration. Japanese craft beers are available by the bottle or on tap, you can get classic, twisted, and even beer-based cocktails here, a selection of signature, house-invented cocktails and mixers as long as an ape’s arm, plus traditional Japanese sake, umeshu, awamori, and shochu. If you’re looking to monkey about in Sheung Wan, here’s your playpen.