The Merry Monk

Atmosphere was sublime. Chicken sandwich changed things.

I want so badly to give this five stars. The food was really delicious and our waitress was awesome. Unfortunately, when we first ordered, our pretzel sticks were raw in the middle (I’m talking everything but the outer layer was completely dough). In addition, it felt like they were out of a lot of things, both food and drink, and our waitress didn’t know (she had to come back twice to tell me what I ordered wasn’t available).
Once we got non-​raw pretzels, they were out of this world! The frites were also amazing, but I was a bit put out they only had one non-​mayo sauce (can’t have mayonnaise).
I just moved back from out of state, so I’m not sure if charging $ 2 for ice in a drink is normal in Albany. It seemed a bit weird, but after everything we just paid and left.
Overall, the food was tasty and the staff friendly and helpful. The restaurant just needs better organization/​something to be the best.

What a disappointment! I have been wanting to try this place for a long time. I tried the Bacon chedder burger. It would have been nice if there was cheddar cheese on my burger. The buger was dry and couple of slices bacon on top. No lattice, tomatoes or dressing. I guess that’s what the dipping sauce was for. Sauces with fancy name, but seasoned badly. $ 15 for the burger and greesy fries. The Capri salad… thrown together were arugula, totmatoes and mozzarella cheese… I could have made that… but for less than $ 11. They put no effort into my meal and it showed. Maybe they put more effort to people that eat there and not do a take out. Maybe I’ll try again in several months. Everyone deserves a second chance.

It’s not bad. I tried the brussel sprouts appetizer. That was mushy but has big bacon pieces in it so that made it good. The beer selection is pretty good. I got fish tacos. My husband wanted a steak. He opted to get the special over what was on the menu at the waitress’ suggestion. The unknown was that the special was $ 26 plus $ 3 for side vegetable. Beer, app and entrées $ 100 for lunch. Fries are basic. The coconut curry dip saved the day for me.

We headed downtown this evening for dinner after a weekend of cleaning out garage and basement and putting up Christmas decorations. I had the Stoneworks Belgian which was very good and the chef’s special burger which had teriyaki sauce and peppercinis. I had the onions grilled and chose chipotle mayo dipping sauce for the frites. It was a great meal and the best burger I have had in a while. Wife’s burger and beer were just as good and brought a busy weekend to a nice conclusion. We were amazed how few restaurants were open in downtown Albany on a Sunday evening, but glad the Merry Monk was open!

Second or third visit and finally writing a review. The food is good to very good. My special burger was excellent tonight ‚“stuffed” with garlic and supposedly horseradish, which I couldn’t taste. The meat was cooked perfectly– yes, medium rare– and the flavor wonderful!
The fried cod/​fish & chips has a nice crisp batter with a flavorless fish. This is ok with the tartar sauce, but the fish really is flavor less! It also is about ¾ inch thick so feels slightly undercooked. Good fries, sauces, & Brussels sprouts.
We used a $ 10/​off 30 card from city dining cards.

Well, the beer was good…
I had lettuce tacos with a tiny piece for fish on top. My husband had extra crispy, extra dry beer battered cod. Terrible.
My daughter had the «Plain Jane» burger that actually looked pretty good and she seemed to enjoy it so…
The server was pleasant and discounted the burned fish & chips.

We’re not in Massachussetts anymore! Whoohoo!
How this place is better than many beantown establisments:
1. The staff is polite and expedient in acknowledging you and knowledgable about the menu.
2. The food is not overpriced or bland.
3. There was easy parking right outside the front door.
The food was super tasty and reasonably priced. We tried the mussels and the fish and chips. Both were solid dishes with lots of flavor. I might have to move here.

Merry Monk is just as awesome as ever. The mussels are delicious and my favorite item on the menu (especially in the Thai curry sauce). Always get the frites and try all the aoilis, they are truly the best dipping sauces in the capital region. The service is still great, too. I will keep coming back again and again!

Ugh tough review. This used be the place «everybody knew our names» a few years back. Due to some changes in staff and our schedules we hadn’t been here in a while, until recently. Once upon a time (ca 2012 – 2013) this place would’ve been a solid 4 possibly even a 5 in my book but based upon my most recent experiences it’s just OK.
The Loves: 1. their flight offerings– always been one of my favorites points about this place. 2. The beer selection (which is why I love #1). 3. The Mussels and frites with dipping sauces 4. 2 for 1 Mussel Wednesday’s! Their Merry Mule is delicious! And the wait staff has been very friendly.
The Nots: The past couple of times I’ve been here I’ve had the duck sandwich and each time it’s been so greasy I feel I need a cardiac cath just to recover from the meal! The mussels are still good but I’ve been disappointed with some of the other dishes. Their fries lacked a little salt last time I was there but at least we had the dipping sauces!

Went here on the way back from a trip. N Pearl was extremely dead on a Sunday evening, except for this restaurant and next door.
The place offers a good Belgian and traditional beer list, but not too progressive for those looking for domestic craft.
We all ordered the duck sandwich, which was fantastic. A bit greasy, but tons of duck meat, buttered toasty bready, and balanced with some pickled onions. The horseradish mayo was really light on horseradish flavor.
Service was good, but she forgot to bring me a sauce I asked for after they ran out of one of them. The food also took at least 40 minutes, for just 3 sandwiches.

The Merry Monk is an excellent choice to have a pre-Alive@5 concert drink and bite to eat. Especially if the weather is good and the concert is being held at Jennings Landing. Unfortunately for those of you reading this, the Alive@5 series for this Summer is over. But that shouldn’t deter you from visiting the Merry Monk anyway.
The selection of Belgian style beers on tap is vast. When I first visited the Monk back in 2012, the drafts were primarily from the Ommegang brewery and were being served too cold. Subsequent visits found the beers at a more proper temperature, but still heavy on Ommegang, which is not a bad thing at all.
This most recent visit still has the beer being served at the proper temperature and with more and more breweries venturing into the Belgian style, there are now 16 taps to choose from encompassing a wide variety of brewers. There being two of us, we each decided to take advantage of their offer of four-​4 oz. tastings for $ 12. So we had eight different beers to share between us. My favorite was still the Leffe Brun, while my friend favored the Duchesse De Bourgogne red ale. But all of them were excellent.
I ordered the Pulled Pork sandwich special of the day with Frites ($ 12). It came with a chunky pineapple sauce on it and tasted very good. I was disappointed with the frites, however. They seemed more like typical fries that I’ve had at many places rather than the frites that I’ve had in other Belgian themed restaurants/​pubs. My recollection is that I’ve enjoyed the frites at the Saratoga Merry Monk more. The cucumber mayo dip was very nice.
My friend ordered the Spicy Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich ($ 14) with optional cheddar ($ 1), lettuce, tomato, onion, guacamole, Sriracha ranch, and a house salad. He was pleased, overall, with his choice.
Our service was excellent, but I feel obliged to pull back from my previous 5* rating, if only because of the lack luster frites in a Belgian focused restaurant. The beer, however, still deserves the highest praise and rating.

Heard this place was famous for their mussels and my friend was dying to try it so we came to this place for a late lunch. We were seated outdoor as the weather was beautiful! Our server was absolutely amazing — super attentive and quick. We got the flight of beer which is any 4 beers off their list for $ 12.
For food, I ordered the fish tacos with fries $ 13 (I chose pesto mayo — they have a list of 6 – 7 sauces for the fries) and my friend got thai curry mussels $ 14. The fish tacos were a little too heavily breaded and I wasn’t a big fan of their soft taco which tasted like the cheap supermarket kind. I ended up eating the taco without the soft taco shell. It came with guac and siracha ranch dressing. I had asked for the dressing on the side and they also ended up putting the guac on the side as well — which I appreciated. The guac tasted great but I wasn’t a big fan of the dressing. The fries were also very soft — not the crunchy crisp fries I was hoping for. My friend said the mussels, while good, were not as good as she had expected.
Great service but subpar food.

I’ve been meaning to get here because of the good reviews and the rave about the mussels (came with mental note: show me your mussels). Luckily, my party of 3 were able to take advantage of the 2-​for-​1 mussel Wednesdays as it just so happened to be Wednesday evening. We had a little wait when we stepped inside the restaurant and it felt quite warm and stuffy so we asked to sit on the patio instead, which gave us some view of North Pearl x Sheridan.
The beer list was extensive and being a Belgian style pub they offered Belgian offerings of course! Being a big fan of cider I had the Stella Artois Cidre, which we were told they ran out of draft but I gladly accepted bottled. We ordered a pound of bleu cheese + bacon mussels (crispy bacon, shallots, blue cheese crumbles, baby spinach, white wine, and a balsamic reduction) and the Monk’s mussels (coriander, bell peppers, tomato, garlic, celery, onion, fresh basil, white wine). In the beginning I enjoyed the bleu cheese bacon mussels more as it had great flavors and the bleu cheese crumbles were delicious but it felt pretty oily after awhile with the not so crispy bacon chunks and so I preferred the Monk’s more. The Monk’s was more light and like vegetable soup which was a great dip for the bread. We each ordered a burger/​sandwich for our main entrée and they came with frites. The duck sandwich (duck confit, beer braised cabbage, swiss cheese and Dijon mustard on grilled sourdough) was very heavy. Greasy hands with oil dripping off the side is what you will be in for if you get the duck. I liked the sandwich accompaniments especially the beer braised cabbage but the grease was an overkill. I’ve had better duck sandwiches elsewhere. My friends had the spicy chicken bacon ranch sandwich (grilled chicken with bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, guacamole and sriracha ranch) and the bacon cheddar ale burger (hand packed burger topped with crispy bacon and a Belgian ale and smoked cheddar cheese sauce on a brioche roll). The grilled chicken was very dry and cardboard like, would not have been tasty without the sriracha ranch sauce. The burger was «okay» but didn’t have any pink center (the way it was ordered), but passable per my friend. The best part of the meal were the frites. They were between soft and crispy, not soggy. We had 3 dipping sauces to try: cucumber wasabi mayo (light and refreshing), coconut curry mayo (awesome kick of flavor), + garlic herb mayo (garlicky goodness).
All in all the experience wasn’t bad but I was expecting better. I think I’ll stick to the mussels next time and order a side of those dip worthy frites! So now it’s your turn to try it out and maybe show me YOUR mussels!

Clean pubs with warm atmospheres, extensive, but focused beer selections, and menus that sounds enticing, when the food served is actually of mediocre quality, seem to be the Albany standard. Wherever you end up, this experience for two will cost you roughly $ 70. Most of the places I’ve visited have barely met all the marks for being decent enough to one day return, but not quickly and not as a first choice. The Merry Monk fits the bill. I didn’t love it, nor did I hate it.
I had the duck lettuce wraps. I didn’t understand why they were served with structurally unsound Bibb lettuce. It was a mess. The duck itself was good, but the accompanying veggies were not a desirable pairing with the duck, so I was left with greasy duck rolled up sadly in the limpest of lettuces. My three fellow diners all said their burgers & sandwiches were «ok.» The spicy of the spicy chicken bacon ranch failed to present itself, much to the two orderers’ disappointment. The best I can say about the experience is our server was nice and helpful, and the atmosphere was comfortable.

Easy to find but parking is not so easy to find.
Great menu of food and drink! The Rye and Wheat Old Fashioned is excellent. Had the steak frites done medium, and it came out right on the mark. The Brussels Sprouts appetizer is the best. Great location on N. Pearl Street. This is now one of my go-​to places in Albany!
Service is quick and fast without being overbearing. Our server, Kate, is 5-​stars, as she takes pride in owning her table customers needs and questions. I trust management will recognize Kate for being true customer service.

I’m giving them one star because I just tried to get a table for one after a long business day. Several tables open. The hostess looked at me with that you know, that look you feel when you’re not wanted cause you don’t look like everyone else here, that is white. After saying she had to check, she came out three long minutes later and said I could eat by the bar and that the cheap looking wrought iron tables were reserved. Ha! No worries, I don’t need to throw my hard earned money at you. Albany what’s up?
*Reply to owner: Ridiculous. First of all, I did not climb over any ropes and you were not there. I did not seat myself, but waited patiently for the waitress for her response. Don’t make things up. I am not rating your food, but the lack of hospitality from your wait staff. All I know, as an out of towner, is that there were several tables available outside. The ungracious response did not make me feel welcomed for whatever reason.

A really nice take on a Belgian-​style pub, the Merry Monk was our first stop in Albany after a cool tour on the USS Slater.
They have an impressive Belgian beer list, and Stella Cidre on tap (which is delicious if you haven’t tried it – an awesome boozy apple juice).
I was excited to see that, although it’s based on Belgian pub food, the menu has different things that I haven’t seen on other menus. Your standard mussels make an appearance, but there are different flavors to try out (and, 2-​for-​1 on Wednesdays!). In addition, there are some interesting sandwich options. I ordered the duck sandwich, which had really good flavors. Often, to get a bit of sweetness, duck is paired with cherries, and that combo is getting a bit old. Using the purple cabbage instead gave it the sweetness, with a bit of acid to cut the richness. My only complaint about the sandwich was that I feel like it wasn’t distributed as well as it could have been. I ended up taking it apart and putting it back together in order to make sure that the ingredients were well distributed.
If you’re looking for a cool restaurant to try out, this is definitely one to give a go.

Alright so this is going to be a 2-​in-​1 review.
I came here for date night with my boyfriend a few weeks ago for the first time, and was blown away by the service. I forgot his name, but he took such good care of us! He even made sure to let me know when my coat was about to fall off the chair. D’awww.
We ordered the beer ale mussels, the house mussels, and the salmon dinner, and split it. The mussels were HUGE too! They were way bigger than any other place I’ve gone to. I even asked the awesome guy and he told us that they’d been using mussels from somewhere else lately due to some kind of issue with the river (?) Maybe Canada?
We didn’t order the frites, but thoroughly enjoyed our dishes. I liked the beer mussels over the house ones simply because the house ones were a little too salty for me. The salmon was delicious as well, but the potatoes were the best part! Maybe I’m just a carb-​loving person, but they almost outshined the fish.
The second time I went, I took a friend for the 2-​for-​1 special. We ended up getting four pounds of mussels for about $ 30! You really, truly cannot beat that. I got the mussels meuniere and the beer ale, while my friend got the tequila and the curry. Obviously we shared. The mussels were smaller, but the sauces were so, so good. The meuniere was my favorite — a rich, creamy, sauce that was almost cheesy marinating the mussels in a nice hot bath. Perfect for dipping the bread too!
In addition to the mussels, we also split the frites with garlic butter mayo and pesto mayo. I love garlic so I kind of hogged the garlic butter one. No big.
The only thing that kind of threw me off was the atmosphere. It kind of felt like a sports bar, kind of felt like a fancy frites place, but not quite sure what it was. Maybe that’s just me though. I’ll definitely be back!

I love mussels and I love Belgian beer. Merry Monk specializes in both. This should be a place I fall in love with.
The beer selection is excellent, and they have somewhere around a dozen beers on tap, and many dozens more in bottles. Rating them on their beer selection alone would garner 5 stars.
I’m ashamed to admit, that although I’ve had lunch at MM twice, I’ve yet to have the mussels. As fate would have it, both times I stopped in for lunch I was starving, and wanted something more substantial than the tasty – but hardly filling – bivalves.
On my first visit I had the french dip. The sandwich itself was good, but the side of au jus was all fat (tasted like grease really), and no «jus». On my most recent visit I had the fish tacos. The fish was great, it was steaming hot, with a crunchy batter that gave way to juicy and tender fish. The rest of the taco left me wanting. The wheat tortilla was too large and there was too much lettuce and dressing, all of which overwhelmed the fish.
I’ve promised myself that on my next visit, I’m going to have the mussels come hell or high water. And should they be good, I’ll up my rating to 4 stars. Until then, I like Merry Monk, but I’m not in love.