The Three Monkeys

* Lets wrap! 3 monkeys! One of my favorite places to eat after getting drunk.
* My picks — Israeli, New Zealand and Moroccan.
* Dont speak wraps, dont hear wraps, dont see wraps (lame joke)

Came here somewhat sober (after a few beers) for dinner before a show at Arlene’s. Place is small, but the portions are large. So much so that you get to the point where eating is a chore and not really enjoyable anymore. I mean that in the best possible way… kinda.
Try the spicy fries (be warned that they’re spicier than they should be!).

Finally got around to my reviews. This one is dated back to Halloween…
«Just came back from visiting the Haunted Trail in Sleepy Hollow (I saw the headless horsemen and lived to tell the tale… muhahaha) Anyway, My friend and I were starving since the last meal we had was 6 hours ago.»
The American is really good. Wrapped like a burrito. the bread is light and fluffy. LOTS of lettuce, which i love. The patty is made out of real meat and not the frozen beef patties you would find given away for free at some college event.
Just a great place to go if you are really hungry and there is no other place to go to at midnight. GREAT GREAT place to go to when drunk. Really easy to get to since it is located in the middle of drunk-​people central.

yum yum yum… the Israeli Wrap is like a little bit of heaven in a freshly pressed wrap.
and it’s $ 4.95
Perfection.
Same goes for the turkish wrap… mmmmmm… yes please
Occasionally I will try and omit something from the wraps (i dislike tomatoes) and they never listen…
And the salads are normally a bit overdressed…
But this place is a great little grab-​and-​go :)

It took me three visits to Three Monkeys before I felt comfortable saying this almost rivals Mamoun’s Falafel. Daaamn. After a night at Mehanata or any one of my other regular joints on Ludlow St., I take whomever I’m with to the Monkeys for late night eats. And yes, I’ve also been here in a state of complete sobriety.
The Argentinian or the Moroccan are my go-​to choices, but only because I lean towards carnivorism. On days when I’m going light, I pick the Israeli falafel wrap. It’s less than four bucks. That red sauce on the table is nowhere near the lava-​like torture that Mamoun’s serves, but it’s still really tasty.
What is up with the complainers about this place? Some putz down below is saying the portion sizes are too large. Really? If you can’t handle it, save the rest for later. Or give it to a homeless person. But realize there are some of us in this world who have appetites larger than a parakeet’s, so we won’t downgrade a place’s rating just because we can’t handle a hearty falafel. My friends from Tel Aviv say they can’t even find a falafel this size at home for that much.

A great atmosphere for a small, small restaurant. The rustic furniture, wide open windows and fun lighting make this a good place to quiet down the evening and enjoy some conversation.
The food is reasonably priced, and moreover delicious. Staff is friendly and works fast. The order of fries is huge, you can definitely share!
The only thing I didn’t like was the other people in the restaurant, from couples practically grinding on each other to women all gussied up for some club hopping, the location of this place means way too many hipsters crowding around, which is a real shame.

July 4^th weekend, was a ton of fun. My food choices though, were pretty much unmemorable. Today I was strolling the LES neighborhood, and I remembered I did buy a few bottles of Heinkein beer, as well as two big wraps filled with veggies and chicken. I remember eating them and they were really good, just really messy. The service was kind of slow too. There was only one guy working back there, and from what I can remember, he was not enjoying himself. Not sure if I’ll go back, esp since it was not something memorable. Drunken food eh?

OH MY GOD!
ALL I DO IS DREAM ABOUT THIS FOOD!
All I can tell you, is, it’s BOMB, BOMB, BOMB.
When you’re on a drunken stumble for a late night snack, holy lord, this place is just heaven to your taste-​buds.
Wide variety of options, wraps and schwarma’s, chicken, lamb, vegetarian, spicy… it goes on my friends.
I usually go for the chicken schwarma thingamahjiggy, just… it’s just delish.
Very cozy atmosphere, lay out on couches and people-​watch while you chow down.
All I talk about is how delish this place is. AND IT’S CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP!
If you’re around the LES, low on cash, and hungry… definitely the place to stroll into!

I came here on a Sat afternoon after my friend raved about it and I was not disappointed. The space is small but it has really comfy couches and a really cozy atmosphere, kinda like your friend’s living room but with really open windows (not a bad place to ppl watch while you eat).
I got the isreali wrap which is what is advertise for 3.65 (3.95 w/​tax) and it was quite good. Its a huge portion and flavorful. The veggies in the wrap were fresh and the falafel balls were not overloaded with parsley. Overall, a great deal for the price!

Cheap. HUGE.
Granted, I wasn’t entirely sober when I came here. But everything tasted fresh to me, and the size of the portions was exactly what a beer-​filled belly needed.
Not much space at all, so we were lucky to come before the inevitable throngs of the wasted joined the party. (By the time we left the line was out the door.)
This isn’t a place you come to because you want a gourmet meal. This is a place you come to because you need a break between brews. For that, I’m a fan.

The first time my friend and I ate here we got there around 6, an hour too early for the dinner special (which comes with fries and lemonade). The guy behind the counter gave it to us anyway and because he was out of lemonade he gave us a couple beers instead. Nice, right? The wraps were made well and the lamb we got was tender and juicy. The spicy fries were delicious.
Two weeks later, we go on a Saturday night (maybe that was a mistake on our part). There was a woman behind the counter this time. There was barely any lamb in our wraps, and whatever lamb was in it was disgusting chewy, fatty, dried up pieces. There were no olives, which was the only reason my friend ordered hers in the first place. I asked for no onions in one, both had onions. The spicy fries were SO disgusting from all the powder that was dumped on them. You could smell the seasoning before the fries even entered your mouth, they tasted like cardboard. Gross. Not coming back here unless I see the dude who served us the first time.

*SOBER REPORT! ATTENTION! SOBER REPORT*
It’s late at night, the boyfriend and I are hungry. We scour seamless web and delivery. What’s available and looks at least mildly interesting? Three Monkeys. Ofcourse, I consult with Unilocal before ordering, and I’m a bit conflicted but I give it a try because I’m hoping Three Monkeys will taste like Rino Ceronte.
Delivery comes, and first of all service is great. Our delivery girl was friendly and offered extra accommodations. The food on the other hand, was OK. We ate till we were full, but otherwise we weren’t amused by taste. The portions are ridiculously huge, vegetables are fresh, but otherwise nothing spectacular and definitely nothing compared to Rino Ceronte.

***I promise to eat here sober and edit this review***
The fries were good but don’t waste your time with the hot/​spicy fries, they just put chili powder on them, they are hot, but not flavorful, big difference.
I felt a little awkward ordering at the high counter, there were several good options, i was very surprised to see an New Zealand lamb option. The food was good, filling. Often places love that I eat at late night/​early in the morning I can tell in my heart that they are bad but that I am hungry or not the best judge of flavor, etc.
This place I remember the next day saying, I really want to check this place out for dinner, and I will, soon.

My French wrap (portabello mushroom, spinach, roasted peppers) was surprisingly delicious! The wrap itself is nice and thin, and is really just a vehicle; the ingredients themselves are fresh and flavorful. Then the sauces that are on the table — a hot sauce and a cucumber/​dill sauce was so delicious — I was in heaven!
The prices are decent — a regular wrap (which I got) was about $ 5.50, and filled me up plenty.
Altho there is a cool couchy spot and a decent amount of seating for a fast food corner, the worst thing is that there is no restroom! Gah!

I’m convinced this place only remains in business because of the drunk messy LES barhoppers that come around at 3 am.
This stuff is fucking disgusting. I wanted to hurl.

I’m pretty sure if I wasn’t drunk and DESPERATE for food, post-​club, I wouldn’t have ever chosen to eat here.
However, we did sit in COMFY couches while eating and the girls that Karen F and I shared the couch with were realllllly nice (usually the whole caddy girl thing comes up in situations like this– I love when I meet nice girls instead of MEAN girls.)
I ordered some chicken thing (I don’t eat red meat and steak in particular makes me wanna vomit). This wrap (or whatever it was) definitely had the essence of steak– perhaps it was my screwed up taste buds from the ounces and ounces of alcohol I drank earlier? I was so freaked out by this essence of steak that the girls on the couch volunteered to taste it for me just to make sure.
Luckily I didn’t have an allergic reaction, but I was EXTREMELY hungover the next morning. ick.
It’s probably just better to stick with pizza. Yup.

DISCLAIMER: my level of intoxication may have contributed to my enjoyment of Three Monkey’s
i thought the veggie wrap was absolutely yummy yummy in my belly. it was basically a veggie burger in a burrito tortilla.
the french fries were warm, really good with ketchup, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside (that’s what she said) which i fully support.
it was very nice to have this place open so late and the people were really nice. we sat next to some other girls who were sharing a similar post clubbing munchie experience and i assumed that everyone else there was in a similar situation.

At first I thought the falafel was really tasty, but then upon further examination, was it quickly deep fried? Because the inside looked kind of mushy and uncooked. I’m still unsettled by that, as I don’t remember that being the case in Israel, but it was still tasty– possibly uncooked and all.
Okay prices– no $ 2 falafel from Mamoun’s– speaking of I REALLY have to go there again. $ 2 doesn’t take you very far these days.
Cheap eats have stolen my heart, it comes with being a college student.

I guess this place never had a fair shot with me. I lost my falafel virginity at Mamoun’s many, many years ago and in my mind, no falafel will ever match Mamoun’s. I guess there’s just something about your first…
In any case, I stopped by here last night on my way home from a random Tuesday night of imbibing a few too many (ahhh, so this is what single life is all about… I’d forgotten).
Service was a bit slow, considering I was the only one ordering food. But the guys were friendly and I wasn’t in any particular rush, so it didn’t much matter.
For just under $ 4, I got a large falafel sandwich to go. I was disappointed that, unlike Mamouns, Three Monkeys doesn’t leave the hot sauce out on the table… I like to sauce my own sandwich, ya know? Instead, I had to have the guy behind the counter do it for me, and he was stingy. He also did not do a good job of making sure my hot sauce ran down to the bottom layers of my sandwich. Alas, my first couple bites (while in a cab, mind you) were super spicy, followed by no spice for the rest of the sandwich. Very anti-​climactic.
Overall, my late-​night meal was fine, but nothing spectacular. There was hardly any tahini or hummus on my pita — just a few falafels and mounds of lettuce. I really could’ve used more hot sauce…
3 stars. Three Monkeys works in a pinch, but don’t expect to be blown away.

Walking around tonight looking for dinner, I was struck by the fact that it was the weekend before Halloween. I weaved my way through drones of Pirates, Cowboys and Slutty Nurses on my way down to the Lower East Side.
I had thought that the «Slutty Nurse» get-​up had become the butt of enough jokes, and the object of enough ridicule, that it had become obsolete. It seems though that the Bridge and Tunnel crowd, nor the NYU girls, got that memo.
Let’s just say that the women who choose to dress up as the Slutty Nurse are… no one I’d like to play Doctor with. NOTE: The costume is not made of spandex to accommodate a size eighteen.
Eventually I arrived on the corner of Ludlow and Rivington. I saw in front of me The Three Monkeys, an Israeli shwarma joint. Never having had shwarma that I can remember I decided to step in. I was greeted by radio KTU blasting out of the speakers. Not my selection of music, but the Israeli fellow behind the register looked like he was ready for a Night at the Roxbery.
I ordered the Chicken Shawarma Plate (shawarma, home made fries, hummus, israeli salad, pita bread, $ 11.75). It also came with a terrible, very runny hummus that tasted of cinnamon. The shwarma itself was tasty, though I have nothing to make reference to. The salad was good as was the what seemed to be homemade pita, but the were fries were greasy. The part that troubled me the most it that it was served to me in a tin circular take-​out container. Being that I was sitting at a table, a plate would have been preferred. It left me feeling like I had eaten junk, and I won’t return to The Three Monkeys again.
After eating as much of it as I could I made my way back out into the pre-​Halloween night and made my way home among the costumed masses.
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