12/09/2023
GOODBYE GOLDEN MONKEY 🐒
Hi everyone,
I always knew I would have to write this someday and yet I don’t even know where to start!
Golden Monkey opened in 2005 before YouTube, Facebook and iPhones. I promoted the bar by putting flyers in letterboxes and under car windscreen wipers. Over its 18+ years, Golden Monkey’s only purpose was to bring the romance, mystery and decadence of Old Shanghai to Melbourne and be a place where everyone would feel welcome and be treated like a friend. I really think we achieved this.
Since Covid, Golden Monkey has reached a whole new level. It’s been so much fun. Along with all the new faces, I’ve been delighted to have so many old staff and customers drop by to say “Hi”. Hard to explain but I have felt that it’s been the universe’s way of telling me Golden Monkey has reached the top of the mountain and that it’s time to say goodbye. So when a nightclub group approached me to buy the business for their own concept I just knew it was the right time to let go. Even though Golden Monkey will be gone I hope stories of it will be shared for many years to come.
In the grand scheme of things, Golden Monkey is just a small bar in a small lane in a small city. But I like to think that we were a home away from home for so many people where lifelong friendships have been built. To all the wonderful guests, team members, family, friends and everyone that was ever part of it over the years, I hope you found something special at Golden Monkey and you will always look back on it with some fond memories. It would take me many lifetimes to thank you all.
Some people have said “oh man, you must be so sad”. The truth is I’m not sad. I’m happy and grateful I was part of something so special all these years. If anything, it feels a little surreal as Golden Monkey has been my life for almost 2 decades and I can’t imagine it not being there anymore. I will miss it a lot though, that’s for sure!
The last night will be Saturday 30/9. So one last chance to…
“Follow the Path of Infinite Divinity,
Down the Staircase of Hanging Suns,
Through the Valley of Crimson Velvet,
Into the Heart of the Golden Monkey.”
Yours sincerely,
Adam