Monkey Barrel Comedy — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

This was a good place to go and see some comedy but it had two big flaws.

Firstly, we turned up as the doors opened (one hour before the show started) to make sure we got some good seats but they tell you where you have to sit as you arrive so we got sat in a terrible place with a load of tall blokes in front of us (and the stage is very low). So don't bother turning up early unless you're wanting to make the most of the bar etc.

Secondly, and I wouldn't normally punish a venue for this, the people behind us were talking ALL THE TIME. Right through when the acts were on. We told them to shut up many times, as did all the other people around us, but they never stopped and so they ruined the show for us. The reason I'm punishing the venue itself with my rating is because they never said "no talking during the show". Every other comedy club I've been to make a big deal of this rule and this place should. More importantly, no staff member ever came and told them to either be quiet or leave.

I'm sure that, if you happened to be sitting over on the other side of the room, it was a great show. The host on our evening was very poor but the acts made up for it. The bar is decent and the place has great decor and a...

Ridiculously stupid rules for groups - wouldn't let us book the 9pm slot despite the website allowing it. They took ages to arrange a transfer to the 7pm slot, wasting my time having to email regularly (30+ emails for a simple 10 person booking!).

I needed to pay £100 'behaviour bond', which is just silly, no other venues insist on this. They also took ages to return the bond, and sent me £80 instead of £100!

They charged me £54 for pizzas that I never received because "their system was down", I had to miss around 20mins of comedy whilst they searched for my order, eventually they told me to place the order again, but when I tried it was past 8pm (when they stop serving). No apology offered. They only told me to wait because the money should be automatically refunded, it wasn't. I have now spent the past week emailing back and forth (~20 emails) because they can't find the order, despite me providing clear evidence that the money was taken from my account. In the end I had to process a chargeback on my credit card.

Comedy was great, staff are useless. Much better venues available...

A Saturday 5pm show, but it could have been any time of day or night in a cosy underground setting such as this. Following a simple same-day booking process, the visit began with helpful and clear information from friendly members of staff. Charming decor reinforced the positive first impression. Drinks in the club were ordered using a QR code and arrived promptly. I paid £3.10 for half a pint of neck oil and my companion £2 for an irn bru. Bathrooms were clean and easily accessible from both the bar and the comedy basement. We saw the Big Show featuring four acts for just over £10 pp. Energy was high from the get-go, with the emcee working the crowd. Audience members were diverse in age. All four acts (3 men and a woman) had quality material, varying delivery styles, and I was thoroughly entertained throughout. Jokes edged the line of being engaging and shocking without ever creating an unsafe environment - the perfect tone for such an event. Overall a great experience and one I would thoroughly recommend (I speak as a visitor...