Local Flavor: Bleu Monkey Grill

Eclectic, fun, friendly. Those are the words that come to mind when visiting the fusion-cuisine, fine dining establishment Bleu Monkey Grill.

The restaurant began four years ago, but Joey Godoy and his cousin and business partner Ozzy Oseguera talked about the idea for two years before that, ultimately leading Oseguera to move to Hot Springs to see their vision come to life.

Godoy was born and raised in Chicago where he was used to sampling from a large variety of cuisines. As a result, Godoy wanted to bring this eclectic variety of delicacies to Hot Springs.

“I wanted to bring a big city feel – diversity – to the menu in Hot Springs” he said.

Godoy, who has lived in Hot Springs for the past 17 years, has been involved in numerous Mexican restaurants across the state.

“I love Hot Springs,” he said. “It's a big change from Chicago — from a big city — but it's a great place to settle down.”

Head chef Luis Garcia has been with Bleu Monkey since the beginning. Garcia is Godoy’s nephew, and he had Garcia picked for the position long before opening the restaurant. Garcia studied culinary arts in Doluca, Mexico.

Bleu Monkey Grill represents numerous cuisines in its menu: Asian, Italian, Mexican, American and more. Any kind of craving can be satisfied with their expansive menu, which was originally double in size.

“I didn’t want people to think that our pasta is our strongest menu item. I wanted everything to be strong.

“I think we put together the right diversity of menu items after a few revisions. It’s opened the door up to weekly specials, like our spaghetti and meatballs and shrimp wraps. We have all of these menu items on the back burner and when we revise we can bring it back.”

“Our standout item is the Bleu Monkey Shrimp,” explains Godoy. “It’s a very unique dish that brings together flavors from many different parts of the world.” The dish includes Cuban black beans, a mango salsa served over rice and a generous portion of spicy shrimp.

“We take this dish with us to events and everyone just falls in love with it. It’s very unique.”

The shrimp is tender and full of flavor with just enough spice as not to overwhelm the senses. And each side item is the perfect complement, injecting sweet sensations into the mix with the mango salsa and balancing out the palate with the Cuban black beans.

Another popular dish is a new take on a traditional favorite: macaroni and cheese balls. The homemade macaroni and cheese casserole is cooled, scooped up like ice cream into a round ball and rolled in panko bread crumbs. They are then fried and served over a rich marinara sauce. “They are very popular in Hot Springs,” Godoy said with a smile. Even simple dishes get a fine-dining twist at Bleu Monkey: Napa Chicken — their generous portion of breaded chicken breast topped with mushrooms and a wine sauce, served with mashed potatoes, asparagus and a bed of spinach — is a delightful, savory experience.

“My dad was a cook in Chicago for 45 years,” Godoy explains of his inspiration for the restaurant. “That’s where I got my background in restaurants; that’s where the eclectic menu comes from. A lot of pasta dishes came from him. He was the type of person you would bring your leftovers to and he would put something together. I was thankful that he passed all of that to me.”

But to address the most pressing issue, where in the world did the name “Bleu Monkey” come from?

“We knew we wanted it to be ‘blue’, so we had a long list of like 20 names and we let our kids decide,” Godoy explained. “They immediately spotted it out, ‘Blue Monkey,’ and the more we played with it the more it made sense. We went with the French spelling to go with our eclectic style and it was very marketable. People see the silhouette and can relate Bleu Monkey to it.”

It seems the Bleu Monkey has left an impression on Hot Springs.