Funky with fusion
Just over a year ago, when the alarm bells of the Covid-19 pandemic were starting to really “clang” around the world, I met up with a couple of friends for a celebration of some milestone or other. Little did we know, it would be one of the last times we were free to do so for a while to come. After only a few minutes of chatting to the manager and owner of Funky Monkey, Dipen Gurung, I was sure that his was a story too interesting to keep a secret. A year on, I don’t think he will mind me sharing a little of his fascinating tale.
Dipen is soft spoken. He smiles and shrugs a lot. Simple but stylish in a white T-shirt, earphones slung around his neck and mobile phone pushed to the wayside, he chats animatedly about the weather, his customers and restrictions on his business due to the Covid-19 virus. But don’t let his quiet nature fool you. There is so much more to this man than meets the eye.
What first strikes you about Dipen’s bar and restaurant in Jordan is its relaxed atmosphere. It feels a little like home. Reggae pop plays over the speakers at just the right volume, and the colourful lights are just the right kind of bright. Paintings of monkeys cover the walls, and surfboards and Tibetan prayer flags hang across the ceiling. Patterned cushions decorate the benches, and a treasure trove menu of fusion food waits on each table.
“When people come here, I want them to feel very relaxed, forget about all their stress and whatever they have been going through during the workday,” Dipen says.
“In Hong Kong, people are very busy, they are stressed, their houses are (often) small. You can find people from many places here. Funky Monkey is about meeting and getting to know people from different cultures and backgrounds.”
For Dipen, the gathering of people from diverse cultures and backgrounds is important. He was born in Hong Kong but spent much of his childhood in Kathmandu, Nepal, where his family was originally from. He speaks English, Nepalese and Hindi fluently, and a little Cantonese.
“My father used to be in the British Gurkha army when Hong Kong was under British rule before 1997. I believe he joined the army, from an engineering company, three or four years before I was born, in the late 70s. He served until 2001. His last assignment was in Brunei,” Dipen explains.
“My mom, my two sisters, my brother and I all lived with him in Brunei for those three years too. He passed away in 2003 in Nepal, not long after he retired. My brother passed away not long before that. That was a painful time. My father’s pension was not big enough to support my family.”
Dipen’s mother was a housewife at the time and could not manage the household expenses or support the family alone.
“When my dad died, I had just started university in Nepal, and my two sisters were still in high school. So I decided to come and work in Hong Kong to support my family.”
Dipen explains that he sold a piece of his land in Nepal in order to move back to Hong Kong.
“I was born here. I had a Hong Kong ID. I saw opportunity here. Nepal is a third world country. It is hard to make a living, especially when you are young and do not have any skills. I was just a student,” he says.
“Hong Kong was a place of opportunity for me. When I came here, I tried to find a job. I started working in construction. I worked in construction for four to five months. I sent money home every month to support my sisters and my mother in Kathmandu. From construction, I moved to the food and beverage industry.”
And that is when the real adventure began.
“On my days off, I used to go around to parties and I used to see bartenders and I used to think, ‘Wow, these guys are stars behind the bar, like a TV show going on.’ I was young at the time, so I wanted to be one of them.”
Dipen started as a food runner, then a waiter, and slowly worked himself up the ranks.
“I worked at around 7 to 8 restaurants. Every restaurant has a different operating style and that is how you learn.”
““When you find out that a place cannot teach you anything new, then you jump into another and you learn something different at the other place. You collect and learn different things from every place.””
During his experience bartending and managing big venues, he also did “flair” shows.
“At the time, YouTube was not big. We used to buy the DVDs from the US, and then we’d have to wait a month for them to be shipped to Hong Kong. We used to watch the DVDs and learn, and then go to the park after work to practise for three to four hours. I still practise flairing once in a while to keep myself fit.”
When he was forced to make a break from his job at a tiki bowling venue some years later, he spoke to his wife, Zita, and told her he wanted to go out on his own. It was a tough time for Dipen. He battled with depression. He had had a great job and a good salary and then suddenly, it was gone.
Dipen with his wife, Zita, and daughter, Angela.
“But I had to do something for myself. I wanted to open a bar. My wife didn’t want to take a risk. I told her that this is going to be the first and last risk, so just trust me for one last chance. Let’s try, whatever happens. If this doesn’t work, wherever you tell me, I’m going with you,” Dipen says.
Funky Monkey opened its doors in Jordan in 2016.
The establishment
Dipen says it was quite easy to decide on the vibe he wanted to create at his restaurant and bar.
“I like the island culture and the tropical vibes, so that is the reason I tried to bring a little bit of an island concept. But as a Nepalese person, I thought, why not bring some Nepalese culture in and blend it with the island culture?” he says.
”We also have Nepalese food on the menu, but at the same time we have some Western options so all people can try something new. You don’t find a lot of good Nepalese restaurants in HK. So we thought, let’s try to introduce some Nepalese food to the public.”
“As for the music, we wanted to play with different kinds of genres, like funk rock, funk jazz, funk blues and funk R&B. At the same time, our food culture was going to be different,” he explains.
““We are funky with fusion. We established our business in 2016 which was the year of the Monkey. Monkey was good luck for that year, so we thought Funky Monkey sounded really cool.” ”
There is a large community of Nepalese people living in Jordan. Dipen says that community was very supportive when the establishment opened.
“Lots of people were proud because it was a Nepalese bar. Lots of locals - and then a lot of tourists - started coming too because Temple Street, a popular tourist destination, is so close by.”
At the end of 2018, Dipen opened a second successful bar and restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui. It is run by his brother-in-law but he also makes sure to spend a lot of time there. And recently, despite the Covid-19 chaos, another location has opened its doors at the Sheraton Hotel in Tung Chung.
The man
The more you speak to Dipen, the more you want to know. It is quite difficult to match him up with the other parts of his life – flair bartender, mixologist, musician, owner of two bars and restaurants, part-time Uber driver, husband and father of little Angela.
“I am from Nepal. I am Nepalese. My motherland is Nepal but this city is a place that made me who I am really am, made me the real Dipen, gave me an identity. Whoever I am today is thanks to Hong Kong. This city is full of opportunity. If you have a talent, Hong Kong is a safe place for beginners and entrepreneurs with great ideas.”
It is still incredibly important for Dipen to embrace and share his Nepalese heritage in his establishments.
“Not many people know a lot about Nepal. If you say Nepal, not many know where it is. But if you ask if they know Mount Everest? Yes, they know Mount Everest. Well, that’s where Nepal is. Do you know of Buddha? Buddha was born in Nepal. Not many people know much about the culture, so I thought, why not try to introduce my culture to the world,” he muses.
““If you try to give everything at once, then people might not accept it, but if you blend it together (with things they are familiar with), then maybe they will accept it.””
When asked about how he fits so much into his day, and still wants to do more, Dipen says, “Everybody travels on their own time, so I think this is my time. You too have your own ‘time’ and you will also make success in your own time.”
*Check out Funky Monkey on Instagram @funkymonkeyhk or like their Facebook page: Funky monkey hk.
