酒ふれーく
Unintentionally, we ended up trying an Italian-flavored Monjayaki this week. Due to Hayashi's busy work schedule, it seemed impossible to make it happen. Today, unable to wait any longer, we found a Monjayaki restaurant near the office, but they only served regular lunch menus like omurice. Reluctantly, Hayashi ordered omurice and Yagatan ordered grilled mackerel set. However, despite being very affordable at 700 yen with coffee and Caspian Sea yogurt included, we both felt like we probably wouldn't come back for dinner. Nevertheless, we managed to finish work late and researched a Monjayaki restaurant that was open late. This time, we chose "Ichiki". The owner (Ichiki?) was not overly talkative but not unfriendly either, and the atmosphere was pleasant. We started with "Corned Beef Monja" with cheese topping. The restaurant's hot plate was large (possibly larger than the previous one) and the portion seemed generous. This time, we aimed to eat the Monja neatly and carefully, picking off bits from the edges and eating slowly. As a result, we both felt quite full after just one piece. The taste was good, with the cheese and corned beef pairing well, giving it an Italian flavor. However, the cheese was strong and tended to overpower the other ingredients, which could be seen as a drawback. After a while, we both simultaneously exclaimed, "It's delicious now!" It took about 25 minutes from the start of cooking to reach the best timing for Monja. It was pouring rain outside, and we didn't have an umbrella, so we couldn't leave. We figured another piece of Monja would give us enough time for the rain to stop. Next, we ordered the "Stamina Monja", which had garlic and chives, giving it an Italian aroma. The second piece tended to burn faster, especially in the hot center of the hot plate. We realized that we needed to be careful where we ate from on the hot plate. In the end, we gave names to the two spatulas used to cook the Monja - the larger one was called "Benkei" and the smaller one was called "Ushiwaka". We still have a long way to go to master Monja.