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"Monjayaki" originated in Asakusa! Tsukishima forcefully created its image for the sake of town development. As someone who grew up with "Asakusa monja," I want to emphasize this! It's not a dish to brag about, but "monjayaki" is something you quietly make at home or get from a grandma at the back of a candy store as a kid's snack. It's not meant to be a main dish, so it's often compared to Kansai's "okonomiyaki," but that's a mistake. They shouldn't be compared! Monja would lose in any comparison. So, I think it's utterly ridiculous to add high-end ingredients and sell it for over a thousand yen. It feels like paying 980 yen for a natto rice meal to me. So, when I crave monjayaki, I make it at home on a hotplate. It's very cheap! But in today's world, we pay for convenience and processes with money. The fact that you can't eat monja for just one coin anymore is also a sign of the times.
I didn't know about this particular restaurant, but I recently discovered many places serving "unconventional monja" that are delicious. In contrast, you can't eat such "unconventional monja" at home, so I decided to visit them. The standard okonomiyaki, "Kamiajiya Special Ten" and "Seafood Ten," were delicious. Though the portion was slightly small. My personal favorite, the "Curry Mix Monja," was also excellent! Of course, adding noodles is a must. It would be even better with sausages, but this "curry monja" itself is unconventional! There was no such thing as curry flavor when I was a kid!! If you added sausages, your parents would scold you. So, while keeping these contradictions in mind, I looked forward to trying this unconventional dish.
"Carbonara Monja" - 930 yen: It has a strong flavor of cheese, black pepper, and bacon. You can imagine the taste, but I think this is probably the only place where it's turned into monja. Since the flavor itself is Western, it loses some of the charm of being down-to-earth and rustic, but it tastes good! The burnt part of monja, which is its highlight, is also delicious. Burnt cheese can't taste bad, and I think it would be acceptable to add various other ingredients, maybe even noodles or curry flavor. That's how it turned out! However, when it's overcooked, the saltiness becomes too intense. So, in that sense, adding other toppings instead of going with the default might make it even tastier.
I didn't have the courage to try some of the regular menu items like "Dan Dan Monja," "Raw Garlic Monja," "Miso Butter Corn Monja," and "Mapo Monja" this time. But I think these are also quite good. With this restaurant's monja, even seemingly unconventional dishes should taste good; there seems to be a sense of trust that they wouldn't release anything bad. Even with something like "Mentaiko Mochi Monja," the balance and seasoning of the ingredients make a significant difference in the final product. That's the restaurant's sense.