高木チンパンジー
I'm a big fan of Tsukishima, and I went to a clean and cozy restaurant on Monja Street. When I arrived around 8 pm, I saw that there were already customers inside, so I thought I would be called soon, but it didn't happen! Well, the place wasn't that big, and the customers were leisurely eating and drinking, so I guess it couldn't be helped. After waiting for a while, a couple left the restaurant, and a staff member came out to clean the table, asking us to wait a bit longer. Finally, we were able to get a table after a long wait. It was around 9:20 pm by then. I was recommended to try the oysters, so I decided to order them. Other items we ordered were: Seafood Camembert Monja, Spicy Sesame Monja, Meat and Shrimp Dumplings, and Grilled Oysters with Butter and Soy Sauce. They also had Monja dishes with avocado and salmon, which I found interesting. The staff at this restaurant cooks all the dishes, so even if you're not good at making Monja, you can relax. We started with the oysters, but the staff took a while to come. It took about 20 minutes for us to be able to eat them. The taste was excellent, with a good size and satisfying texture. It was a bit salty, so I felt like having some rice with it. Next, we tried the Meat and Shrimp Dumplings. Although they arrived relatively quickly, we had to wait for about 10 minutes. The staff poured water over them and covered them, then went to attend to other customers. It took a while for them to come back, and when they did, the dumplings were burnt black! They quickly replaced them, but we had to wait for about 20 minutes. By the time we were seated, it was almost an hour since we arrived at the restaurant, and we had only eaten the oysters. We decided to try the Seafood Camembert Monja first. It looked amazing, with Camembert cheese and mussels on top. Even after over an hour of waiting, we finally got our Monja dish. The taste was really delicious! They use cream in the Monja batter, and it was a unique experience. I would love to try it again! After that, the Meat and Shrimp Dumplings that were burnt earlier arrived. This time, they were cooked properly and tasted great with vinegar and pepper. Lastly, we had the Spicy Sesame Monja, which was like the Monja version of Dan Dan noodles. It arrived after 11 pm and was also visually appealing. We sprinkled chili oil and vinegar on top, as recommended, and it was delicious! It was already 11:30 pm when we left the restaurant, making it a total of over 3 hours since we arrived. The food was really tasty, so I felt a bit regretful for taking so long. The staff seemed to be working hard, almost by themselves. Looking at other reviews, no one seemed to mention the long waiting time, so maybe it was just an unusual experience for us. Next time, I'll try to go earlier.