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Nodoguro November 2022

Nodoguro is blissfully and officially back! As a long time supporter and diner of many Nodoguro dinners, I attended their pop-ups their summer with the Izakaya in the Canaries as I covered previously, and although I did not do a blog post I did put together an Instagram reel of the Nodoguro Lil Nashi brunch pop up also. Both of these events were at a borrowed space, but as reported by the Oregonian, Nodoguro has found a new permanent location. I was fortunate to be able to snag a reservation for myself at a November seating, and here’s a look at the new space and a re-visitation of the Nodoguro 3.0 dining experience. The menu may change quarterly or possibly monthly, depending on what Chef Ryan Roadhouse decides to do. For this visit the theme was Nurturing Your Kokoro.
Nodoguro November 2022 Nodoguro November 2022

The seating is one per night on mostly weekend dates, and limited to just a little more then a dozen people for approximately 2.5 hours of a dinner tasting menu that features snacks and composed courses made from the best of local northwest and Japanese ingredients and Nodoguro preparation that combines creativity and traditional techniques, plus a line up of omakase sushi bites and miso soup, dessert and tea. The space on NE 23rd is a little hidden, you have to walk down a lantern-lit pathway to the restaurant door.
Nodoguro November 2022 Nodoguro November 2022

Upon entering you find yourself at an initial welcome area, and a lounge to socialize with the other dining parties of the evening while possibly enjoying a welcome drink – here a Tamagawa Heart of Oak sake from Kyoto with nutty, toasty characteristics that was really well balanced – I could drink this endlessly and kept sipping it slowly to make it last. You can select from a pairing that included both wines and sakes, or beverages by the glass or a bottle. One of the updates Nodoguro has made that I really enjoyed and I think made it the best pairings from the dinners I’ve had so far is that the selection is all Oregon wines if it is wine, and they endeavored to select wines and sakes that are unique and not ones you can find normally on store shelves or on other restaurant beverage lists.

Doors open 30 minutes before the dinner service, and dinner service is at a shared countertop, though every course is plated and served to you individually. For this theme of Nurturing Your Kokoro, each seating came with an oracle card, and several us read aloud our cards, unique to each setting, to the table. Mine read “Flowers even bloom on grass that has been trampled.(Japanese proverb)”. I would prefer not to be trampled but good to know I will persevered and still blossom.
Nodoguro November 2022 Nodoguro November 2022 Nodoguro November 2022 Nodoguro November 2022

Snacks

Umami juice. Vegetables roasted then fermented with soft vinegar, this small starter cleansed the palate and was a bit reminiscent to me of a kombucha. The beverage pairing for the snacks is this crisp Mellen Meyer Brut Nature – Willamette Valley AVA. This Oregon sparkling wine producer was new to me and I’m glad for the introduction
Nodoguro November 2022 - umami juice

Duck, squash, and cranberry. Nodoguro serving up a a little Thanksgiving”, with the squash poached in sake and the beautiful perfect slices of duck. I wish Thanksgiving could really be duck instead of turkey like this. One of my favorite creative courses of the evening.
Nodoguro November 2022 - Duck, squash, and cranberry

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Nodoguro Izakaya in the Canaries

The best popup in Portland is Nodoguro, offering incredible creative kaiseki (Japanese fine dining) that combines the meticulous techniques and artful playing with highlighting seasonal sourcing, hospitality, and thoughtfulness and personal style of whatever is Ryan and Elena Roadhouse’s chosen inspiration theme. The theme of the current dinner series is “Izakaya in the Canaries” from their trip to represent the Pacific Northwest at the Volcanic Food Forum in Lanzarote, Spain. The menu is designed to combine love of Izakaya cuisine, the Spanish Tavern, and some Pacific Northwest volcanic flair.
Nodoguro popup themed Izakaya in the Canaries Nodoguro popup themed Izakaya in the Canaries

I’ve been a customer of Nodoguro for many years – just do a search for Nodoguro to see multiple other recaps of dinners I have experienced. I was heartbroken when they closed their space when the rent ended and because it didn’t make sense as we approached the 2nd year of the Covid-19 pandemic. So imagine my thrill when I saw they would at least for a few months, be taking up the space vacated by Nonna and then Yakuza temporarily, at least until August. Follow them via their newsletters and on social media follow Nodoguro or Gary the Foodie for the news when prepaid reservations are available because they will go fast! Sometimes you may luck out with canceled seats. For me it was via texting to coordinate and buying a spot immediately upon hearing the news to get my late May Friday night seat. It was such a reunion to dine with the Hungry Broads at my table and see the Roadhouses presenting their dinner experience again, but with the added bonus of daughter Sasha also helping.

Also as a long time fan while not trying to be a creeper I was crushing hard watching the daughter dad duo plating the sashimi courses with the same intense focus in their eyes.
Nodoguro popup themed Izakaya in the Canaries

The Setting

Here’s a look at the space they are temporarily occupying on NE Portland.
Nodoguro popup themed Izakaya in the Canaries Nodoguro popup themed Izakaya in the Canaries

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Nodoguro Supahardcore 2019

Although I don’t recap my visits to Nodoguro like I used to on this blog (just search on Nodoguro for previous posts), I still make sure to visit Nodoguro a few times a year. At this point Nodoguro is well revered as a significant contributor to the Portland food scene both in local PDX media and nationally with raves ranging from Bon Appetit, Condé Nast Traveler and more, with tickets selling out quickly. But I decided to do this one of my recent visit of Nodoguro Supahardcore for some of my foodie friends who I attended the dinner with, and to show some updates on the parade of Supahardcore courses that has happened over the years. So let’s drool on together, shall we?

Doors opened 30 minutes before the dinner seating – I like arriving around this time to get settled after they take your coat and umbrella and order an initial drink to start with and hang out in the lounge doing catch-ups with your dining companion or meeting the new dining companions who will be with you on at the 16 seat counter tonight. The selfie photos are courtesy of Elizabeth and her selfie stick, thanks for sharing E!

After we were all ushered to be seated (they will have seats for your party in mind based on the various party sizes that night), we had a chance to take a look at the A5 Wagyu and its certification before it will be prepared in three different ways, three different courses tonight. Oh that beautiful marbling.
My experience at Nodoguro Supahardcore 2019 - worth the price for the multiple high quality courses and A5 Wagyu Beef My experience at Nodoguro Supahardcore 2019 - worth the price for the multiple high quality courses and A5 Wagyu Beef

And now onto dinner…

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Nodoguro’s Peter Cat Pop up Lounge

It’s hard to believe that it’s now been four years from when I first I was introduced to Nodoguro at their first pop up at Yakuza Lounge (which I had recapped here). Many dinners later, they are still going strong now in their permanent space customized (with a lot of DIY) by them, and they are starting a new pop up concept – Nodoguro’s Peter Cat Pop up Lounge. Here’s a look at what that offering means.
Nodoguro's Peter Cat Pop up Lounge featuring jazz on vinyl and curated cocktails by Jacob Grier. Reservation must be made at their site for specific date/time and prepaid beforehand and includes a tray of snacks as shown and a cocktail Nodoguro's Peter Cat Pop up Lounge featuring jazz on vinyl and curated cocktails by Jacob Grier. Reservation must be made at their site for specific date/time and prepaid beforehand and includes a tray of snacks as shown and a cocktail

Nodoguro’s Peter Cat Pop up Lounge utilizes their back lounge area only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, after their other ticketed dinners. To come to Peter Cat, you also need to make a reservation/pre pay for a ticket online, just like their dinners – this helps them manage the capacity of that lounge for now, which fits maybe 12 people. What dates are available on the ticket page of their website under the Peter Cat tab. Right now this is an experiment for June, so we’ll have to see in July what this may look like. Also check the page often – sometimes you’ll find cancelation tickets available from people who had date/time conflicts come up.

The name Peter Cat is taken from Haruki Murakami’s own Tokyo Jazz bar which he owned before he became a writer and even probably was in while writing a couple of his books – he named the bar after his pet cat I believe. You may recall that their Haruki Murakami themed dinner previously was one of the most well received (well, of many beloved dinners). In homage to that Peter Cat, Nodoguro’s Peter Cat Pop up Lounge also will be playing jazz on vinyl, and is meant to be cozy. Expect seating to probably be at a communal 8 top table, or at a couple lounge chairs and a couch with tray stands.
Nodoguro's Peter Cat Pop up Lounge featuring jazz on vinyl and curated cocktails by Jacob Grier. Reservation must be made at their site for specific date/time and prepaid beforehand and includes a tray of snacks as shown and a cocktail Nodoguro's Peter Cat Pop up Lounge featuring jazz on vinyl and curated cocktails by Jacob Grier. Reservation must be made at their site for specific date/time and prepaid beforehand and includes a tray of snacks as shown and a cocktail

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Nodoguro Twin Peaks Dinner 2

I still go to Nodoguro every couple months, but I don’t always post recaps anymore since I know it is difficult to get into some of the dinners if you don’t follow Nodoguro’s mailing list and social media so you know the exact night tickets for the next month get released (most ticket/reservations sell out within 24 hours). One tip is if you are lucky and are able to be flexible, look for Cancellation Tickets from those who purchased that month by checking their website daily – they will put them back up for sale. I’ve written about Nodoguro so many times it almost felt a little unfair to other dining establishments, but I decided to make an exception for this recent theme for July up to August 4 – which is a return to Twin Peaks!
Nodoguro Twin Peaks Dinner 2 Nodoguro Twin Peaks Dinner 2

This Twin Peaks dinner is a revisit to the cult favorite show that made TV Guide’s 50 Greatest Shows of All Time list. Nodoguro previously did a Twin Peaks theme in 2015 which I also recapped. Don’t worry if you haven’t seen the new third season on Showtime yet: neither have I (I don’t have Showtime) and this dinner still seemed more based on the initial two seasons.
Nodoguro Twin Peaks Dinner 2 place settings Nodoguro Twin Peaks Dinner 2 place setting

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