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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Caesar bite. Chicories with crispy shallots and katsuobushi which are bonito flakes here instead of the traditional Caesar dressing usage of anchovies. With the dressing placed at the bottom, this was one of the first courses of the night that we were encouraged if we wished to eat with our hands.

Composed Courses

Next was a tray of Santen Mori, or a platter with a trio of small appetizers with the next beverage pairing, Golden Cluster Noburg Oregon Chardonnay – Willamette Valley AVA though located just in Forest Grove. On the tray, starting at the top and going clockwise: Toasted walnut and baby fish. The walnut is toasted in soy sauce reduction

Next, Persimmon and shiitake – persimmons in a little bit of vinegar, shiitake mushrooms, fresh tofu sauce. Finally, Inada tataki– wild inada since it is the season of the baby yellowtail, shiso, sesame oil.

Oyster, citrus, and myoga. These oysters from Washington are served with a ginger mignonette

Mochi cake and caviar. For essentially these mochi blini they use mochiko which is a stretchy rice flour and a little bit of yeast. Loved loved loved it.

Oregon albacore sashimi. With Japanese wasabi

Matsutake, custard and crab. The matsutake mushroom, egg custard and Dungeness crab with dashi was thick, almost like an egg drop soup. This was paired with a Limited Addition Noble Dry – Eola-Amity Hills AVA, a Chenin Blanc special edition with this harvest that was infected with some noble rot. The flavors had a fungal quality to complement with the matsutake here.

Abalone oden. Nodoguro’s take steamed abalone with a little bit of sake and then Japanese mustard

Uni rice. I always love an uni course, and this was one of my favorites of the night in what is a sea urchins risotto that reminded me of a creamy rich take on rice porridge

Sushi

Next starts the “sushi situation”, which were paired with two sakes that were served to us at the same time to mix and match as we wished with our sushi courses. Narutotai Nama Genshu – Tokushima Prefecture and Otokoyama Hiyaoroshi Junmai – Hokkaido Prefecture.

First sushi – Madai, a baby sea bream with fermented yuzu skim

Santa Barbara export uni – an extra grade sea urchin

Iwate sea scallop

Ikura with curry crab. Always love the pops of ikura on rice – for my own take on this I will source fish eggs from Lavka and toss it on their dumplings with a little butter, vinegar, and sour cream, but it’s not as luxurious as this Nodoguro take with sushi rice and with curry Dungeness crab.

Shimaaji Horse mackerel

Saba. Battera kelp, mackerel, shiso inside

King salmon

Dashi and seaweed Miso soup. I do not envy how many dishes they must need to wash after every Nodoguro dinner seating! I love these because it’s like opening a present with the lid.

Dessert

Pumpkin and pear Pumpkin gelato, Asian pear salad with yuzu zest. This had an extra fun pairing of an intense yuzu sake that was almost like a limoncello and a little bit went a long way.

Hokkaido Raisin Bread Saikyo miso icing, raisins marinated in birch liquor. Served with Hojicha tea.

November and December seatings are sold out, but you should check because there are sometimes last minute cancellations so you can snap up a reservation on short notice if you are lucky. They also offer a waiting list to get notified. Otherwise, look for the sale of the new dates in January coming soon.

I’ve written about my love for Nodoguro so much I’m not sure I have anything else to say, except that it is worth it, and you should go. You don’t even need to get a group together – I have done several of these dinners on my own, and the seating arrangement always means I make new friends during the dinner. Every dinner I have had with Nodoguro is special, and I hope you have a chance to find this out for yourself too.