A note on the words: sukiyaki is thin-sliced meat and vegetables cooked in a shallow iron pot in a sweet soy broth, and eaten dipped in raw egg; kamo means duck. Tataki means the surface is seared and the inside left rare, and yukke is the Japanese form of the Korean yukhoe, raw meat dressed with seasoning and usually crowned with an egg yolk. Uni is sea urchin roe and tare is a sweetened soy dipping sauce. Shime is the closing dish of a drinking night. Monaka is a thin wafer shell with a filling; shungiku is chrysanthemum greens; negi is the thick Japanese scallion; and chenpi, chinpi in Japanese, is dried citrus peel used as a seasoning. Khao man gai is the Thai plate of poached chicken over rice cooked in its broth, and chuka soba is the older name for a bowl of ramen. Meshi simply means a meal, which is where this blog gets its name. Su-gamo means duck in a vinegar sauce.
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Juban Na Camo guro on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. Right, tonight’s dinner is Na Camo guro in Azabu-juban! Na Camo guro, as you may know, is the famous duck restaurant in Nakameguro — and I had no idea they had opened an Azabu-juban branch! News to me. I had been meaning to get to Na Camo guro just once, so this was perfect timing. I booked straight away and went along.
The entrance is very stylish ^^
[The Na Camo guro standard] Mogami duck sukiyaki course, 6,000 yen
[Juban Na Camo guro only] The duck Chinese “Okimari” course — eight plates built around their signature su-gamo — 8,000 yen
The set course that only Juban Na Camo guro does is eight dishes for 8,000 yen. This being my first visit, I picked the standard 6,000-yen course!
And there was a pairing course, five glasses matched to the dishes for 4,500 yen, so I asked for that as well.
The duck they use here is a variety called Mogami duck, apparently, and there is a great big sign for it on the wall.
Here is the sparkling for the opening toast. PRESTIGE BRUT.
Elegant appetizers! The duck monaka was delicious.
What goes with these appetizers is Aruga Branca Clareza.
Straw-grilled duck. A thick cut of duck with the toasty smell of straw drifting gently off it. No gamey edge to it, and delicious. It has proper, tasty fat the way pork does — it does not seem like poultry at all! Duck is good. What goes with this is the orange wine, Shalauri Rkatsiteli.
Next up was the seared duck thigh tataki with chenpi, a plate where you pick between fine scallions and cilantro to go on top, and where for 1,100 yen more you can swap it for the lavish uni and caviar yukke. I like cilantro, so I asked for the seared duck thigh tataki with chenpi and cilantro on top. Nice that each person gets to choose what they want!
What goes with this is Gladstone Urlar Pinot Rosé. Very easy to drink.
And now the main event, the duck sukiyaki!
Ta-da — solid duck meat, plus negi, bell pepper, enoki, shungiku, thick shiitake and duck meatballs.
Basically, if you say nothing at all the staff cook it and serve it to you, which makes life very easy.
The egg looks nice and plump too!
The duck has a really firm texture and it is delicious. You do not usually give duck much thought, but it is good, isn’t it!
To close, you can choose between duck chuka soba, kamo man gai rather than khao man gai, truffle egg over rice for 1,500 yen more, or the uni and caviar yukke bowl for 1,650 yen more. The uni and caviar yukke turning up for a second time won me over, so for the shime I chose the uni and caviar yukke!
The sheer force of the picture, ha.
Uni, duck yukke, a plump egg yolk, caviar on top, fine scallions at the front and seared duck at the back.
It looks wonderful, and it tastes outstanding too. Whether uni and caviar are a brilliant match for duck, I could not tell you, but that it was delicious is a fact. It goes well with the light, faintly sweet tare.
By the later stages I was getting quite full, and then came dessert.
In terms of sheer volume, there is a real chance I could not have finished the eight-dish course, ha. Six was exactly right!
So — Na Camo guro. It is famous for a reason. It made me realize that duck is this firm and this good. They handle the whole duck sukiyaki for you, and in the calm room the conversation flows by itself. With the wine pairing, wines that suit the food keep arriving without your having to think, so there is none of the bother of choosing. It might be well suited to a business dinner!
Juban Na Camo guro (Chicken dishes / Azabu-juban Station, Akabanebashi Station, Roppongi Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
