Nodoguro
3735 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR, 97214
Nodoguro Menu
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Address :
3735 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Portland, OR, 97214 - Phone
- Website https://nodoguropdx.com/
- Click To Get Directions
Opening Hours
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Specialities
- Takes Reservations : Yes
Delivery : No
Take-out : No
Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Good for Kids : No
Good for Groups : Yes
Attire : Casual
Noise Level : Average
Alcohol : Beer & Wine Only
Outdoor Seating : Yes
Wi-Fi : No
Has TV : No
Waiter Service : Yes
WE SERVE THE FOLLOWING STATES
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Pechluck L.
There are two main kinds of experiences with Nodoguro. You may see tickets for a "Hard Core Omakase" dinner sometimes. Those are sushi/sashimi dinners where you put your fate in them to take you on a chef's choice journey based on whatever was just flown in from the famed fish markets of Japan. The second are "9 course Tasting Menu". This 9 course tasting menu changes based on the theme, which generally changes every month. I have only been to these latter 9 course Tasting Menus and not the Hard Core Omakase. In presentation, each individual dish tries to showcase taste, texture, appearance, and color. Both the food and the dishware count as important elements of the visuals. Nodoguro carefully considers what plates and bowls they will use as well as carefully arrangement of every element in plating the ingredients. All these artful dishes will be small, but trust me, they do add up so you will be satiated. In terms of hearing it's simple food, don't be fooled. There is always a printed menu at your seat, and often there will only just be a handful of words to describe what the dish is - say one dinner there was a dish described as Dungeness Crab and Fennel Sunomono. In this dish, there was this tubular vegetable thing that had some sort of weird melt in your mouth taste and texture in it? Oh says Ryan offhandedly, just Uni wrapped in Kelp. No big deal. Why does this Dashi broth in this Black Cod with Dashi dish feel so soft, what is that other flavor? Oh, I vaporized sake in it, explains Ryan. There is all sorts of hidden complexity in the simplicity. You will be sitting right across from the chefs at a kitchen counter. If you've been to a Japanese restaurant before and seen the sushi counter - it's very similar to that, but without any glass case needed to keep seafood cold for sushi. At a high level, based on my dinner experiences so far, there will always be generally within the first few courses some sort of raw and/or sashimi dish. There is always a sunomono dish, a "salad" which as Ryan wryly explained, is "stuff in vinegar". There is always a cooked fish dish - it may be smoked, or broiled. After that is some sort of meatier dish, which may be just generous protein or a protein on top of rice bowl dish. There is always a sweet rolled omelette dish (tamago) as the 8th course, followed by dessert as the 9th course, and that is usually finished with hot Japanese tea and manju snack. There are limited seats and dates of the dinners. Every Nodoguro guest must always go online to buy your ticket beforehand. Follow on Twitter Nodoguro or Ryan Roadhouse to keep up for when new tickets or events for more Nodoguro Upcoming Offerings announcements as they come. If you are dining with friends, buy your tickets together or communicate to Nodoguro to let them know because there are only a dozen seats. If they know ahead of time how many are in your party, they can make sure that there are seats together for you. You should let them know any constraints you might have (I often dine with a friend who can't eat salmon and she is always accommodated for, and another time there was someone who could not eat pork) so they can prepare an alternative if needed. After purchasing your reservation online from the Nodoguro website, usually a couple days before your dinner Ryan will email you what the specifics of the menu for your dinner evening will be, and let you know what time to arrive. Be aware that since you are sitting at a chef's counter, you will likely be sitting right next to each other and mostly talk to your dining friends immediately to the right or left so set yourself up accordingly. After tea service, generally one of the Nodoguro people will have a tablet running Square so you can pay for your drinks/gratuity using a credit card, or of course cash.
(5)Bret B.
I attended my first dinner at Nodoguro in June 2014. Since then, I have (at least as of the time of writing this review) dined at Nodoguro more than any other restaurant in Portland. I have enjoyed both the "regular" tasting menu, and the relatively newly added omakase dinner. Each visit to Nodoguro deserves five stars without question or hesitation because: 1. Food: Chef Ryan Roadhouse is a star, pure and simple. Furthermore, he's friendly, kind, generous, helpful and humble. He seems to have a preternatural talent for putting interesting flavors and textures together. And Ryan is always willing to share his vast knowledge of ingredients and Japanese cuisine with diners. 2. "Staff": I hesitate to use that term for the other team members. The "hostess" is Ryan's wife Elena, who is just one of the sweetest human beings you will ever encounter, while being laser smart and on top of every detail about the dinner. And then there is Marc (Mark?) who is the sous chef and the farmer who provides much of the exceptional produce; he's yet another talented, exceptional human being who is eager to make your dining experience as winning as it can be. 3. Ambiance/Service: The restaurant is in a little space next to Pastaworks. It started there as a pop-up, and now it's permanently at home in the space. The key to the ambiance is that there is a single seating each night. Each course is prepared simultaneously for the entire room at the same time, so no variation, no guessing, no delays. Everything is assembled at once, and served at once. That leads to truly impeccable service! Ryan has trained in Japan, but his Nodoguro dinners, I believe, are described as "creative Japanese." I honestly don't know where they stray from traditional Japanese cuisine. All I know is that each course of each meal features the balance of flavors and textures characteristic of Japanese cuisine. I should also probably disclose that, after attending so many Nodoguro dinners, where I'm welcomed by name, I do consider Ryan, Elena and Marc to be friends. And, as friends, if they deserved criticism, I would/will give it to them.
(5)Daniel R.
Great place for foodies.... If your not one, dont bother, you wont get it....really amazing combinations..... We had the Alice in Wonderland theme..... Oysters, albacore and a rice with salmon eggs.
(5)Amanda B.
If you're looking for the perfect Portland Dining Experience, Nodoguro is the marriage of PDX quirk and foodism. Portland is a city full of food, but with weirdly few truly outstanding culinary experiences. Nodoguro deserves entry to that group by consistently firing on all cylinders. -Creative menus of exceptional ingredients that result in stellar tastes that both challenge and reward you. -Service that is warm and welcoming, attentive and present. -Space to enjoy your meal. With only one seating a night, this is an event.. you're given time to breathe. The space is changed over each month to thoughtfully reflect a new theme. Diners talk to eachother at communal tables and interact directly with the chef and sous chef. -Value.. while not cheap, at $85, you never feel cheated as the menus are generous in size and just phenomenally well done. Comparable to other standout experiences in PDX. Nodoguro has two types of dinners: a themed, 9 course tasting menu that changes monthly based on a new concept. And the occasional and hard to get all out omakase sushi dinners. Each offer wine pairings. The entire restaurant only sports 2 tables, where everyone is seated together. Routinely conversation takes place amongst the entire restaurant, together. Unlike Beast, where you'll feel insulated by your communal table neighbors, here you're encouraged to interact. The chef is right in front of you, communicating with you as well. His wife, the hostess, will tell you about each dish. The quality of the fish is unparalled in the city, and the vegetables are grown for Nodoguro by the sous chef, on his farm. I've often had fresh pickles as part of the dishes and pollens and seeds and tiny, tiny blossoms make a routine appearance. The dishes are beautiful. You can bring your own booze, or have wine or sake from their recommendation list or the pairing, which is overly generous. Diners linger, chat, consult with the chef... The staff will recognize you if you return, and attend more than one dinner and you'll be family. You'll run into other restaurantuers dining beside you. And its casual... don't dress up. If you're coming into town, this is the one restaurant I would plan a trip around. Clearly, local publications agree.
(5)Kendra L.
Nodoguro is the kind of place that you either love wholeheartedly to the point that you're hesitant to review it, because if too many people discover this then maybe it'll become impossible to get a seat -- or you just don't understand it. This isn't Claim Jumper. At Nodoguro you get a series of delicious, handcrafted, inventive servings of food. It starts out light, and builds. They don't blow your appetite by serving you a ton of carbohydrates at the beginning, which is great, because there's a lot of courses coming your way. You need to be a little bit adventurous and willing to try new kinds of food you haven't eaten before to enjoy Nodoguro. But if you are, you'll be rewarded with new flavors that you hadn't imagined. The service at Nodoguro is also top notch. They learn your name the first time you dine with them. I'm not kidding. They know your name and treat you with great respect and consideration. They take hospitality to a whole new level without being overbearing or overly personal. All you've got to do is sit back, relax, and enjoy the experience.
(5)Pleen L.
Hands down best Japanese in the Portland area at the moment. Put yourself in the hands of Chef Roadhouse for a couple of hours...it's worth giving up the control and eating whatever he puts infront of you.
(5)J M.
I was really excited about this place, but after going I would give this place not quite 3 stars. The food for the most part ranged from good to really good. Unfortunately, there were several other things that needed some work in order for me to walk away from this experience feeling good about it. The biggest takeaway is that I've been home from dinner 15 minutes and I'm hungry. I'm willing to pay $200 for two people for an amazing and authentic meal, if I'm satiated and satisfied, And if I do, I want it to be the kind of food and experience that I can't stop thinking about and that I want all my friends to know about. But I feel about as full as I would if I had shared two appetizers. 8 courses at $85 (not including tip), which amounted to a bite or two per plate. On to the experience. When we first walked in, we were placed at a small table for 4 with two other people we didn't know, which isn't necessarily a big deal. But the hostess/server seated us in the most awkward arrangement. My friend and I were side by side, facing two complete strangers at an isolated and intimate table that would have been great for a party of 4. We were literally face to face with complete strangers, and had to whisper in each others ears just to have a private conversation. There were two spots open at the chefs table/counter, but we were told that we couldn't sit there because it was for 2 remaining people of a party of 4. Why wouldn't you sit the party of 4 people together at that table instead of two separate groups of two? Luckily the people we sat with thought this was strange too, and after about 10 minutes we rearranged our seating so that we were sitting across from the person we actually came with. On to the next strange occurrence. We brought our own bottle of wine, and when the server saw the bottle, she asked us if we wanted glasses? And she was serious. Were we supposed to pass the bottle back and forth? Or bring our own glasses? I will say that they didn't charge us a cork fee, so I won't complain too much about this. It was just an odd thing to ask someone, and the hostess overall was awkward and she felt like a strange fit. But back to the food. The first couple of dishes were REALLY good. But also really small. Opening with two Netart Oyster's which our table really enjoyed. Someone exclaimed that they could have eaten several, which might have actually been a good idea. Because as we worked our way down the menu, I started to worry that we were never going to feel full because we were running out of upcoming plates. My friend teases me because my stomach space is tiny, and I get full extremely fast, but at Nogoduro I don't think it's possible. When were about to be served the more substantial protein dishes, I thought I would feel differently, but that wasn't really the case. The pork belly plate was only one slice about 2" x 1". The salmon dish was literally two small FLAKES of salmon on a medium bowl of rice. These were considered the "entrée" portion of the service. In fairness, it wasn't all negative - some of the courses were absolutely fabulous, but they were really small and that only left me wanting more. The head chef was very nice, and personally introduced himself when we arrived, The negatives were the amount of food for the price, the awareness and general common sense of the server, and overall it seems like they don't totally have their flow and processes in place. I eat out multiple times a week, and am someone that makes a point of trying any new place with the slightest bit of notoriety. Nodoguro has been on my list for a few months, and I hate that I have to deem my evening as disappointing. If these things are improved upon, I would consider coming back. But my first and likely only experience wasn't awesome.
(2)