To guess the specialty at Na Camo Guro, you need to know a little Japanese. Even if you don't, you might still be amused by the wordplay in the name of this sparkling new Japanese-style grill, just a minute's walk from Nakameguro Station.
Camo (or more usually, kamo) means "duck" — the key ingredient in a good half of the dishes. In this case it refers to aigamo, the domesticated kind, which are raised on a farm run by the restaurant's parent company in the far north of Yamagata Prefecture.
Salted and dried as a delectable "kamo ham" starter; ground and grilled as yakitori-style tsukune; cooked sukiyaki style at the table in front of you; or prepared Rossini style (kamo burgers topped with foie gras), all these duck dishes are intended to be nibbled on like tapas. There is a good selection of wine and sake, with Aramasa, Mori no Kaze and Shichi-honyari the standouts.
Creative flourishes include avocado with Kyoto-style white miso and excellent cabbage steaks slow-cooked over a teppan grill and seasoned with anchovy. For more solid fare, they offer duck ramen, oyakodon (rice bowl with duck meat and egg) or "kamobonara" pasta.
Na Camo Guro is still so new that the celebratory bouquets still adorn the entrance and stairway to the gleaming second-floor dining room. It's a worthy addition to Nakameguro's eclectic restaurant scene.
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