Foodholic Niko @ Kyoto, Japan

We unexpectedly stumbled upon a hidden gem restaurant specializing in duck dishes – “Teramachi Kamoharu.”

This time in Kyoto, I found many restaurants that serve duck meat. Out of curiosity, I looked it up and discovered that because Kyoto has many rivers, it naturally has a lot of ducks. In such an easily accessible situation, many duck dishes have been developed.

We passed by this restaurant and thought it looked nice, so we just went in to ask if we could dine, but it turned out that reservations for the day were fully booked. We made a reservation for the following night instead, and to our surprise, we could enjoy such delicious food just by randomly picking a restaurant. Japan is truly a treasure!

When making the reservation, the staff asked us to choose a course from ¥5500 and ¥4500 options, and we each picked one from both. For more details about the set menu, please refer to the menu.

Let's get to the conclusion first: I never expected to enjoy such an exquisite duck course for around NT$1000 per person, and I got to try various cooking methods. My favorite was the duck sushi, which is a must-try when visiting this restaurant!

Appetizer
This was somewhat like shredded duck combined with spinach; it was quite a refreshing starter to commence today's duck feast, served in a small portion.

Duck Sushi (only in the ¥5500 set)
I can only say it was divine! There were three pieces, and the duck was lightly seared and not fully cooked, each piece having different levels of doneness. It was truly delicious! I super wanted to order another serving!

Roasted Duck (only in the ¥4500 set)
I don't quite know how to describe it; it felt like half-cooked, grilled or pan-fried duck. It had a nice chewiness and came with rose salt, green mustard, and mustard seeds that you could dip into. Each way of eating it was suitable and tasty.

Salad
The salad was drizzled with oil and vinegar, and it was quite rich in ingredients, including cucumber, shredded onion, and something resembling tofu skin. This refreshing dish prepared us for the subsequent hot dishes.

Fried Food Platter
This dish was also a favorite of mine. It contained four pieces of fried items: sweet potato, duck, spring rolls, and matcha rice cake. Aside from the sweet potato, which is more common, the other ingredients were quite special, and everything was delicious.

Duck Steak (only in the ¥5500 set)
The duck meat was served in a presentation similar to that of a steak, with a large piece beautifully displaying a pink color, accompanied by mustard and rose salt, plus a small piece of roasted pumpkin and onion. How could even the side dishes be so delicious?!

Braised Duck (only in the ¥4500 set)
The duck was prepared similarly to braised meat, served with a soft-boiled egg. Mixing them together created a smooth texture, with a hint of sweetness that was quite nice.

Duck Shabu Shabu
It included duck meat and vegetables, enoki mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms, and green onions for customers to cook themselves. First, the vegetables are cooked, followed by the duck, which was incredibly tender. You could dip it in black pepper and chili oil for added flavor! It’s worth mentioning that the green onions became tender and sweet when cooked, which was fantastic.
Finally, the staff served ramen cooked in the shabu shabu broth, giving me a familiar feeling reminiscent of finishing a Taiwanese hot pot with noodles, haha. After finishing this bowl of noodles, I was quite full.

Dessert + Hot Udon Tea
It was bracken-starch cake served with soybean flour and brown sugar. The cake was super chewy, or was it actually mochi? Either way, it was delicious, and paired with tea, it was a perfect ending to the meal.