“What are you drinking and smoking these days? Why duck? And why a duck dessert? What will you do if people complain...?”

These are, verbatim, the words Chef Roberto Blondi's mother hurled at him the moment he told her he was building an entire nine-course tasting menu for Yyaki around a single protein: duck. I guess it's the kind of question only a mother can ask and get away with? Some chefs might have wilted under that kind of scrutiny. But for Chef Roberto, if anything, it seemed to steel his resolve.

The Duck Bar At Yyaki

It's been almost three weeks since restaurateur Sahil Sambhi and his culinary collaborator, Chef Roberto Blondi, unveiled the much-talked-about nine-course duck menu at Yyaki at Japonico in Gurugram. I won't pretend I walked in a believer. And I'd be lying if I claimed I hadn't already drafted a small arsenal of duck puns for this review: "What the duck is going on?”, "It's ducking good," or, in my weaker moments, an embarrassingly enthusiastic "Quack quack!" Any other night, that's probably exactly how I would have opened. But there's simply too much ground to cover: Chef Roberto's vision, Sahil's restless ambition, and, of course, the food. So, grudgingly, I'll rein in the puns.

Speaking of reigning things in, not many people managed to do that when Sahil first told them about the idea. "The first reaction is usually, 'Nine courses of duck?' — followed very quickly by, 'Really?'" he told me. "I think people naturally associate duck with one or two preparations, so the idea of experiencing it across an entire meal sounds excessive at first." 

Yyaki is tucked inside Japonico, Sahil Sambhi's brainchild. The space leans hard into a club-meets-izakaya energy - the kind of after-dark Japanese dining Golf Course Road hadn't quite seen before, right down to a DJ booth built into the communal table. Designer Freddy Birdy went for a futuristic Tokyo backstreet look. The centerpiece is hard to miss: a robata grill running some fifteen feet long, around which most of the evening's theatre plays out. But the real draw, tucked just around it, is the exclusive six-seater Yyaki duck bar, where I expected a straightforward test of the palate.

Naturally, I had to ask Sahil the obvious question first: why duck, of all things? "It's incredibly versatile, but in India it's still relatively unexplored in a premium dining context."

The Pursuit Of Duck Perfection

First, I was handed a welcome drink in an earthenware shot glass. Then came the amuse-bouche, a 'club sandwich' with rich, succulent filling sandwiched between two delicate, crackling shards of duck skin. Crunchy, savoury, and just daring enough to set the tone. I knew then it wasn't going to be a safe menu.

The first course, Duck Parfait Tart, featured roasted Peking duck, deboned and skinned. The standout element was the compressed green apple, its sharpness cutting through the duck's richness exactly as it should, with pickled onion adding another layer of contrast; together they set off a genuine flavour bomb. It was paired with the Ringo Fizz, a red apple and whisky-spice cocktail, and it came together beautifully.

Pairings With A Death Wish

Somewhere in the early planning stages, Sahil and Chef Roberto apparently ran into a branding problem. As Chef put it, "The idea was: how do we call it a bar?” - because duck and bar together don't really scream 'bar.' The answer to their problems ultimately came in the form of their friend, Peruvian mixologist Marcel Roland. Together, they spent nearly four months, hitting plenty of misses along the way, dialing in the perfect cocktail pairing for each course.

That balance between concept and craft carried through to the food itself, starting with the next course - the Gold Duck Nuggets with Hollandaise and Caviar. While Chef Roberto and his sous chefs prepped the dish in front of me, he confessed he'd been a lifelong fan of chicken nuggets and had always wanted to create a luxurious duck version worthy of the concept. "So we coated the duck nuggets with gold leaves — 24 karat." One bite in, and the dish had permanently secured a spot in my personal hall of great food. Crispy, juicy, and impossibly creamy - all at.

It came paired with a Himalayan Orchard cocktail that tasted precisely as good as its name promised. Honestly, the urge to ask for a second duck nugget was very strong, but then chef started telling me a story about a patron who once wished to order 21 duck nuggets for his table because he loved them so much, and I decided I did not want to be the next line in that anecdote, so I restrained myself.  

The Secret Ingredient Is...

The Classic Chinese Semi-Clear Duck Soup, made with consommé rather than water and finished with fresh truffle, felt like coming up for air amid the richer courses. rice. Then came the Duck Salad in Cantonese dressing, tossed with julienned vegetables; a quieter win, with the dressing doing most of the heavy lifting. It came alongside an Ume Sour, made with agave, plum, and toasted rice.

The Kitchen Catches Its Breath

After this run of courses came a short, fifteen-minute reset. Surprisingly, despite bracing myself to be full by course three or four, I felt exactly the right amount of satisfied.

When I asked Chef Roberto how he'd seen the luxury dining scene evolve during his time in India, he smiled and said, "I think Japonico has set the level of luxury and innovation very high," before adding, with a sheepish grin, "I'd like to call Japonico an 'international brand born in India.'" And it made a lot of sense. We go looking abroad for 'international-level' excellence when it's already being built and mastered right here at home.

Nigiri, Broth, And The Whole-Duck Philosophy

Next came one of the menu's genuine highlights: Duck Skin Nigiri - crisp duck skin over sushi rice, dipped into a warm hoisin sauce, accompanied by a duck consommé served tableside. The skin stayed remarkably light, flaky, and crisp even sitting atop the rice, and the broth was pure comfort. Chef explained the reasoning behind the consommé: at Japonico, nothing goes to waste. Alongside it, a Japanese-style highball with sweet pear and smoky lapsang tea offered exactly the kind of clean, refreshing contrast the course needed.

Psst. At this point, I'll let you in on a secret — I generally always dump all meat skins - duck, fish, pork, chicken - on my husband's plate; as a kid, it used to be my mother's plate. Anyway, what I am saying is, I actually enjoyed every time the skin made an appearance because the Chef had turned it into something so delicious. I ate it all up with zero fuss (when I told my husband later, he gave a pat on the Patton).

From Thailand, With Love

While the next course was being prepped, I asked Chef Roberto where he sources ingredients for Japonico, especially curious about this duck-forward menu. "I've tried local, but I had major problems," he revealed. "The beginning was fine, but after a while, the inconsistencies started showing up: different-sized ducks, either too skinny or too small, less frequent deliveries, and so on...So now, our ducks come from Thailand. The rest, I try to use all local ingredients from here."

Next came the BBQ Classic Duck Roll, slow-charred over live charcoal on the Robata hearth. It was one of the first hot, freshly served duck rolls I've had in ages, and I enjoyed it. 

The Course Where I Became My Own Sous Chef

At this point, Chef joked, "Hey, why should I do all the work? You also help me!" For a beat, I assumed he was talking to one of the sous chefs standing behind me. He wasn't. That "helper" was me, myself, and I. He wanted this course to be interactive, so everything arrived deconstructed in a bowl: lettuce leaves on their own, three sauces kept separate, and julienned peppers and vegetables on the side. My job was to pick a leaf, layer on the perfectly cooked duck breast, wait as Chef sprayed apple cider vinegar from a bottle so elegant I'd genuinely mistaken it for perfume, then choose a sauce. I tried each one individually, and, for the grand finale, combined all three. I personally loved the mixture of the three sauces the most. 

Rice & Redemption

Next up, the duck leg with rice, which came with its own funny backstory. Chef Roberto explained that he wanted his Indian guests to feel like they'd truly gotten their money's worth. "So, again, just because I love my mental health and I don't like to complicate my life a lot, I decided the last course should either have rice or noodles, because I usually hear my Indian friends say 'rice chahiye... noodles chahiye,'" he said, laughing out loud, as though picturing a wonderfully animated Indian friend demanding exactly that. He continued, "I didn't want them to go back home and order rice or noodles and eat..."

I'll admit, I felt mildly attacked because, dear reader, the person he was describing was me. The duck breast with chili garlic fried rice and gochujang sauce lived up to the moment; I loved it. The duck leg was deeply tender and succulent. The rice was aromatic, packed with balanced bits of veggie goodness, and not oily at all. It came paired with Zabonri, a mix of chakotra and spiced honey, one of my favourites.

Duck For Dessert, Anyone?

By now, eight courses and eight pairings deep, I’d had duck prepared every way imaginable, and somehow, Chef Roberto hadn’t repeated himself once — exactly what Chef and Sahil had set out to achieve in the first place. Earlier, Chef Roberto had told me why they’d chosen duck. “I wanted to show how a seemingly boring, everyday protein can surprise you,” he’d said, “tantalizing your palate with flavours you’ve never tasted, without losing that familiar deliciousness.”

Turns out, he had saved the boldest surprise for last. The course I'd been hearing about all over Instagram for weeks, and my first-ever encounter with duck as dessert. 

Duck ice cream, perched atop a delicately wobbling clarified orange gelatine that, somehow, also contained duck, finished with a duck skin crumble sprinkled with cinnamon and a mix of star anise and cloves. Remarkably, it didn't taste like duck at all. It was mild, refined, and perfectly balanced, subtly sweet with just the right texture. As we wound down the perfect evening with some fresh exotic fruit (yes! I still had room for that), Chef Roberto hinted that this might just be the beginning. Single-ingredient tasting menus, he said, could be the next big thing in India. Fish, prawns, the likes! Duck was just the start. Improbable on paper but unforgettable in reality.

And just like that, Chef Roberto made his case: a humble, everyday protein like duck, in the right hands, can become almost anything.

It's the same appetite, I think, that drives Sahil himself. I asked if that ever gets intimidating, being known as someone who is always first at something and innovating. "Absolutely," he admitted. "But I've never really been motivated by trying to beat my previous opening. I'm more interested in asking myself, 'What do I genuinely want to experience that doesn't exist yet?' If I ever stop feeling slightly uncomfortable before an opening, I'm probably not pushing myself enough."

Will I Go Back For The Duck?

To be completely honest, I didn’t expect to have this much fun eating duck. Nine courses of duck. Nine! At some point, I should have been tired of it, but there I was, happily going back for more as if duck were the only food group left on earth. The cocktails weren't exactly helping me pace myself either. Somehow, every pairing worked, as if the highest food gods themselves had blessed the marriage.

I’m usually a little skeptical of elaborate dining experiences because sometimes there’s so much happening around the food that you start wondering whether anyone remembered to make sure the food was actually good. Yyaki was refreshingly uninterested in that kind of theatre. There was no need to dress up the duck with a circus around it. The food was the show. Nothing felt like it was trying too hard to be clever. The duck simply kept changing shape, texture, and personality, while somehow remaining delicious throughout.

Getting There:

Address: Yyaki, Japonico, 2nd Floor, Tower D, Vipul Tech Square, Golf Course Road, Sector 43, Gurugram, Haryana 122009.

Cost: ₹7,999 per person (+Taxes)

Timings: 7 PM, 9 PM (24-hour prior booking required)