Coco Ichibanya, Okachimachi Kasuga-Dori, Tokyo, Japan

It was our first night in Japan; it’s winter; it’s pouring; we got up at some ridiculous hours for our flight earlier in the morning. By the time we settled down after the long trip from the airport lugging our suitcases up and down and left and right, the brother and I were reasonably cold, tired and starving. Most of the restaurants near the hotel were already closed, but thankfully not the CoCo Ichibanya (カレーハウスCoCo壱番屋) Okachimachi Kasuga-Dori branch (御徒町春日通り店)!

I have never visited this chain before but the brother told me they have several branches in Hong Kong. I reckon if a chain is good enough to go international, it’s good enough for me! Both my brother and I speak a little Japanese — my brother a lot more than I do — so we weren’t overly worried about ordering. I mean, if all fails, we can just point to the picture menu, right?

CoCo Ichibanya menu showing you how to order your curry
CoCo Ichibanya menu showing you how to order your curry

Not quite. There are many ways to customise your curry. You get to choose what sauce you want, how much rice you want, how spicy it should be, and any additional toppings you want on it. Most for an extra fee, of course.

Despite being super hungry, or perhaps because we’re super hungry, we were quite indecisive and took forever to order. The staff didn’t seem to be upset with us and never pressured us into making up our mind, which was very nice.

CoCo Ichibanya menu: Ebi Curry
CoCo Ichibanya menu: Ebi Curry
CoCo Ichibanya menu: salad selection
CoCo Ichibanya menu: salad selection

I ended up ordering the ebi (prawn) and cooked vegetables curry with a yasai (vegetables) salad as a set. The brother ordered a tonkatsu (pork cutlet) curry. The food came out in what felt like forever and we simply couldn’t wait to eat.

CoCo Ichibanya: Yasai Salad
CoCo Ichibanya: Yasai Salad
CoCo Ichibanya: Ebi Curry (foreground) and Tonkatsu Curry (background)
CoCo Ichibanya: Ebi Curry (foreground) and Tonkatsu Curry (background)

And the food was devoured. And the food hit the spot. A hot plate of curry was just what we needed on a cold rainy Japanese winter night. The default serving size could have been bigger, but they shall do for now. They shall do.

The bill came out to 1880 yen (~A$20) for the both of us. Very reasonable.

CoCo Ichibanya: the bill of 1880 yen
CoCo Ichibanya: the bill of 1880 yen for our order

I wonder when the chain would come to Australia?


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