Curry House CoCo Ichibanya — Restaurant in London

I've been waiting/hoping for Coco Ichibanya to open in London ever since I was first introduced to the chain in Japan almost a decade ago. For those who are unfamiliar, Coco Ichibanya is the largest curry chain in Japan, serving a huge variety of curry dishes with a good number of optional toppings. You can also choose how spicy you want your dish to be on a scale of 1-5 (more on that later), and the amount of rice you want on the side.

The first London branch is small, with a capacity of just 40 people, so queues are probably to be expected for a while. We went straight from work on Friday 14th of December, just two days after they first opened, and when we arrived at around 5.40pm we waited just over 30 minutes to be seated - but when we left a bit before 7pm the queue was already over an hour and a half, so if you want to go soon either get there early or be prepared to wait.

The food and menu is almost exactly the same as it is in Japan, but with one fairly significant change - the spice levels range from 1-5 as opposed to 1-10. This is similar to the branches in Hong Kong, although we both felt that the London spice levels were slightly higher. For this first visit I tried a level 4, hoping it would be equivalent to a level 7 or 8 in Japan, but unfortunately it was milder than expected. Still delicious, but I'll be going for a number 5 next time, and I'd very much encourage them to revert to the Japanese 1-10 scale in the future - we do like spicy food over here after all.

Two curries, two soft drinks and an extra bowl of curry sauce came to approximately £40 including service, which is more expensive than in Japan, but more than fair for Central London. When we visited they were still waiting for their alcohol license, but they did mention that when it is in place they will have Kirin, Asahi, and a range of sake available.

I honestly can't say enough good things about this place - I've been searching for a restaurant that serves comparable Japanese curry in London for years, only to be disappointed every single time. I will be back - many, many times - and I wish them every success in branching out to further locations. Delighted that they are finally open in London and wouldn't hesitate to...

TL;DR store manager(male with glasses) needs to find new job; good but deteriorating food quality, Insane cost-cutting measures increasingly damaging customer experience and reputation.

Been a frequent visitor to Coco both branches in London over the years. Prices visibly and sharply upward(understandable), food quality and portion, especially the sauce smaller(also understandable but quality and price at the same time???) don’t mind 15 quid for a katsu curry but the food quality and amount you’re getting now, might as well go Eat Tokyo, much better bang for your buck.

Service non-existent, duty manager(guy with glasses) POINTED us to the table after waiting 30 minutes as if he’s conducting a military parade lol. If he enjoys this then he needs therapy, if not he needs a new job. Watch out for him, he will shove your food to the table like a robot 30 mins after you ordered. Remove the service charge, literally no service when they have 2 staff covering 6 tables upstairs, one just stands at the door preparing takeaway orders. Shout out to VJ, nice Romanian bloke who just joined this restaurant. Funny guy, hope he will get a better job after he realises how hopeless this job is.

No pickles provided nowadays, salad literally two half mouthful. Ordered the usual level 8 but tastes like level 4 8/10 times, come on guys spare some of that spicy additives, I’m sure it only costs a few pennies.

They started doing loyalty card again now. Even though on back of card says 1 stamp per curry meal. Party of two gets 1 stamp according to the same manager. VJ kindly gave us two cards lol. Not sure if this guy is having a bad day or just mean to everybody. Like if you care so much about profit and forgot about what a restaurant is supposed to be, might as well close the door otherwise the market will do it for you if you don’t change they way you conduct business in the area.

In short, acceptable food, no service, entitled duty managers, cost cutting measures that’s upsetting loyal customers, cheap marketing strategies trying to retain customer which probably...

Amazing katsu curry with a variety of options and amazing service. A great lunch and dinner spot!

The staff at the James St location are always making the experience enjoyable and we usually eat there. It has always been a great experience as we are seated as soon as possible and all the waiters are attentive and happy to help with the menu. We usually order the pork katsu or chicken katsu at level 2 spice,both with extra toppings. It’s always worth it as we tried the sausage, bbq, the hamburger as well and they all tasted so good with the curry sauce. They also have a section with vegetarian toppings. When it comes to the spice level of the sauce, as someone who enjoys very spicy food, I frequently get either level 3 or 4, but my friend who likes a little bit of spice usually gets standard. My friend who enjoys spice but doesn’t want extremely spicy food all the time, always goes for level 2 spice. They also have an allergen menu that they can show you at request.

Today, we ordered takeaway for a family of 4. The food was so good we completely forgot to take pictures. Though, the food was so well packaged and came so fast despite being far away. We got,

1. chicken katsu curry, 250g rice, lvl 3 spice, extra pork katsu and extra sausage 2)pork katsu curry, 350g rice, lvl 2 spice, extra fried chicken and extra sausage 3)pork katsu curry, 250g rice, mild spice 4)chicken katsu curry, 250g rice, standard spice, extra sausage Even take away the food still tastes so good, the same portions, and the staff write a thank you note! I was pleasantly surprised by the note, and the food hit the craving when I wasn’t able to...