Curry House CoCo Ichibanya - Irvine — Restaurant in Irvine

TERRIBLE MANAGEMENT, TRAINING, & CUSTOMER SERVICE (No wonder they don't franchise this mess.)

Before noon on March 6, 2024 was my first time visiting this "Express" (takeout) curry spot. It was pretty much empty except for me and a customer or two.

Staff took my order, charged my credit card, handed me the receipt... and only then, told me that it would take 30-40 minutes just to receive my "Express" lunch, let alone have time to eat it and go back to the office.

When I inquired why it would take so long, she responded that there was a bunch of orders ahead of me (which I can only assume was phone/company/catering orders).

If that is the case for your "Express" restaurant, you need to notify customers BEFORE they complete and pay for their orders. Better yet, tell them before they even order, or on a sign before they even come in.

Asked for a refund, which was given without a corresponding apology.

Learning from that botched first experience, I asked my wife to call in my lunch order today, April 20, 2024. When asked how spicy to make the curry, my wife asked for a REGULAR or medium.

The donut responded that they have a 1 to 20 scale with NO FURTHER EXPLANATION (not a mild, regular, and then a spicy on 1-20 scale; oh and their menus show 1-10 so wth?). After a pause, my wife said, so I guess that's a 10?

The muppet then put in the order for a level 10 (which is nearly the hottest, as the last three levels are 10/15/20), including the upcharge... all without explaining anything, educating about their non-linear and inconsistent spiciness ratings, or even confirming the upcharge.

Brought my order home, and the unexpectedly super-spicy curry burned my mouth and my gut.

Called to speak to the manager, who refused several times to give out even a first name. Finally, he figured out that I was a customer with a problem with my order, and only then revealed his name was "Irvin."

After Irvin found the order, I could finally explain to him the issue about poor training and customer service in regards to their spiciness levels, especially when the customer FIRST ASKED for REGULAR already. He would just go silent as if he wasn't there or just didn't understand. After another long pause, he said they will work on their training. Finally, after yet another long pause as I waited for him to offer a resolution, he woke up and asked if I would like a refund. He should have just done it as a matter of course and let me know with an apology. But, at least he did process the refund.

Terrible management and training from top to bottom, results in terrible...

Depressingly poor culinary and service experience given the wait of half an hour on a busy Saturday. Curry was thin, more like a soup rather than a proper thickness such as that served by Curry House or even better curry restaurants in Tokyo. Pork cutlet was very thin, dry except for the meager bit at one end that had a bit of fat and ligament. The total opposite of juicy and saku saku (that crispy texture you get biting into a wonderfully deep fried Japanese cutlet or other deep fry). Rice was definitely not fluffy and loose, and even my Japanese foodie friend from Tokyo agreed. House Curry easily provides a better taste and better curry, and this curry ranks about the same level as rashly made instant/cubed curry at home, if not worse. Service was off - 12 employees, 11 tables, 1 counterby rough count. You'd have 1 employee circle everyone 1 minute, then literally 1 minute later, another would go around again. Yet, they're Not paying attention. Sat and ate through the pork cutlet dish to the end - Not 1 employee approached to refill water, ask if I'd like to order more, etc. They act busy, but do not pay attention. Even checking out, I already asked for the bill, got that. Waitress disappeared, had to flag down another. He went to get change, another appeared (after lunch was done and over) to ask if I wanted more water or the bill?! Of course, the original waiter bringing the water spilled all over my arm (wasn't even moving or in his way), brought some more napkins for me, apologized, disappeared. Even checking in - put my name in, got the wait number from the tablet. Then got texted later that I'd be given a table soon. I saw my number on the tablet, waited, waited, waited, walked up to ask 1 employee up front how much longer since my number is on the tablet - and right in the middle of saying "I don't know. Let me check..." another employee calls out my name from the tablet to seat us?! I've been to better, busier curry shops in Tokyo that don't need as much staff as the 12 poorly trained ones here, but do better service and food wise. 2 stars is for the food, below the curry at Mitsuwa's Miyabi-tei, which I'd rank a 3, below Curry House at a 4, and any great curry restaurant in...

As of this post, this fake Curry House has 4.5 stars. I assume most reviewers have never visited a real Curry House. So, my opinion is biased because I've been experiencing the real thing for the last 20+ years.

This is not the real Curry House! Unfortunately, the real Curry House in Irvine closed down, leaving this place to splash "Curry House" above their signage and mooch off the reputation of the real Curry House.

A/C: It was cold, very cold. Customers had their arms inside t-shirts, were sitting their hands, had hands between their thighs trying to keep warm. I commented to the waiter on how cold it was. "You might be cold, but I'm hot." Of course, his comfort is more important than customers'. I told him to look around, all the customers are obviously cold. "We have no control over that." Thermostat, Google it.

Kid's carb load: Portion may be sufficent for a 5 year old. It consists of a handful of french fries and a couple morsels of protien. My daughter saw another kid's order and opted for an adult meal instead. Too bad she couldn't eat it because it was too spicy.

Chicken cutlet: A little fatty, but not bad. I would have given it a 7 had had it not been for the sauce killing any joy.

"Japanese" curry sauce: It's Chinese-Japanese, maybe. I'd be more certain, but I couldn't taste anything because my lips were on fire and my taste buds got knocked unconscious. "How spicy do you want it on a 1 to 10?" I selected 3. I'm a medium-spicy when it comes to Japanese curry. 3 should be conservative, right? Their 3 was on par with "hot" Japanese curry. I imagine 7 would induce instant hurling and 10 would explode my head. Maybe they made a mistake on my dish? My wife chose 3 as well. Hers was the same hell. Could he have mistakenly said 1 to 10, but meant 1 to 5?

Beef: I can't say much about the taste due to comatose taste buds. But it was over-cooked (dry and tough).

What did I like? Waiters/waitresses were attentive, except for the A/C thing. Food came out fast enough. Iced tea was nice and strong. A large Thai iced tea is gigantic....