Coco Ichibanya

We were suppose to have lunch today in Tonkichi @ Orchard Central but due to some time difficulties we decided to have a quick lunch in 313@Somerset. It was a toss between Popeye's Chicken and Curry House CoCo Ichibanya. Guess who won.

CoCo as far as I know is quite popular. There were several occasions where we visited the vicinity and there was a queue outside. Today, however, there was no queue. Just a few tables were occupied. Why? I think its because of a new restaurant that had an opening promo of $1 per sashimi/sushi dish. But more on that later.

For the full review please visit my blog: http://lvfoodhaven.blogspot.sg/2013/05/curry-house-coco-ichibanya-313-somerset.html

2013-05-19

SGD 20(Lunch)

Coco Ichibanya is a famous Japanese brand selling their best, CURRY! Finally get to visit this place after hearing so much about it and I ordered the chicken cutlet curry rice. One thing special about this place is that u get to customized the spicy level of your curry, the amount of rice you want and also additional topping. For me I had the normal rice serving and medium spicy level of the curry. I like how the curry taste, spicy level is just nice for me (will try high level of spicy-ness on my next visit). The curry is not too thick nor thin, just nice for me though. The chicken cutlet however, is a little too oily for me.

Here at Coco Ichibanya, you can choose your ideal curry rice tailored to your tastes and preferences. You can decide what ingredients to go with your rice and even the level of spiciness of your curry. I ordered a Tonkatsu curry with additional cheese toppings. I did not choose a very high spicy level for my curry, but generally Japanese curry are not very spicy, they are just really rich, fragrant and savoury and the version served at Coco Ichibanya is no exception. I really liked how thick and fragrant the curry is, how mixing the curry easily coats the nice sticky japanese rice that will leave you wanting more. The Tonkatsu pieces were crispy on the outside and a little dry on the inside, but soak it a little in the curry and it will be really nice to go with rice. I was also surprised how the cheese went well with the curry sauce, it could be possibly overwhelming for some, but I liked how the savoury cheesy flavour blended with the curry. This is the perfect meal to warm yourself up, especially during wet and damp weather!

2013-03-25

I wanted to try the mushroom cream omu rice but decided that it was too much for my weak tummy.

looking around at the other tables, it seemed like everyone else had a katsu order.

i decided to try something else.

the seafood option.

curry sauce of course.

with standard portion rice.The curry sauce was a lot darker than usual.

And the smell of seafood was evident once the dish was brought to our table.

mmm.

try it yourself!

SGD 12(Dinner)

katsu cheese curry!Technically, since cheese was an add-on, I could've had it with any other curry rice order but that thought didn't occur to me until I overheard a diner making an order for one of their rice sets with cheese. Hunger took over from the time I stood in line till I sat down. Since the only order on the menu that had cheese in the dish was katsu cheese curry... so that, my order shall be.

Less rice of 150g and a $1 discount. Very nicely done! And a Level 2 for spice. I didn't know what to make of a spice level because if you've seen those instant curry cubes, mild and spicy all taste the same to me. But I was pleasantly surprised by a level of actual chilli hot type spiciness for my level 2. I added on some of the spice condiment on the table as well and manually increased the level of spiciness. Suffice to say, I enjoyed my curry. A lot. Ate it all up! And the pickles too. Crunchy sweet. Was a lovely accompaniment to the curry. I saw the waitstaff topping up the pickle containers non-stop for the time that we were there. Seems like everyone else thinks it goes well with curry too! The katsu however, was more batter than actual meat. Perhaps I should've just taken the Omu Kinoko (Creamed mushroom omu rice) instead.

SGD 15(Dinner)

katsu cheese curry!Technically, since cheese was an add-on, I could've had it with any other curry rice order but that thought didn't occur to me until I overheard a diner making an order for one of their rice sets with cheese. Hunger took over from the time I stood in line till I sat down. Since the only order on the menu that had cheese in the dish was katsu cheese curry... so that, my order shall be.

Less rice of 150g and a $1 discount. Very nicely done! And a Level 2 for spice. I didn't know what to make of a spice level because if you've seen those instant curry cubes, mild and spicy all taste the same to me. But I was pleasantly surprised by a level of actual chilli hot type spiciness for my level 2. I added on some of the spice condiment on the table as well and manually increased the level of spiciness. Suffice to say, I enjoyed my curry. A lot. Ate it all up! And the pickles too. Crunchy sweet. Was a lovely accompaniment to the curry. I saw the waitstaff topping up the pickle containers non-stop for the time that we were there. Seems like everyone else thinks it goes well with curry too! The katsu however, was more batter than actual meat. Perhaps I should've just taken the Omu Kinoko (Creamed mushroom omu rice) instead.

SGD 15(Dinner)

This is the first outlet of Coco Ichibanya that I have went to and I must say it did not leave me a VERY good impression.

1st: There were not enough workers to serve us promptly, partly may be due to the full house that evening.
2nd: The Food was not presented properly and the portion of meat was abit minimal to my opinion. 5 pieces of beef cubes with curry and omelette rice?
3rd: Price wise was okay i guess, The Omelette was my ideal type of omelette, fluffy and creamy, not too hard and dry.

Would recommend this place to those who wants to try out curry rice

2012-11-30

SGD 14(Dinner)

My first visit to try this Coco Ichibanya - the world best curry. I would agree so! For the first time after eating Japanese style curry, I actually crave for more of it. I ordered the sausage curry rice which costs $11.00. As I picked my rice portion to be half size, the price was reduced by $1.00. Cool right? You can tailor your own portion and choose the level of spicy-ness. I chose the "SUPER HOT" - 2nd hottest range. Hmm... to me, i think it was still not spicy yet but my colleagues felt that it was very spicy. They chose "mild hot" and "hot" for their portions.

Worth a try if you have not been here to eat yet. Reasonable pricing. Trying new food can keep you young!

2012-11-29

SGD 12(Lunch)

heard that coco ichibanya is a curry house from Japan that opened their only outlet at Singapore lately. The curry flavour is quite nice and fragrant, but i dont think i will go eat this too often coz i dont really like the Japanese style curry.

They have the choice of level for us to choose, and i chose the level 4 spiciness! It sounds mad but exciting, the curry is quite spicy if you finish the whole bowl, but still ok if you tried one mouthful only. But i recommend to choose level 3 or 2 coz too spicy will cover the original curry flavour.

For the chicken katsu curry, the katsu is crispily battered and deep fried, but the curry i ordered is too spicy. for the omelette rice, the egg is so silky and fluffy and nice combo with the curry also! And the beef is nice, tender and thinly sliced.

The crunchy Japanese Red Pickles that goes very well with the Curry dishes. Pork Culet Omelette Rice - It is simple a wow! The steamed white rice is wrapped with an omelette. Try a spoonful of the Omelette together with the rice and covering it with generous scoop of curry..it's so delicious!!!The Pork Cutlet has a crispy coat and the meat is juicy. Eating it on its own or dipping it into the thick curry is wonderful!Beef Curry with steamed white rice. It is a great meal if you wish to have non fried items for a change. The displays at the Coco Ichibanya at 313 Somerset - Very Tempting indeed! Will consider their Prawns and Sausages Curry during my next visit. The ambience is nice and cozy. Japanese Curry Lovers should not give this place a miss.

2012-10-09

There are many good and bad comments that I have read about Ichiban Sushi. However I have seen more positive comments though. For Japanese food, I love the salmon most. It's very fresh and you can order it with other type of fish too.
I was not really like this lobster sushi.. It's was quite oily to me and I prefer it hot as it's displayed at the conveyor belt so may be it has been there for long.
Overall, it was quite nice having the salmon^^ I would love any Japanese restaurant that has nice salmon for me to eat!

2012-06-13

Back to Coco Ichibanya! Really love their hashed beef curry with omelette rice. I kept craving for this ever since my first try. Got hooked on it! The beef this time tasted nicer and softer. Do give it a try!! I would prefer them to add more curry though. I ended up having a few mouthful of dry rice without sauce. Also, this time i added their cream croquette as well. The outside is really crispy and the inside is smooth and tasty!

I had pineapple icy cold drink. It was topped with a huge load of ice at the top. Scoop and eat it like ice cream. Yummy! For my curry rice, i had the normal ones with cream croquette. The outer layer was very crispy and tasty and the inside was creamy and delicious. I can't taste much of the meat except thick oozing cream. The texture of the curry was really great too. It was smooth and awesome!

Tried their curry rice since i'm craving for curry related japanese food. I had this curry egg omelette rice. You can choose the spicy level which is great for everyone. I had the mild spicy one with mushrooms in cream sauce. The egg was soft and delicious. It was a tad bland though. The rice was soft and tasty as well. The main highlight is their curry sauce which is really flavourful! Yumms!!

Pork Cutlet Curry with Cheese
my friend wanted to try the curry at it's average level, so that she could know what the "normal" curry tasted like. It turned out to be a wiser choice, as L3 curry wasn't as peppery as L4, and tasted more like the usual Japanese curry we were used to. The curry was thick, though we noted that there's also no vegs.. making the dish a little miserable looking too. The pork cutlet was surprisingly tough and not juicy (in fact, it looked very, very dried up), making it a chore to chew & swallow. Having the long strands of shredded cheese around the cutlet helped to "juice-ened" it up a little, but taste-wise, you could do with or without the cheese, as the curry flavour over-powered it. she said she'll never order this dish again as the meat was just too tough, and after tucking in 2 mouthfuls, I had to agree with her verdict. sad