This week, I finally got to try Japanese restaurant Curry House CoCo Ichibanya. I've wanted to visit the Japanese curry restaurant for several months now, but I just never got to go because I did not often visit this part of London and actually avoided it at weekends because of the tourists and the vast number of people. Now that I am working on the Strand, a trip to Curry House CoCo Ichibanya near Leicester Square was finally possible. The restaurant is located around the corner from Leicester Square tube station and Chinatown, which is around a ten-minute walk for me.
The UK introduced Japan to curry and spices from India, and they used this to create their own curries. They have over 1400 restaurants in the world, and they are the largest curry restaurant chain in Japan. This is their first and only UK branch, and they opened at the end of 2018.
The concept is simple. Visitors can choose an item from the menu or select an item from the list of curries (including meat, vegetable, seafood, chicken). The spice level of the curry can be altered with a range of five options from very mild to very hot. I choose the 5th option with my chicken katsu because I love spice. The next option is to select the amount of rice, and I had a smaller portion. Extras can then be added from a list that ranged from cheese, vegetables, meat, corn, mushroom, and egg. I opted for the vegetables (a mixture of potato, carrot, and bean chunks), and the waitress mentioned that the cheese was also really good, so I had that option as well.
What's my verdict? I thought that the food was delicious, and the spice level suited me, though most people prefer more milder dishes to me. The chicken, rice, curry sauce, and vegetables were just perfectly cooked. It's the best chicken katsu that I have had, and I've had some decent chicken katsu. I fully recommend Curry House CoCo Ichibanya, and the staff were also very efficient and friendly.
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