Curry House CoCo Ichibanya

This place was great. Best curry I’ve ever had, much better than Curry House. I can’t believe they closed this location, I had to call and hear it for myself. They should start a food truck.
Coco’s is so good, I’d still make the drive to Torrance. I’ve done it twice, anyway.

I never liked Curry, either Japanese or Thai curry, absolutely no Indian curry, no idea why we wanted to try this place.
I like it how we can make our own curry dish, they have vegetarian and seafood choices too, salad, pizza, Nan, noodle and fries, good selections of curry, we can also choose how spicy we want.
I ordered Keema Nan as appetizer, the Nan was hard to chew, I think there was grounded pork or beef in the curry too, it was still spicy even I asked for Non spicy.
Tomato clam omelet: I liked the omelet, clams were not bad either.
Thai sliced beef with mushrooms: hubby liked it, very flavorful and spicy enough for him.
The service was pretty good, I think this is a great place if you like curry so much.

I had a curry craving for lunch since it was cold and was noticed the sign announcing this location would be closing at the end of this month. They will reopen in Los Angeles in early February.
I went with the chicken cutlet curry with medium spice. When my entrée arrived half of the plate was covered with curry gravy and it was delicious. The chicken was lean and crispy on the outside and went well with the steam rice.
Service was friendly and food arrived promptly. I’m really going to miss Curry House CoCo Ichibanya especially since it was so near to home.

I decided it was time to try this place. I haven’t had spicy food in a long time because the daughter does not it. She has learned in school to like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and Takis Fuego. I figured her tastes were changing and would start eating spicy food. I am still not sure if the daughter know what spicy means. Any food she dislikes, she complains by saying that it is spicy. So, I thought it was time to let her try something with a kick in it.
The first time we went there, we decided to be safe and got the curry udon for the wife and daughter to share. I got pork cutlet. About 10 minutes after ordering, I had a little bit of compassion for the daughter, and asked the wait staff for a small side of mild curry for the daughter. The waiter told us that it would be no problem. The food arrived a few minutes later. The cutlet and the udon were good. The daughter liked it so much, she forgot about the small bowl of mild curry that the waiter brought us. Everything was good until the bill came. Are you kidding me? I got charged $ 1.50 for a small bowl of mild curry. Charging extra for extra sauce for a child is wrong.
We went there a week later at the request of the daughter. We decided that we would get the pork cutlet again, and also the chicken curry omelet. This time it was no bueno. The daughter took a few bites and thought it was too spicy. It’s funny, the sauce is the same, but, she eats the udon, not the rice.
The food itself was okay. I am not convinced that this place is better than the competitor a few blocks away. I don’t think the daughter will be requesting that we come here any time soon.

Closest decent curry and rice place to me. Props to Luke L for mentioning the Youtube video:
The best curry bowl I’ve ever had used to be the original Curry Bowl that was on San Gabriel and Valley; it was a beef stew carrots and potato curry bowl for around $ 3 — $ 3.50 but now they’re long gone. This place is more similar to the Curry House and the staff here will let you know through their facial gestures that Coco Ichibanya is much better…
Good color, good consistency to the sauce, you can specify the spiciness in 12 nonlinear gradations starting with mild and regular all the way up to 24x. They also let you specify how much rice you want, adjusting the amount of sauce accordingly, probably adjusting the price accordingly too but I don’t really know. Pretty simple menu and pricing scheme with more esoteric options like omelet curry and curry udon, but the basic curry and rice is $ 3.99, and then all the ingredients and pricing on top of that is a la carte…
For example, She had the Eggplant Curry: 1x spicy curry ($ 3.99), rice regular level, add spinach ($ 2), add eggplant ($ 2)
. The spinach was incorporated into the curry sauce which I think is preferable to having a lump of spinach as a side. The Japanese eggplant was really nice though all laid out nicely in a row lightly grilled and they held up really well and wasn’t excessively mushy…
To my Chicken Cutlet Curry I started with the basic 1x spicy curry ($ 3.99) and regular rice level, and added: chicken cutlet ($ 3.50), hard boiled egg ($ 0.80), and corn ($ 1)
. The chicken cutlet was a boneless breast fillet with nice crispy fried, lightly seasoned panko crust
. Nice touch of them to serve the corn and sliced egg on the side
. In addition to the complementary side salad that came with the meal
, I also included an Iced Green Tea that came with free refills…
The restaurant is not excessively large but seating is bright and clean, and the service is friendly and attentive. I noticed an electronic signaling display but did not notice a button near our table
, nor did I notice if the system was actually in use
. I’ve been to their competitor the Curry House before and think that Coco Ichibanya has at least as good if not better tasting curry, and then a nice array of add ons to complete the dish. Prices are very reasonable, I’ll be back and have been…

Craving Japanese curry, but wanted to try a new place in Rowland so we ended up here! Came in around 6:30 on a Friday night and there was one other table there. We got seated right away and drinks/​utensils were brought out.
What we got:
Chicken Katsu & Cheese ($ 10): I got it with XS rice and level 3 spicy. I’m not a rice person so that was nice to be able to pick what size rice you want and actually -$ 1 from it. I do like spicy food, but I wanted to try level 3 first and it did give a nice kick to the curry sauce. The spiciness wasn’t too overpowering to take away from the curry flavor so that’s good. The katsu was crunchy and the breading stayed on. I don’t know if the cheese was really needed though… so the total with all my customization ended up being around $ 10.50. Kind of pricey in my option with the amount of food that came out.
Thin Sliced Beef ($ 8.50): BF got it with regular rice and level 2 spicy. He originally wanted to get level 5, but from reading all the reviews, I advised him not to since he isn’t super spicy food and into the flavor more than the spice. So level 2 was perfect for him. I tried a piece of the beef and it was really good. Soft and not too chewy. I’d probably get that if I do feel like coming back…
Service:
It was quick, yet slow at the same time. We got seated right away, but they took awhile to come over to take our order. I had to look around to see where they were, but finally they came. Drinks weren’t refilled at all. Then at the end of our meal… we realized there was a button to press, but too late for that so oh well.

One special thing about this restaurant is that you can customize your own curry rice.
CUSTOMIZATION:
toppings: veggies, meats…
amount of rice
spicy level: scale from 1 to 10
Don’t underestimate the spiciness of their curry! I got a level 2 because I wasn’t in the mood for spice that day, I thought it would be really mild but hell no! My friend ordered a level 5 and he got all sweaty when he was eating it.
Summery
–you can customize your own curry rice
–reasonably priced
–quick
–decent curry sauce
–bread crumbs was mediocre (but I am picky when it comes to Tonkatsu)

Hands down, my favorite Japanese curry place and my favorite CoCo Ichibanya location! I’ve tried CoCo’s in Irvine [in Diamond Jamboree plaza] but their customer service is nothing compared to the one in Rowland Heights. Service in Rowland Heights are far more attentive. We were seated right away, our water cups were always refilled, and our food came out of the kitchen fast.
Ok enough about that, let’s talk curry! I always get the chicken cutlet with spice level 1 and standard rice. I’m not very good with spicy foods and spice level 2 was hard for me to eat. Toppings range for an additional $ 1– 2 from eggplant, asparagus, cheese, etc. I’ve also tried hamburg curry, thin sliced beef curry, but my favorite is still chicken cutlet. The portions are really good and you’ll leave very satisfied if you like Japanese curry.

MUST ORDER pork cutlet with egg! The portion was great and the curry was savory~~~ Cutlet was deep fried to perfection — crispy outside and juicy inside :):):):):)
The egg was so smooth and creamy. Scoop a spoonful of egg+rice+cutlet+curry sauce, put it in your mouth, chew, swallow. Repeat this for 100 times or even more if you have a small bite… and then you’ll walk out the door feeling satisfied and delighted. I’m not kidding! Oh oh, they let you to pick how spicy you want with your curry! Anything above 5 or more is only good for people who are very used to eating spicy food. Otherwise, a 2 is good enough if you just want a spicy kick in your curry.
The staff were friendly, attentive and smart! Restaurant was well kept and spacious.
You will have a great experience here. Enjoy and curry it up!

Fun fact — There’s a Youtube video about Coco Ichibanya just for Rowland Height location (
)
Anyway, onto the actual restaurant review ~
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Parking:
This place is located in the Diamond Plaza — there should be plenty of free parking spaces
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Price:
Calpico — $ 2.5
Curry Omelette — $ 8 something
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Environment:
It’s a small casual dining environment and the service was pretty good
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Food:
Curry Omelette — This is their new item on their menu. Curry definitely tasted amazing and the spice level is definitely right for me (⁴⁄₅)
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Rating: ⁴⁄₅ for overall experience; I will definitely come here again to try other items on the menu.

Simple concept. Friendly workers. GREAT curry! I’ve been craving this place a lot recently!
I like the flavor of the curry. Since I like spicy food, the waitress suggested that I get at least the Level 1so that the curry would not be bland. Level 1 spicyness and a small portion of rice was perfect for me. I got the pork cutlet curry, and it was golden brown and crispy. My friend also suggested that we order a side of fries and dip it into the curry. Good, but the fries were oversalted, so we had to shake off the salt first…
I’ll be back! The curry is too good.

I actually passed by this place after eating Tokyo Shabu-​Shabu. Its at the far end of life plaza near Genki living. Looked interesting so i bookmarked it. Went in yesterday (Tuesday) and it was pretty dead. Only one other table. Sat down, kind of took a while for the server to even get us drinks because she was helping a to-​go order. Either way, no biggie because the menu was redic! I didn’t even know where to start. This is pretty much «have it your own way» curry. You are able to pick the spiciness of the curry sauce, and even add it to level 5. If you finish your level 5 curry then you get your photo on the wall.
Ordered the chicken katsu curry with regular portion curry and regular portion rice (you can change this to your liking as well) and it was HUGE. (please spare me your «that’s what she said jokes») The portions were awesome but a little too much for me. A little bummed that they didn’t have a brown rice option. BOooo. The pickles at the table are different from curry house if you want to compare.
We also got their corn salad and they come out with two dressings. Both were delish!
DUDE. the batter on the chicken katsu was amazeballs. I would actually prefer their breading over curry house ANYDAY. The curry wasn’t super impressive but it was still bomb.
I would definitely come back here again! See you soon CoCo Ichibanya!

I was afraid to try something new @ this place since my Torrance experience was whatevers.
Ordered clam & fried squid curry and thin sliced beef curry.
Clam & fried squid curry ($ 8.99): the clam was sad but the squid was kinda yum. Its sauce is not as good as Curry House.
Thin sliced beef curry ($ 7.49): very thinly sliced beef with the same curry sauce.
The sun was so bright and there was no shade for the window. It was hard enjoying my meals and squinting my eyes @ the same time.
Ding dong bell @ a Japanese place is funny for me since usually it’s only @ Korean places. Open kitchen so you can watch them prepare your curry.
Great service and kids friendly place.
3 stars! I prefer Curry House & Fat Spoon over this place.
Coco Ichibanya is almost yummylicious!

Mmmmm curry. I have to say I’m a bit biased; I do love curry, in any way, shape or form. This little curry house only added fuel to the fire.
We arrived on a Sunday evening, having already decided that we were going to try this restaurant. We were greeted warmly and told to seat ourselves wherever we would like, so we sat at a table/​booth combo.
The menus were already on the table, and when you have a look, you notice right away that it tells you how to order so that you can customize your order to your liking. There are also combinations that are shown in full color that makes the decision making easy for you, if you can’t make up your mind. You can even decide how much rice you’d like. go with the regular or small — any more than that and you’ll just stuff yourself with rice, more than anything.
We tried the vegetable curry and the sliced pork curry, both regular size and with normal spiciness. Then we added a small keema curry with naan. Boyfriend mentioned that his pork curry was ok, but he loved the keema curry. I thought my vegetable curry was delish, but it could have used more vegetables.
Salads are also available, but we were too full to even consider it. The service is pretty good, but you need to press the little red button on the table if you want/​need something.
I was more than satisfied, and I’d definitely try it again. It’s a great meal if you’re really hungry, and especially nice if it’s cool outside. Hey, even if you’re not starving, and looking for a lighter meal, try the mini sized curries, especially the tasty keema one :)

Decent curry with small meat portions. We got the katsu and the fish curry with regular curry and rice. Fish curry came with 5 little fish sticks. =(Overall, the curry flavor is less creamy *and less fattening*. Nothing particularly stood out, just a solid filling meal.
They charge extra for making the curry spicy which I think is pretty ridiculous when Curry House just gives you hot oil for free. Prices are also a little on the high side (by a dollar or so).

The minute you walk in you’re swallowed up in the strong smell of Japanese curry.
Hey, atleast it’s good curry!
It’s simple really. You can get one of their set curry plates and then add on whatever else you would like. I like that you can get different servings of rice as well. I recommend getting a side of salad. The chilled salads contrast nicely with the heat of the curry. Plus, their creamy sesame dressing is delish!
My fave: shiitake mushroom curry + vegetable croquette
Might I just add. I eat spicy food on the regular and level 1 absolutely killed me! The waiter told us level 1 was comparable to Sriracha-​spicy. When in doubt. go about two levels down to the level you had in mind. You’re throat and tongue will thank me later.

Eh… I’m not gonna say this place is better or worse than Curry House; I’m giving them the same rating.
Curry flavor is good and they have good variety. I’ve always preferred the thinner style curry.
I’d consider getting the mini size next time if I’m not starving because I had a lot of rice left over (standard size).
I don’t like how you have to pay on a sliding scale to increase your spice level (stop nickel and diming me, Japanese places!!!). But I found level 4 quite spicy and wouldn’t go any higher; in fact I’d probably go down to level 3.
A-​OK seems just right. I’ll be back though.

Much better than Curry House. Good curry is supposed to be more watery than thicken cream (it’s basically boiled down veggies). I’d say this is the standard for japanese curry as if you were in japanese. If you want better than this place, I’d suggest the curry at Café Hiro. Still, everything is solid and you can’t go wrong.
Better than this place? Café Hiro.

For less than $ 10, you’ll roll outta here with a belly full of deliciousness! my first visit to this franchise was in Hawaii and had a great experience. we were craving some curry and coincidentally we Unilocaled for one in the area and found that this one just opened. this spot is smaller with approximately 10 – 15 tables. we waited a short while, probably 5 – 10 minutes on a saturday for lunch. last time i completely ate my entire meal and even licked the plate! but that was probably because we worked up an appetite touring the island all day. but this time, having again just the regular size plate with vegetables and fried pork cutlet, my plate was enormous to finish. i barely ate half of my plate this time. we also got the lunch-​set for an extra $ 1.50 you get a side salad and a drink, which i opted for the ice green tea. everything was just absolutely delicious.
they have a spicy challenge, it’s to finish a level 10 spicy XL plate with all the toppings you want (which i dont see why you would even want to add anything to it), in 5 minutes or less. in order to take the challenge, you must have at least had level 5 spice. not sure if he was prepping for this challenge or not, but he ordered his curry with level 5 spice, i tried it and it wasnt that bad. it does creep up on you though. at the time of this review, there were still no names posted on the challenge wall. maybe he will be the first next time we go? i doubt it. =)
the service was good, staff was friendly and the place was very clean. i cant wait to come back to get my curry on again!

This coco ichibanya location compared to the Torrance location is much smaller, not as busy and not as lively. The food, however, is still the same, still delicious! :)
Choose your type of toppings on the curry, the kind of curry sauce (regular or spicy), portion size for rice, portion size for curry, and any extra topping you add on is a dollar more. Simple, easy and DELICIOUS.
If you have leftover rice you wanna take home, you can ask for extra curry and it‘s only $ 1 extra!
I really like they have the spicy powder, menus, and utensils already on the table when you come in. Very convenient, and if you ever need assistance, there is a button on the corner you can press!
My favorite is the vegetable curry, level 3 spicy, with a side of hard boiled egg. YUM!!!