Curry House Coco Ichibanya: Now in the Philippines (Estancia Mall Capitol Commons Pasig)

Two weeks ago, my cousin's fiance Aileen Ang of Booky Manila invited me to Curry House Coco Ichibanya which was managed by her friend Julie.  We were among the those who were invited to try dine so they can test out their kitchen.  Curry House Coco Ichibanyaoriginated in Nagoya in 1978.  It has now grown to a global brand with over 1,300 branches worldwide.  It is brought to the Philippines by Hubert Young, the same guy behind UCC, Mitsuyado Sei-Men, Sakae Sushi and many more.


Curry House Coco Ichibanya is located at the basement level of the new Estancia Mall in Capitol Commons in Pasig.  The seating capacity is limited but their fast preparation time and turn over will allow them to cater to many diners.


It has the food display that's typical for casual dining Japanese restauants.
 
On the table is a tray for utensils and napkins, pickled radish, hot spicy powder and their feedback forms.

Food

Original Curry

Cheese Curry(260 php) with Shrimp Cutlet (180 php) with 200g rice (-20 php) with Medium Hot Curry Sauce

For every curry dish, you can decide the spicy level and amount of rice serving.  You can also add some toppings. The toppings in this case is the Shrimp Cutlet which is not usually offered even in a Tonkatsu restaurant here in the Metro so I was eager to try it out. I'm glad I did because I enjoyed it.  You can also add for soup, drinks and salad which we chose to pass on.

Omelet Curry

Pork Cutlet Omelet Curry (360 php) with 200g rice (-20 php) with Standard Curry Sauce

The Omelet Curry dishes are limited only to two spicy levels: Mild and Standard.   The Pork Cutlet was good but I can't say it's better than the leading katsu brands already here. The omelet was soft and fluffy and filled with Japanese rice.  It's fluffiness actually gives you the impression that you're eating something lightuntil you feel the fullness of your belly.  I was quite surprised that I found the 200g rice already quite heavy... The 200g is 100g less than their standard and default 300g. I can't imagine how big of a serving their 600g is. 
 

Beef Curry Omelet (330 php) with Standard Curry Sauce

The Beef cubes as you can see are thick and chunky but tender and easy to bite through. 

Spinach (80 php) and Mushroom (80 php) withMedium Hot Curry Sauce

I chose to add Spinachand Mushroom to theBeef Curry Omelet.  This allowed me to chose from the full range of spicy levels that I can mix together with the boringStandard Curry Sauce.  I chose Medium Hot so I could appreciate the topping components still.  After trying it, I regretted not going for the upper limits.  Good thing, one of my companions ordered the Super Hot.  Unlike the usual curry which was dominated by peppery flavor, that one has a nice spicy kick that zizzles and lingers on your mouth.   On my next visit, I'll try the hottest of the hottest: the Crazy Hot.

Meat Curry

Cheese Hamburger Curry(360 php) with Sausage (130 php) withMedium Hot Curry Sauce

The Cheese Hamburger Curry is their best seller so you can't miss it out.  
 

Cheese Hamburger Curry(360 php) with Sausage (130 php) withMedium Hot Curry Sauce

Oozing with cheese, how can it not be good right?  For a wholesome meaty meal, we thought adding Sausage was a good idea. This is one of the best combos you can make.  Both are winners in my book.


Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
Curry House Coco Ichibanya is a must try!  No wonder it grew so fast, it serves really good curry dishes.  I found myself swiping the curry sauce clean in every each meal.  Even on a dry run, the food was served speedily.  No doubt this will surely gain followers soon.