すごいね！ロンドンで ＣｏＣｏ壱番屋は 開きました。
Translation: It’s amazing! Coco Ichibanya has opened in London.
I wonder if the Japanese know I love curry. ¬_¬” I must have mentioned it so many times. Who would have wondered that this Japanese chain company would have started one of their chains in London. I’m quite surprised. びっくりね。。。😮
So I found out via a news article that Coco was opening a branch near China Town. It’s actually taken over the site of Abeno Too (the okonomiyaki place). Not sure if that was a risk but it’s sure doing so well after two weeks from opening.
After viewing the Christmas lights in London Zoo during one Saturday, I decided to go to Coco Ichibanya. The streets was kind of quiet, but it wasn’t quiet in the Piccadily / Soho area. OMG! Thinking that everyone would ease off from shopping at the end of the year – looks like I was wrong. Unfortunately when I got to Coco Ichibanya, there was already a queue. SIGH. It’s one of those London epidemics when a new Japanese food chain opens. すごいね.
Well, I queued for half an hour as luckily there was a one seater by the window that no-one had occupied yet. One of the employees asked if I wanted her to ask the people in the front if they wouldn’t mind me going in before them… they said it was ok! Thank you people in the front of the queue. I only had lunch and was already starving! ありがとうごさいました！
I already knew what I wanted, so I ordered fairly quickly.
Pork tonkatsu with omurice and curry sauce. Plus side orders of eggplant (aubergine) and a hamburger. I also had an ice coffee (I said kopi to the waitress – the Korean way, whoopsie! 😅). Forrgot to ask what rice portion I wanted, so I think ended up with the standard portion.
The taste of the curry was nothing that special compared to other Japanese curries. It wasn’t sweet. Had a bit of spiciness to it, even though I had forgotten to tell them what spice level I wanted. (I actually wanted a hotter level, maybe next time!).
I added the hamburger (which I think it contains beef and pork mixed) and eggplant in, so that the sauce could blend into the plate of curry. Yuuuuummmmmy!!
Look at that egg and rice (topped with cheese). I’m salivating at the moment. 😋
All of it was delicious, wish I had a bit more sauce added. All I could hear in the background was oishii 美味しい. Standard rice portion was the right amount for me.
Totally stuffed! But able to walk out the door!
Total cost came to £26.89. Quite expensive, considering that an Indian curry would cost even less. I can even make my own Japanese curry for less. 😹
My geeky rating: 4.5/5
Good points:
– Polite service
– Quite quick with the food
– Nice coffee!
– I love the food, especially the hamburger
Bad points:
– Expensive
– Queuing (unavoidable at this moment in time)
Address: 17-18 Great Newport St, London WC2H 7JE
Tel: 020 3904 5633
Website: https://ichibanya.uk/ (in construction)
The Japanese Website: https://www.ichibanya.co.jp/
A Simple Geeky Life 
The fact that we have a CoCo curry house in London has taken it’s time but I’m so glad it’s finally here despite the extreme steep price! It’s almost like we have to pay triple for the delicious taste. I just wish that there were higher spice levels cause I’m sure level 5 is only a level 4 in Japan. I hope you can check out my post and comment: http://nyamwithny.com/coco-ichibanya-uk/
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