Torrance: CoCo Ichibanya

CoCo Ichibanya has finally hit the States! Luckily, they decided to open one here right in Torrance! Well, actually there's already a location in Hawaii but that doesn't count :P

If you don't know what CoCo Ichibanya is, it is a huge chain that specializes in curry, similar to Curry House. It's all over Asia, from Japan to Taiwan to Thailand to Hong Kong. What makes CoCo Ichibanya so popular is that you are able to customize your own curry to be as extravagant as your heart desires or to be as simple as it could possible be. You want just curry? Sure. How about 4 different toppings? No problem! Mini, small, standard, large, or XL? Level of spiciness from 1-10? Everything has a set price, so it can be a cheap meal for less than $5 or a $20 curry plate.

I've actually been to CoCo around 5 times since it opened so below is just a compilation!

CoCo Ichibanya

2455 Sepulveda Blvd Ste C

Torrance, CA 90501

www.ichibanya.co.jp/english

CoCo! They are definitely using LED sign lighting :P Good job.

Menu.

Endless possibilities! Lots of toppings that's normally not expected like kimchi and cheese (click to enlarge).

History of CoCo and the locations.

They have salads there for around $3-4 and it always with the same base with different toppings, or you can just get a green salad.

The salad dressings here are so good! You get to choose between two kinds: shouyu-base and wasabi-base. The shouyu is your typical Japanese dressing using soy sauce as the base, while wasabi is more creamy and has a hint of wasabi. I actually like both so I'll add shouyu to the salad then drizzle some of the wasabi.

Calamari salad.

Karage salad.

With the dressings added :]

One of the simplest curry you can get there, shredded chicken curry. The curry itself is pretty good, about the same as Curry House, but not as good as Curry Club.

Curry with katsu and mushrooms. To add katsu it is $4, but they give you a huge piece and it's thick too! I also got these at spice level 4 and I gotta admit... I was sweating like mad. Don't think that because this is a Japanese place the spiciness shouldn't be anything!

Curry with karage, mini sausages, and gyoza. I was super hungry that night so decided to go 3-toppings. Gyoza as a topping! So genius!

The mini-sausages are great too since there's a great bite to it.

Curry with katsu, shredded beef, and spinach. Added spinach to make it a little healthier :P

This is actually a small plate of curry with mini-sausages and mushrooms. You can customize your curry, including the size.

A super close up of the katsu when I got it with fried calamari.

This is actually Leonard's curry with shredded chicken, katsu, and mushroom. Good combo!

Refillable iced green tea to wash down everything!

Ever since CoCo Ichibanya opened, I don't think I've been back to Curry House and other curry spots. Who doesn't like to customize their curry to their liking? Maybe next time I'll try a 5-topping combination :]