Coco Ichiban Curry
Coco Ichiban has got to have one of the most customizable menus on the planet, so much so that the back page of the eight panel menu lists five steps titled "How to Order". First you pick your meat, seafood, vegetable or miscellaneous. Choices range from menchi-katsu (battered deep fried hamburger), deep fried squid, cream filled crab croquette, eggplant or tofu which can only be classified as miscellaneous. Thirty-four choices in total, basically anything that can be thrown into the deep frier. Octopus, no problem. pickeled eggs, why not. Shoelace, sounds good. Next comes your choice of curry. If you don't specify then pork curry is the default "gravy" as they say in India, but you also have beef curry to choose from.
If you're one of those guys, and I say "guys" because I've never heard a woman say this, that loves really spicy food or rather likes taking about how they can stomach the rarest of chilies. You know the type, they can chow down on foods proceeded by the words "Suicide" or "5-Alarm" in which they need to sign a legal medical wavier to eat and the entire time brag about how "this is nothing at all, i've eaten much spicier". Meanwhile you can see the steam shooting from their ears, their tongue cracking like chapped lips in dry winter air and the waiter frantically hitting the 911 speed dial which happens to be labeled as one. If this describes you then you'll enjoy the next step of choosing your level of spiciness which ranges from 0 being the default level to 10 being the level in which hallucination is almost expected. As if this wasn't enough you can still pick from about fifteen different toppings like corn, garlic, scrambled eggs, bacon, kimchi or cheese.
With all the possible combinations available to me, I pretend to ponder the menu for a minute as if to impress the minimum wage high-school student behind the counter into thinking I'm making an educated well thought out decision, contemplating what a level two kimchi garlic omelet sprinkled with deep fried corn might taste like. A quick look at their menu would leave you to believe that pretty much anything goes in this place. If you wanted to try mayonnaise curry I'm confidant they'd throw a dollop in the frier for you and make up a price, in fact I think it's one of the toppings. With all this power at my fingertips I never fail to choose the same thing. "Creature of Habit.", my father used to jokingly say at our local chinese restaurant before predictably ordering his signature consomme soup and open-face hot beef sandwich. Me, I'm a chicken-katsu and cheese person but only two-hundred grams rice.
That reminds me. You can also customize the amount of rice to a hundred grams, 300g being the standard. If you can down 1,300 grams of rice, served in a plate the size of a small tire, in a certain time frame you get it for free. You get your polaroid on the wall and upon hearing your story of gluttony a small family in Bangladesh will curse the infidel pigs and their curry shop of unlimited combinations. When you die during your triple coronary bypass you get another polaroid on the back wall, except in this one you're not holding up your licked-clean plate with pride.
So when you're in Japan, alone and hungry (alone because it wouldn't be my first choice for a date) remember Coco Ichiban. You heard it hear first, or maybe second but I defiantly gave you more detail.
good one. I was at the one in Iwakuni because it was recommended by a friend. See, I was in the military stationed in Iwakuni. I went to Coco and tried one of the them no 4 spice with 500 grams of rice. Man, that shit was HOT!!! I don't care where one is from, it don't even matter if one's from the South "cajun motherfuckers", this will hurt, and the chance of reaching for that nice tall pitcher of water that they serve with every meal is highly imminent and then some. I don't think an American (minus the ones who has eaten "exotic" foods like this) could handle this, not past no five anyway.
::posted by: dead guy at January 29, 2005 12:30 AM
hey boss, i was stationed at Yokota and when me and my buddies went to Coco's they always got number four or five. i stayed at around number two cause i liked the flavor of the curry. i tried there no. 10 once and fuck that, way too hot. i'm back in the states now and i miss coco's.
::posted by: Justin at March 15, 2005 05:20 PM
we have coco ichiban curry house in hawaii. It's a beautiful thing. IT'S ALL OVER THE PLACE! =DDD
::posted by: brian at April 2, 2005 07:22 PM
COCO's ROCKS!
Ate there many times on "The Rock"!
Number 4 level chicken curry!
::posted by: GunnyG at April 12, 2005 10:09 PM
I need it... I have to get more! But I can't understand the site! Where's the english? How do I get more?!?!?!
::posted by: Oki Vet at June 22, 2005 06:00 PM
I also am in the military and was stationed at Iwakuni a year ago. Everyone was obsessed with the place. I wasn't much of a fan the first time but everyone agrees that it gets addicting. I always stayed with level one. I stumbled on this site because I miss the curry, can you buy it on line anywhere?
::posted by: Christy at July 11, 2005 08:33 AM
I was in Nagoya from 1998 to 2000, and ate at Coco's fairly often. I would often eat a 500grams with a spiciness ranging from 8 up to 13. *and yes, I can taste the flavor* Unfortunately they stopped serving anything over 10 after a couple weeks of eating it, so I had to start adding spice to 10's.
I'm out of practice now though, it would take a month or so to be able to eat food that hot again.
Anyways, if you don't have time for a cocoichiban sit down meal, there is also cocoichi, which is kind of an express version here and there. They only offer a limited menu and you can't choose spiciness, but you get handed your food often before you can reach your seat.
::posted by: Dennis at August 15, 2005 04:43 PM
We had a guy at Yokota lose a bet and had to eat a 10. He downed it as fast as possible and was in pain the rest of the day. He said he honestly crapped blood that day. However i enjoyed just the chicken katsu with rice and some naan bread. No curry sauce, that was always fun trying to explain. Luckily i had a friend that spoke japanese to translate to them what i was gesturing.
::posted by: Schnee at September 28, 2005 02:28 PM
Spent a Week in Yokosuka and never been to Japan before and never had japanese curry anyway long story short I went for the level 10 and been hooked every since.....
::posted by: Randy at October 4, 2005 02:05 PM
Was stationed in Yokosuka, when a friend told me to eat at a place called COCO's, after that I was hooked on it ever since. Too bad there is not one in the states.
::posted by: Doug at October 20, 2005 03:55 PM
LOVE CoCo's!!! I ate there all the time when I was stationed in Okinawa. I loved the fried chiken chunks with level three spice. I'm in the states now but I recently had a friend send some CoCo's curry sauce in the mail. They sell packages that can be sent through the mail but they will not send it to the states. Gotta have a friend send it.
::posted by: T. Hall at November 2, 2005 11:37 PM
me and my co-workers have all been to okinawa and all loved cocos. the only thing is, we're in the middle of a huge argument over the color and kind of cheese they put on the curry. can anyone out there help resolve our dispute?
::posted by: eric at November 22, 2005 09:09 AM
It is for sure cheddar cheese
::posted by: Curry Expert at November 22, 2005 09:15 AM
Ooohh Yes suh it is chedder yes very good. >
::posted by: Daniel Son at November 22, 2005 10:11 AM
hahah...I used to be stationed on Okinawa...one time i spent my WHOLE paycheck on Coco's, lol!! its THAT good!!
Chicken Curry...double meat...with cheese in sauce...400g of rice...level 10 and half the tray of dragonfruit=perfection! and Dead Guy? I'm from the South, and the level 10 did not hurt at all...maybe the first bite but thats it...
::posted by: Jamone at January 8, 2006 11:46 AM
hahah...I used to be stationed on Okinawa...one time i spent my WHOLE paycheck on Coco's, lol!! its THAT good!!
Chicken Curry...double meat...with cheese in sauce...400g of rice...level 10 and half the tray of dragonfruit=perfection! and Dead Guy? I'm from the South, and the level 10 did not hurt at all...maybe the first bite but thats it...
::posted by: Jamone at January 8, 2006 11:47 AM
OMG I can understand I was stationed in Okinawa...Coco's the best! hungry eat it drunk ahh the best meal ever and hungover cures it in a heartbeat....and then i was pregnant back in the states and craved it all the time the only thing i couldnt get...if someone knows someone there still or is there please e-mail me i will send money and pay for shipping!!! my husband and I need it!!!!!!
::posted by: Sara at January 23, 2006 07:42 PM
CoCo's is the shit, I was at Iwakuni...ate there all the time, Pork cutlet Katsu Curry is my dish. If everyone trys the SB Foods Curry is pretty good also Java curry is good...you can order it off of the internet....I gotta eat at least once a month....When I went to Hawaii almost had a wreck in my rental truck when I saw all the yellow flags in front of the one there....ate there 4 times the 1.5 weeks I was there...always wanted to open a curry house here in Florida, but I would hate to smell like curry all the time...lol
::posted by: Dan at February 3, 2006 05:53 PM
Thats S&B Food curry
Or go to asianwok.com they got it there, just check you local oreintal grocery store they should have it....it's not CoCo good, but it will satisfy the craving..
::posted by: Dan at February 3, 2006 06:00 PM
Yes. I had COCO in Tokyo. They actually used S&B Curry in the restaurant. I bought some when I got home (it comes in bricks, like boullion). It's easy to make and It tastes almost exactly like CoCo curry! I make It with veegetables and a breaded pork or chicken cutlet.
::posted by: dru at February 7, 2006 12:29 PM
Have you tried the pre-made pouchs of S&B they have now, all you have to do is heat it in boiling water, it have potatoes and carrots already in it.....I found it in a Oriental grocery store down in West Palm...I buy it a case at a time....I've seen it on the net too...
::posted by: Dan at February 7, 2006 06:28 PM
In West Palm?!?! You gotta tell me where! I just moved to West Palm and would looovvveee some CoCo's! my email is adrivale_99@yahoo.com. PLEASE! Thanks :-)
::posted by: Adriana at February 15, 2006 07:15 PM
I have been in Yokosuka for a year and a half and love CoCo's. I am in Atsugi now and I found one in Yokohama but I hear there is one closer. Anyone know of a CoCo's closer to Atsugi than Yokohama? Please help.......
::posted by: Scott at February 16, 2006 05:05 PM
All I have to say is, Chicken Cutlet Curry level 5 double meat double cheese is the BEST meal of all time.
::posted by: michael at February 20, 2006 09:38 PM
I was stationed at Yokota from 99-03 and ate at Coco's every chance I got. My fav was the fried chicken with cheese with a side of fried potatoe stick???(can't remember the name but it reminded me of a fried mashed potatoe stick) and 400 grams at level 10. Level 10 is not that much hotter than a level 5 if you ask me.
::posted by: Phil at February 25, 2006 12:57 AM
I love COCO's. I ate there every day while I was station in Okinawa. I miss Coco's now that I'm station back in the states. LVL 10 rules.
::posted by: JOSE at March 24, 2006 01:35 AM
I was stationed in Yokota also from 02 to 04 and I also ate coco's every day. As a matter of fact I am eating some right now! I brought some packets and my girlfriend figured out how to prepare it. OMG is it awesome!!!!
::posted by: Andrew Beeson at March 25, 2006 03:28 PM
At first I thought is was nasty!!! But when I finally got my mind right, I realized that Coco's was the best food I had ever had. I was there every night when I was stationed at Yokota. I was there so much that the cooks already new what I wanted when I walked in the door. Coco's is the best!!!! I miss it.
::posted by: Benjamin Ikwueme at March 29, 2006 08:27 AM
I've been to Okinawa twice now, and only recently found out about this heaven of a restaurant. I'm a chicken cutlet curry elitist, of course. I'm a wimp though, only level two. I just wish I could find a Coco's in Ohio, and my life would be complete.
::posted by: Beth Bailey at April 21, 2006 10:44 PM
Coco's is the best place ever created. I ate there at least once a week when I was stationed in Okinawa. I've been in the states now for five years and I recently got orders to Hawaii. I can't wait to get there, I'll be headed to Coco's right from the airport. Chicken catsu w/cheese, standard rice, level 7
::posted by: James R at May 27, 2006 05:57 PM
Coco's is definitely the best restaraunt on the planet! I was a regular there while I was stationed in Okinawa. I'd usually get cream crab croquette curry with stewed shrimp and cheese, 200 grams of rice, and lv 10. Every now and then, I'd go for shrimp cutlet, or have egg with the cream crab croquette curry. Man, I miss Okinawa sometimes.
::posted by: Ray at June 4, 2006 06:56 AM
Stationed in Okinawa 5 years, gained 30lbs of pure curry goodness. My wife and I are old-school and love the terriyaki chicken curry but they stopped serving it for some reason. Now its chicken cutlet curry, double meat, cheese, 300g rice, level 3, side of naan bread and level 10 sauce. Perfection!
::posted by: Dreyden at June 12, 2006 02:25 PM
COCO with draws. I was stationed in iwakuni and I need more curry. Tell me how to get more. snowwhos@hotmail.com
::posted by: Mark at March 15, 2007 11:35 PM
Vacationed in Okinawa with a friend who is a local. Took me to cocos and I liked it so much it opened his eyes that he was taking it for granted. I love odering ridicoulous amounts of toppings- chicken katsu, cheese, omelette, mushroom, tomato # 4! Hell yeah Or another fave try the crab croquette with cheese and mushrooms.. Oh and by the way.. The cheese is monterey jack. chedder is to strong and doesnt have the same melting power. brought home some packets of curry sauce put jack cheese on it and it tasted pretty much right on.
::posted by: lindzee018 at September 24, 2007 10:18 PM
I miss COCO's so badly!!! I was on Okinawa from 95-99 and only found it the last year I was there. I ate it almost every day that last year though and sometimes for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Chicken Katsu 400 grams Level 4. Priceless! S&B isn't a bad substitute, but it's not the same. ONO Hawaiian BBQ in CA and AZ have the Chicken Katsu and it tastes exactly the same.
::posted by: Jeremy at December 2, 2007 02:19 PM
