Coco Ichibanya is located off F. Cabahug St. at the Bonifacio District Retail Center. If you're coming from the Ayala Mall area it'll be on your left on that street after the curve.
Upon entering we were greeted, loudly, then promptly seated. We ordered the Pork Cutlet Curry and I believe the Chicken Curry as well. As I browsed through the menu I did not notice they had naan but didn't say if they the garlic cheese naan that I ordered back in Japan. Anywho since we had time to kill, why not get online while waiting for our food. Uhh well, they only had wifi for the "admin" the waitress said. "Bummer!" I thought. So we waited for awhile for our food. I decided to head on over to the restroom to wash my hands. Upon entering the restroom smelled good, like the shampoo from Daiso in Japan. However, the hid the toilet paper behind the mirror. Pretty Odd! The bidet toilet was disgusting. Who on earth would even use that bidet in that condition. Also, the toilet was right infront of the sink so if someone was not careful they would end up hitting their head on the sink. Since it was a unisex restroom the men's urinal was comfortably situated on the other side, which I believe for obvious reasons should have been placed on the other side, where the bidet is. But anyway I washed my hands and left.
Food arrived and it smelled and tasted similar to the ones in Japan. The downfall?! I believe their pork cutlet is frozen. The outer part was crispy and hot but the inside was a bit chewy and not as hot. So I'm assuming it was previously frozen. Anyway the curry was authentic and matched the seasoning and flavoring to the branches in Japan. When Inwas in Japan I don't recall having the option to choose rice portion size. So I thought that was kinda weird too. Different price points for different rice portion sizes and different kind of rice. We opted for their combo which included ice cream and a drink. Ice cream and the little fruits in it was good.
Staff: Throughout our time there various employees were just standing around chit chatting, playing tag with each other, and I believe someone from management sitting at the counter watching movied on their phone. I know there weren't many patrons but I don't think it pleasing to watch employees just randomly doing whatever they want. Anyway our waitress was good her service was acceptable.
Overall, I think if you haven't visited coco ichibanya in Japan than this is a way to try it out. Would I come back to this particular one again? Probably not. The establishment itself looks nice and neat, the bathroom ehh yucky. I just wish that the pork wasn't initially frozen because it was soo chewy, like it was flash fried or something. Curry was good. No Wifi, free parking. read more