World’s largest Japanese curry restaurant chain opens in Petaling Jaya

Delightful servings: Chef Koay Xian Way, 22, preparing samplings of some the brand’s signature dishes, such as the Pork Cutlet Curry.

COCO Ichibanya, the largest Japanese curry restaurant chain in the world, has opened its first Malaysian shop at 1Utama Shopping Centre, Petaling Jaya.

The Japanese curry house’s tagline, “The tastiness you can choose”, reflects its concept of allowing patrons the flexibility of customising their meal from the curry’s level of spiciness and types of toppings to the rice and curry portions.

Besides mild and their signature original flavour, Coco Ichibanya in Malaysia offers five levels of spiciness for their Japanese curry, from level one’s medium hot to level five’s crazy hot.

Coco Ichibanya has 1,396 restaurants worldwide, including 1,255 in its home country.

Its 141 international restaurants are located in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and now Malaysia.

Franchise business: Fuji Group foreign development director Yohei Nakamura (second from left) is joined by Malaysian partners (from left) Tee Tuan Sem, Susan Lim and Poh Hooi Lim in marking the grand opening of Coco Ichibanya’s first restaurant in Malaysia.

 

Coco Ichibanya is locally owned by the Fuji Group — the master franchisee of the brand in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Its Malaysian restaurant offers a selection of more than 30 meat and seafood options such as chicken, beef, pork, prawn and clam, which is complemented with a variety of toppings such as egg, corn, bacon, croquette, cheese, mushroom and eggplant.

Coco Ichibanya’s signature dishes include Pork Cutlet Curry, Lightly Crisped Chicken Curry, Black Pepper Chicken Curry, Grilled Garlic Prawn Curry, Salmon Teriyaki Curry, Salmon Cream Croquette Curry, Seafood Omelette Curry and Grilled Spinach, Bacon and Corn Curry.

There are also non-spicy options such as seafood spaghetti, soups and salads.

The 1 Utama restaurant features a contemporary, friendly and casual ambiance and seats a maximum of 65 persons.

A spicy affair: Grilled Squid with Mayonnaise Curry is one of the dishes available at Coco Ichibanya.

 

Fuji Group Foreign Development director Yohei Nakamura said a second restaurant was scheduled to open in Penang’s Queensbay Mall next month.

“The group is looking at opening a few more restaurants by this year, including in other states such as Johor,” he said.

Nakamura said the group wanted to look for the right partner before venturing into Malaysia.

“We did our market research prior to opening the restaurant in Malaysia, and found that people here enjoy pork curry,” said Ichibanya Co Ltd overseas division manager Mikioh Asakawa.

“Coco Ichibanya also has a strong following amongst the Japanese expatriate community here, hence the decision to offer a non-halal menu.

Full house: The Coco Ichibanya restaurant in 1 Utama Shopping Centre features a contemporary, friendly and casual ambiance. It seats a maximum of 65 persons.

 

“The brand’s Indonesian restaurant is the only one in the world that has a halal menu.

“However, we won’t rule out the possibility of opening a halal restaurant in Malaysia,” said Asakawa.

Supermodel Amber Chia, actress Debbie Goh and local artistes Orange Tan and Gary Yap were present at the grand opening of the restaurant recently.

Coco Ichibanya is located at Lot LG 333A, Lower Ground Floor, New Wing, 1 Utama Shopping Centre.