Ryan K.
Yelp
wow. this place definitely lived up to the hype!
from the plentiful menu options, to the granular customizations to your curry and spice levels, this place blew me out of the water.
excellent flavor on all items i tried-- i particularly liked the keema cheese fries as well as the omelette chicken curry (which was an omurice with 200g of set-portioned white rice, chicken katsu, and curry).
quick note on the spice levels, if you're familiar with buldak cup ramen, a level 6 & 7 are roughly equivalent to the spicy (black packet) ones. with 7+ being closer to 2x spicy.
essentially, be aware that anything 6+ is quite hot and even with a relatively good spice tolerance, i kind of wish i went a little lower than the 7 i chose. at level 20, the curry becomes noticeably thicker and certainly not for the faint of heart.
overall, i think a spice level of 1-4 is quite comfortable for most people, with a 5 offering a respectable kick!
my group ordered a garlic naan and keema fries alongside our main menu items and were surprised to see (south?) indian menu items / indian-inspired menu items on the menu -- definitely adds a lot to the variety and tasted great! although, while i love a good garlic naan i think i'm just used to enjoying that with different types of (indian) curries, so i'd personally opt for other appetizers next time -- but still tasted great!
service was great with regular drink refills and helpful staff. the overall ambiance was modern with contemporary bar type seating as well as traditional table seating which i quite enjoyed, paired with modern and stylish decor. despite how busy the restaurant was, i felt attended to and had a great experience service & ambiance wise.
i'd recommend reserving a waitlist spot ahead of time online, because we ended up waiting roughly 30 minutes at the door (which wasn't too bad considering that there were some business nearby including a sharetea to hang out at in the meantime). definitely worth the wait, though.
in my opinion, this was an instant classic and me as well as my parents whom i brought along with me really enjoyed the food and our time here.
glad this spot came to dfw!
overall: 9.7/10
taste: 10/10
price: 9.3/10*
* each spice level adds a bit to the price and most customizations are an add-on, potentially making the ~$11-16 menu item reach closer to $18-20/person, which is made up for by the quality and quantity, but my sweet spot for a 10/10 price would've been $3-4 less on average
honestly, i'm a huge fan of japanese curry, have tried it extensively in the dfw area, seattle area, and new york area, as well as made it myself. this place lived up to the hype imo and i highly recommend coming and trying coco ichibanya, it's the best japanese curry spot i've had, and i was pleasantly surprised!