CoCo My Love

About a year and a half ago, Hubs and I went to Japan.

I could write a whole post about our entire two week journey through the Land of the Rising Sun but that's not what I'm here to talk to you about today. 

One of the many things we were excited to do in Japan was, of course, try new foods. If it was new and different, we tried it. Sushi, onigiri, udon, soba, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, coffee from a can, ohhh yummmm, the list goes on and on. 

I just love the little Japanese man in the background staring at us gluttonous fools in disbelief

However, out of all the foods we had in Japan, there is one that keeps our mouths watering to this day.

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Coco Ichibanya! or Coco's Curry House as we call it. They seem to be on every street corner in Japan. The Dunkin Donuts of Tokyo if you will. We were first introduced to it by Hubs' friend MD who we were staying with while in Japan. I didn't know anything about Japanese curry but, being a fan of Thai and Indian curry, I was willing to give it a shot. 

Let me tell you, in the two weeks we were in Japan, we went back to Coco's three more times. It's that good.

I have to admit, I was skeptical at first because everything on the menu looked a little like a pile of cat food.

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But my skepticism flew out the window with the first taste of the delicious chicken katsu curry. Seriously, I wish I could describe the taste and my love for it but I just can't. The only thing I can say about it is that it is, without a doubt, one of the top three meals I have EVER. EATEN. IN. MY. LIFE.

Coco's curry is a thick, brown, gravy-like sauce served over your choice of meat. The classic combination is the curry over a fried chicken cutlet and sticky white rice. You are given a generous sized piece of naan bread on the side to sop up every last drop of deliciousness. You can choose your spice level ranging from mild, to regular spice, to a scale from 1-10. Hubs and I, not knowing what to expect, ordered a spice level 3 and 2, respectively. Now, both of us like a good amount of "kick" to our food but HOLY SMOKES! Spice levels 2 and 3 were quite spicy! The following three visits, we stuck to the regular spice which still had a decent amount of "kick." I can't even imagine what a 10 must be like. 

During the last visit to Coco's of our trip, we noticed that they sell the curry sauce in boxes to make at home. Knowing we would miss our friend Coco, we grabbed two boxes to take back to the States with us. 

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After a slight scare going through customs in which they almost took our Coco's gold away from us, we were safely home with our little boxes of heaven. 

We knew we had to be strategic about when to enjoy our Cocos, as we only had two boxes. Throughout the next few months, we chose the perfect opportunities to make our favorite meal. However, all good things have to come to an end. We were out of Cocos. 

Hubs did some extensive research on where we could find a Cocos equivalent in the U.S. (other than in Hawaii which apparently is another Coco's hub.) We found a place in Cambridge called Cafe Mami's that specializes in Japanese Katsu Curry. It is a good place to go to satisfy our hankerings but it just doesn't compare to good ol' Cocos. 

Hubs also tried to make it himself from scratch. Still good, but no Cocos. 

One day, as Hubs was surfing the internet, he found someone on Ebay selling the boxes of Cocos. Of course, he ordered a box and we were happy again. 

With the box in our kitchen cabinet, I was waiting for the day we would enjoy Cocos again. I had huge plans of documenting the meal in photos and blogging about it. 

Last night, we broke open the box and enjoyed the wonderful Coco's once again. However, in my hunger and excitement, of course, I forgot to take pictures. The curry was gone before you could say ichibanya. 

It's good to know that when we want Coco's, its just a quick Ebay trip away. However, for the real deal, looks like we'll just have to take another trip to Japan!

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Coco's motto...so, so true