CoCo ICHIBANYA (called Cocoichi for short) is Japan's most popular curry chain, and that's for good reason. Cocoichi's menu is loaded with a variety of toppings, spice levels, and customizations, and they even added to that extensive menu by bringing its overseas-exclusive dishes to Japan.

Now Cocoichi is exciting curry lovers with an idea that makes so much sense it's hard to believe it's a first-ever endeavor for them: opening up a new bakery of tasty breads stufed with their prized curry!

Located in Nagoya, the new Spice Up! Cocoichi Bakery delivers the familiar and popular taste of Cocoichi's home-style Japanese curry in an assortment of breads ranging from deep fried to sweet. As curry bread is one of Japan's most popular savory breads, it seems like a match made in curry heaven. Cocoichi says they are paying special attention to the quality of bread, and so had the owner of Nagoya's famous Charme Bakery Ponchet supervise them and refine bread with a soft and fluffy texture that pairs best with their signature curries.

The bakery will be stocked with more than 20 types of curry buns alone will be available, including baked curry buns with a choice of spiciness and cube-shaped curry buns filled with curries from around the world. Here's a few that the store are touting as standouts in the lineup.

Special COCOICHI Pork Curry Bread: 291 yen

This deep-fried curry bun is filled with a curry filling that combines the spices used in Cocoichi's standard pork curry with tender cubes of pork, ground pork, onions, carrots, and other vegetables. The fluffy texture of the bread dough is coated with fresh breadcrumbs and deep-fried, allowing you to enjoy the crunchy texture of the batter.

Special beef stewed curry bun: 345 yen

Deep-fried curry bread stuffed with a rich aromatic curry filling made from Japanese beef tendon stewed to a thick consistency, vegetables such as onions and carrots, and spices such as cloves and garam masala.

Spiced Croissant: 216 yen

Croissant dough rich in fermented butter with kneaded with turmeric, coriander, cumin, and other classic curry spices kneaded in, then baked into a crispy, spice-scented croissant.

The new Cocoichi Bakery will open on December 22, 2022 at Meieki Sun Road in Nagoya.