CoCo Ichi to Add 7% Late-Night Surcharge — 5ch Split Over Whether It’s Worth It

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The story

Ichibanya announced that starting September 1, its “Curry House CoCo Ichibanya” chain will introduce a late-night surcharge, adding a flat 7% to both dine-in and takeout orders placed between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. The company cites rising costs for raw ingredients and logistics. Late-night surcharges are already common at family restaurants and beef bowl chains, but on 5ch the move drew mixed reactions — some blasted it as “not worth the price” and “a straight-up rip-off,” while others defended it, arguing “they’ve held the base price steady since 2024, so this is fair” and “their curry has a distinct originality that justifies the cost.” Opinions on both price and taste were split.

CoCo Ichi Adding 7% Late-Night Surcharge Starting September 1 After 10 p.m. – Nikkei

August 28, 2026, 19:08

Ichibanya announced on the 28th that it will raise prices at “Curry House CoCo Ichibanya” (CoCo Ichi) starting September 1. As a late-night charge, it will add a flat 7% to both dine-in and takeout orders placed between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., citing rising costs for raw materials and logistics.

Source: nikkei.com / Read the original article

What people said

5AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:01
Is a bowl of CoCo Ichi curry basically ¥3,000 now?
17AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:04
Re: #5
Delivery orders blew past that ages ago — add hand-breaded pork cutlet and a veggie topping and you're already over.
38AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:09
This company will never let its profit margin drop, huh.
Feels like they're not trying hard enough.
47AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:11
Re: #38
They haven't raised the base price since 2024 and they're still turning a profit — isn't that exactly what "trying hard" looks like?

Or is McDonald's, hiking prices and revenue every single year, the model we're supposed to want?
55AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:12
Re: #38
Maybe things went sideways once the founder sold his shares and House Foods became the parent company?
43AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:10
The taste doesn't match the price.
At that quality level you'd pick a different restaurant.
Homemade curry beats it anyway.
62AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:14
Re: #43
Retort pouch curry these days is stupidly good, that's why.
66AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:14
I go once a week.
Always the pork loin cutlet curry with a salad.
Sometimes pickled shallots (rakkyo) on the side.
130AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:31
Re: #66
Quit bragging, rich boy.
67AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:14
CoCo Ichi is just a rip-off — premade curry dumped over rice. That should cost ¥500, tops.
96AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:23
Re: #67
Exactly, it's literally just ladled over rice and it's still overpriced. Other places actually cook from scratch.
117AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:27
Re: #67
Name one curry shop anywhere that starts cooking your order from scratch after you place it.
80AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:16
Family restaurants and beef bowl chains added late-night surcharges without taking much of a reputation hit, but this place already felt overpriced to begin with, so it's brutal here.
Stock's cratering too — feels like a business model built on squeezing die-hard CoCo Ichi fans for higher spend per visit is hitting its limit.
94AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:22
Re: #80
Unlike beef bowl chains, being open 24 hours isn't really their whole business model, and there probably aren't that many people going to CoCo Ichi that late at night anyway.
102AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:23
The topping trap — before you know it your total's turned into some terrifying number.
106AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:24
Re: #102
Marugame Seimen (the udon chain): "heh heh…"
127AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:30
Rice prices are actually falling and they're still raising prices? Brutal.
129AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:30
Re: #127
They didn't raise prices even during 2025, when rice prices were skyrocketing, you know.
133AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:32
CoCo Ichi curry isn't European or Indian, it's its own genre — "CoCo Ichi curry" — and sometimes I just crave it specifically.
The seating's fairly spacious and relaxed too, so I don't really think it's overpriced.
140AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:36
Re: #133
CoCo Ichi's curry really is distinctive, pretty original as these things go.
Can't think of another curry that tastes quite like it.
136AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:34
Meanwhile I got the cutlet curry at Royal Host and ended up paying like ¥2,000 🥺
142AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:36
Re: #136
But Royal Host is good though.
160AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:40
Re: #136
Does Royal Host even have cutlet curry? I only ever go there for the club sandwich, so I wouldn't know.
Maybe it's a repurposed version of their pork rib noodle dish or something?
148AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:38
Fun fact: Pari-Chiki (a crispy fried chicken item) and Yoshi-gyu's tokumori (Yoshinoya's beef bowl, extra-large size) cost almost exactly the same these days… just putting that out there 🥺
161AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:40
Re: #148
Isn't today's Yoshinoya "tokumori" (extra-large) about the size the regular size used to be back in the day?
Everything about this era is just broken now.
158AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:40
I used to love CoCo Ichi, went 2-3 times a week back in the day, and I still don't dislike it, but I haven't been in years now.
I barely eat out at all these days, but when I do think about grabbing something, I end up comparing price against satisfaction and just go get ramen instead every time.
167AnonymousAug 28, 2026 22:42
Re: #158
I used to be really into CoCo Ichi too.
But once I noticed the value for money had gotten worse, I cut down to like once every two months.
Honestly I don't even want to go that often anymore, but my kid keeps asking for it…

Background and Key Points of This Discussion

Ichibanya has kept CoCo Ichibanya’s core prices unchanged since 2024, so this late-night charge is better understood as a “time-limited add-on” rather than a straightforward price hike. Late-night surcharges are already standard at beef bowl chains and family restaurants, making this part of a broader industry response to rising labor and utility costs. A rumor that circulated in the thread — about a “part-time high schooler turned female company president” — reportedly concerns a franchise operator rather than Ichibanya itself, and readers should be careful it doesn’t turn into baseless criticism aimed at company executives. There was also a comment arguing that raising prices while rice prices are falling doesn’t add up; that drop, however, is simply a rebound from rice prices hitting record highs in 2025, a separate issue from the broader rise in overall ingredient costs — a distinction that’s easy for readers to conflate.

*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Breaking News Plus) thread “CoCo Ichi Adding 7% Late-Night Surcharge Starting September 1 After 10 p.m.

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