Coocci Contemporary Japanese

Chanced upon this modern/​fusion Japanese hawker stall on a Saturday afternoon. I was sick of the usual crowded hawker centres and decided to go traditional and head for the stalwart Commonwealth market. This stall is the third stall to your right as you come up the escalators. It has a large Japanese banner on the front and some panels explaining the menu, which includes stuff like spicy fettuccine, chicken roulade, soboro don and other interesting chicken-​based dishes (for some reason that’s the only protein available).
We tried the tori-​kare udon which is a chicken curry ladled over udon that comes with a side dish of cold tofu and shredded radish. All for $ 4.80. The tofu was refreshing and soft, doused with a sour-​sweet ginger dressing. But the real winner was the kare udon. I usually dislike Japanese curry because it’s too mild and has a dull curry flavor to it, which reminds me more of bad stews than say the kickass South Indian stuff you get with your prata. Coocci’s version is like a comforting chicken stew with well braised chicken chunks, a sweat smoky curry ladled over some udon cooked just right. My partner and I ate everything up and I was itching to order a second dish, but we had a seaweed chicken waffle from another stall to wolf down.
I’m definitely coming back to try the other stuff. A quick word with the chef revealed he used to work in a restaurant that served similar dishes. All hail hawker entrepreneurs I say — bringing good food to the masses.