Just saw an ad in today’s TT about this place. Any of you Shitatites been there? Comments?
Blech… cheap but still … blech
A Huge dissapointment. Once - about 20 colleauges and I ordered lunch boxes delivered to our office. I’m a veggie, and when placing the order I specifically asked about the veggienss of the veggie food. No problem, Sir - I was assured.
Eating my lunch I came across a large piece of chicken in my curry. Digging through the curry, I found that it was in fact - chicken curry.
I called up the store. They denied that there had been a veggie order, then when challanged, refused to accept that chicken had gone astray. There was no aplogy, no offer of a refund, no promise that it would never happen again.
My co-workers, meat-eaters, and like me huge fans of Indian food, were largely underwhelmed by the meat curries.
Yea, well I’m a veggie too. and they had to whoop up something for me specially and it was pretty weak. The fact that they screwed up on yer order and demonstrated no understanding of proper respect to the customer doesn’t surprise me… they simply don’t know what they are doing
I don’t mean to be overly harsh on the place or the owners management or whatever… but a funny thing happened on the one and only occassion that I will ever eat there. The owner dude was hanging around and chatting to customers when two people stopped near the window to look at the menu/sign or whatever… so he goes over to the board and says “come in”. The people just stood there implying they were just looking and had no intention of eating at that moment. But he, I guess, misread this and figured they hadn’t heard them so louder this time he says “Come in!” now the couple is taken a little aback by the volume of his request. They back off a little in fear, saying nothing. Again the owner guy, ever louder implores; "Come in! Come in!! At this point the couple turn and flee. The owner guy turns around with apuzzled look on his face, obviously thinking; “My… what a strange couple of people they were…”
The food is served on styrofoam plates. While this is not unusual, seeing the owner serve his cronies their food on crockery was just a bit distasteful. And that’s not even mentioning the food.
So… no competition for Kunming, then? Damn, but this town needs more good curry shops.
I’m a curry-lover too, but haven’t found a place here where i can say the food is first-class. So which IS the best?
Monkey, I don’t know about first-class, but for cheap prices and good, though simple home-cooked-type stuff, I vote for Kunming (one lane south of Nanjing E. Rd., just east of Fuxing). If you haven’t been there, you should try it, even though they don’t do the naans and other bread stuff – just chapatis, but even they are not the real thing.
Nevertheless, the curry, for me, makes it worth it, and its cheap enough that even if you don’t agree with me, you haven’t really lost out.
I still remember with horror going to a place on Linsen N. Rd (?) that had reasonable curries but served as if it was bleedin’ well nouveau cuisine or something – naan the size of a post-it note and a small rice-bowl-sized dish of curry.
I agree with Sandman’s appraisal of Kunming. Another good place is Tandoor. It’s a bit more expensive than Kunming and their tandoori chicken isn’t quite as good, but there is a broader menu and most of the food is as good as Kunming or better. I don’t have the address but they advertise in the Taipei Times religiously.
Thanks guys. I’m in the mood for getting all lagered up and then heading off to Kunming to insult the waiters, throw up in their toilets, and then nosh on a good Madras.
Kunming alright, but you’ll need to BYOB, which doesn’t seem like a problem.
I like Tandoor better because theyve a good selection of veggie dishes like the paneers and dahls, aloos, raitas, and loads of different nan breads. Kunming is more for meat lovers and those who don’t desire the garlic nans like I do. It’s also a bit oily, I think, but certainly ‘moreish’! (Good Indian food makes me eat so much I feel like I’m gonna explode…)
The only recommendation I have for Tandoor is to bypass the weekend buffets and order from menu instead. Much nicer.
Oh, btw, Curria is absolutely VILE! When they first opened they were so-so. But not good enough to become a regular patron so I didn’t go back for about four months. The other day I fancied some curry and got take out from there (it’s in my neighbourhood), but I had to throw it away. I mean, how could curry have NO TASTE? It’s a crime!!
Curria, besides the lame name, really is a waste. its faults could be partially excused when it was 100kuai a plate opening up, but since the %50 price jack i’ve steered well clear. the owners have kinda surly and moody all along, too. particularly the one without the mullet.
but there’s this Sri Lankan curry joint up on the first valley across Shida Road from Curria just south of the university that gives you a decent 100kuai curry with a couple sides. the stuff has spice, too. it isn’t the indian or brit curry you might be seeking but its alright and certainly a better option if you’re looking around Shida…
i don’t know the alley number or address, and i haven’t been for a spell. can anybody back me up on this one?
btw, is this kunming place open all afternoon and dinner? its near enough to my office that i could be hitting it up often…
Yeah, somebody PLEASE back up the good Doctor with an address for the … Sri Lankan … curry house. Sri Lankan! Oh my god!
Address, somebody, please, otherwise I’ll be ending up stumbling around the Shida alleys with drool dribbling off my chin.
Sri Lankan curry!
sandman, since you’re drooling and all, i’ll try and help you out with directions before you get desperate. if you’re heading south on Shida Rd. down from Heping and you don’t veer left on the main road that runs along the east side of Shida Park(incidentally the spiritual power center of all Taipei) and run down the alley-like road on the right of the park there will be a first alley on you’re right just behind Shida Uni. you pass that and go to the second alley on the right and make your right turn there. if you’re familiar with Shida you might know that there’s a Korean joint a little ways down this alley on the left. more or less right across from it is the Sri Lankan place which has a sign with Sri Lanka in Chinese on it. i’ve since forgot how you say Sri Lanka in Chinese but it was something not so intuitive at all i recall. the place is plain like a regular noodle shop with no particular atmosphere or comfort except some conspicuously non-Chinese articles on the wall here and there. there’s nothing fancy, not a lot of sides or anything, and i’ve never consulted with any Sri Lankans or been to Sri Lanka know what the hell i’m talking about, but i liked it. it certainly had more going for it then Curria if you’re stumbling about Shida jonesin’ for curry. i found the chicken to stomp all over the mutton. i haven’t done the beef.
curry came up with friends the other night and somebody mentioned Taipei-Seattle Curry, a place up on Lishui Street (just west of Yongkang) up north of Shida. anybody know this place? what’s the Taipei-Seattle curry connection? Taipei and Seattle are known for a mess of things that would come before curry, so is this a Taiwan-Seattle husband and wife team bringing American curry(?) to Taiwan or what? curious…
wait, i am daft. it just sunk in that i’ve eaten at this place before years ago. its just northeast of Jinhua Jie and Lishui Jie. perhaps the first or second alley north of that crossroad into the right. they had average curry rice plates for around 150-200 as i recall. nothing special, but fairly respectable, not that poor, often watery, Japanese/Taiwanese style curry slop.
Thanks, Doctor John!
From the directions given above, I’m almost 100% certain you are not talking about a Sri Lankan curry house. Don’t you mean the Malaysian restaurant in the same lane? It has a blue/green sign and is called Langkawi(?) in Chinese (named after the resort island in Malaysia.
That place has a couple of decent curries, plus Hainan Chicken rice etc.
It does nice food, but they have reduced the menu and hiked their prices quite a bit since opening. They have also taken my favorite lamb curry off the menu! Still good value though.