I know one reporter had his chain pulled severely for criticizing the food and service at the Grand Hotel. That said, as far as I know, negative comments within reviews are acceptable but if the restaurant was that bad, I think the review would most likely be dropped. Most papers do rely on advertising for these things. That said, negative comments if constructive or helpful can be used.
Sandmanâs right about not trusting reviews, but if you know how to read critically, however, they slip in covert comments here and there to let you know the inside scoop. Especially a couple of them at TT.
If Gavin gives a glowing review, without tongue-in-cheek remarks, I can usually trust him.
But Sandmanâs wrong about what he said about above reporter. He shall soon be deleting that item out of respect for someone who does not live in Taiwan any longer.
I know who the reporter who had his chain pulled for the negative Grand Hotel review. And I think it just might be you, Fred Smith. The outfit you described in the stripes and spots thread gave that one away⌠
[quote]But Sandmanâs wrong about what he said about above reporter. He shall soon be deleting that item out of respect for someone who does not live in Taiwan any longer.
[/quote]
Nope. Well, maybe he didnât almost lose his job, (although thatâs exactly what he told me, except in slightly more ⌠um ⌠vernacular language â I used to work with him) but according to a carroty-headed cockney, the paper had to apologize â twice â to the restaurant (âsome shitty place up in Neihuâ) in question.
remember a few years back a bad review about dan ryans showed in the chinaâyep a few years backânews or post. it was by that guy who used to write Barryesque humor colums for those papers and the TMIT. if memory serves they published a rebuttal in the op-ed letters a few days later, hah.
I went to Tandoor for the first time the other day. The lamb briani (spelling probably sucks) was really good but they were a bit stingy with the lamb. Pita and humas were good too but the humas was a little on the watery side. Still, all in all, it was good food at good value. Service was excellent. Iâll go again.
Went to Hindustan last night with two friends for dinner. Had been there once for lunch a couple of months ago since it was close to my office and I had not had Indian in a long time. The lunch was basically steamed or boiled chicken pieces plunked into a little metal bowl of sauce. Very generic setup for the lunch crowd I figured since it only took 2 minutes to get my entree, but 10 minutes for white rice (go figure). Pick an entree of the 200NT lunch special list and get meat with the sauce you chose. Wasnât impressed with it for lunch.
Anyways, went back last night with 2 friends for dinner, and was hoping that ordering dinner from the full menu would be nicer than lunch. Took forever to get the attention of any server, even though they were not crowded, and that was the story all night long, literally had to wave our hands to get noticed.
Had to remind them twice to bring our appetizers, so we got two out of three of our appetizers before the meal. One good thing was they did bring the entrees together at once which was nice. However, we had to remind again for the third entree and got that halfway through our main course. We also asked for a carafe of water to be left at the table since we got tired of jumping up and down for refills. I asked the lady in Chinese and she was nice enough to bring us one, and it sat on our table for about five minutes before the male waiter came over to take it away to fill it he said, but he never brought the damn thing back!
The food was average at best. I asked for âzui la,â make it hurt, but I got just an average level of spicy. I hate that so much when I ask for extremely spicy over and over and get something that is barely spicy and without much taste. My friendâs was a brown bull of soup like muck with zero flavor, she ate some of mine just to get some taste. Total bill was 1800NT for three people. I would not go back for dinner but would instead opt for another Indian restaurant instead just to try a different place.
Just ate at the Himalaya. Very good but not excellent.
I would give it a 6 to maybe a 7 right now. First, it was excellent quality meat, vegetables all top quality. Better than the Tandoor for several reasons: the vegetables were not overcooked, but best of all I find the Tandoor too oily. The sauces had a perfect consistency neither too oily nor too watery.
The breads were excellent (garlic nan, onion kulcha) but⌠BUT
The only spices that I could taste were chili (red and green and chili oil) and black pepper. Very weak on the paprika, cardamon and coriander which means the midrange was almost totally absent (the quintessential curry).
Service was good. Talked to the chef and he told me that this could be added if requested. I remember him from the Taj Palace days so I believe that he will do it if requested. All the clients were foreigners so I find it unimaginable that he would be skimping on this to make it more palettable to local tastes. Might be too expensive or might have run out, whatever, but this was definitely missing in the taste category.
If IF the spices were added, I would give this place a 7.0 to 7.5 and then drop the Tandoor down to a 5.5 to 6.0 depending on the ownerâs mood and the amount of oil floating around the side of the plate. Again, Himalaya is not by any means a gourmet restaurant. It is an Indian diner albeit a very good one.
There. Howâs that?
frederick p. smith v.
Bummer about the midrange spices there Fred. After many visits Iâd say that was Deepakâs strength (the Himalaya). Then again it may have been the dishes. His Moghul curries are usually packed with nicely rounded out flavours.
HG
Thanks for the review, Fred.
I still say that the Himalaya is the top Indian place in Taipei, but I agree with a lot of your comments. Too bad about the spices. Perhaps next time around you can talk to the chef and get him to add them to provide some taste.
Did anyone catch the review of the Hindustan in the Taipei Times today? Another positive reviewâsurprise, surpriseâanother hard-hitting restaurant review by Gavin Phipps.
UhâŚOK.
I prefer Fred Smithâs restaurant reviews to any of the ones published in the Taipei Times.
Just to clarify. While I found the lack of midrange spices disappointing, I fully agree that this is probably the best Indian restaurant in town. I just think that the lack thereof is holding it back from reaching a 7.5. That said, it still in no way compares with the top gourmet establishments in say London, NY or India itself. To those and those only go the 8.0s, 9.0s and 10.0s.
Went back for lunch at the Himalaya and was a bit disappointed with some of the dishes.
They have a new cauliflower dish cooked with tandoor spices. Stay away. One bit is more than enough. Jades the tongue fast.
The chicken was a bit gamey in one dish.
Finally stay away from the Punjabi pokaras or samosas. All deep fried greasy flour. No filling.
The vegetarian dishes were excellent however but ⌠this is the second time I have had some problems with some of the dishes.
Say that to his face. Go on! I can just imagine his retort.
Gavin loves his âruby murraysâ.
All Indian Restaurants in Taipei are crap. At best a couple are OK but when thatâs the case the food is overpriced for what it is. Maybe the people who run them assume a certain level of ignorance on the part of the population about Indian food which is probably true as far as the Taiwanese go. But no one should be cheated. But as a Brit I feel our national cuisine should be better represented. Oh yes.
[quote]fee wrote:
Did anyone catch the review of the Hindustan in the Taipei Times today? Another positive reviewâsurprise, surpriseâanother hard-hitting restaurant review by Gavin Phipps.
Say that to his face. Go on! I can just imagine his retort.
Gavin loves his âruby murraysâ.[/quote]
OK, Fredericka. Whatâs a âruby murrayâ? Wait a minuteânow I get it. Oh, a search on google yielded:
âA âRuby Murrayâ may live on as a cheeky piece of cockney rhyming slang for an Indian dinner, but so too does the memory of the legendary singer whose name sprang so readily to the lips of the person that first used it in that context. For Rubyâs voice became familiar to all who lived in Britain during the 1950s and her name, indeed, became a household word.â
OK, so Gavin loves curry. And I like many of his feature articles. But you have to admitâand Iâll bet that he would, tooâthat he writes nothing but soft, warm, glowing positive reviews of restaurants.
I know you say that you have to read between the lines, but come onâIâd like to see Gavin take a restaurant to task every now and again. Not every restaurant in Taipei serves excellent food. Not every Indian restaurant in Taipei has great âfeedââor the best chutney in Taipei (âAnd thatâs no bullshit!â). So, just tell it like it is, even if Gavin loves all types of curry.
And Iâve never met Gavin, but if I ever did have the chance to meet with him, I would say directly to his face that his restaurant reveiws are soft. And no matter what clever retort he had for thatâif he didnât admit that this was true, then heâs just not being honestâwith me or himself.
Anybody notice an âIndianâ restaurant in the alley near Chung-hsiao/Tun-hua? Itâs called âYin-Du Fengâ⌠Indian Fan, or so they translate.
Set meals starting at NT$250. So-so curry. Very small portions. Includes a pitiful salad bar and the tea was in a bag. Mosquitos biting my friend and an atmosphere more like a cellar.
Itâs in the same alley as that piece of Italian crapola- Papa Giovanniâs. Iâll try to get the address⌠so you can avoid it.
Went to the Hindustan the other day and it rocked. We got three specials and some vegetable samosas (excellent) and some pokara (excellent) and then three curry specials: lamb, chicken and vegetable (potato and cauliflower) as well as a vegetarian dish (mostly okra so make sure you like that). The lamb was fucking off the chart with that perfect burn (light) and full range of spices including bay leaf to flesh it out. I just about fell off my chair because the last time I was there a couple of months ago, we got shit Hakka Chinese style Indian with a chicken curry that had the meat on the bone and a very bloody bone it was too. I just about ralphed. This time it was fantastic. NT$500 per person.
BUT again, a word of caution, I have yet to find consistent reliable food at any Indian restaurant in town. The Himalaya was a bit disappointing the last few times. Again, a couple times ago it was excellent but this time at the Hindustan was fâing fantastic.
Head over there while the same chef is still there though. Who knows what will happen when he leaves. Must be illegal the food was so authentic. Whenver the Hindustan loses a chef the waiters or family must cook hence the very gamy, bloody, bony shit that they passed off on us the last time.
Is it worth a trip this weekend? Hell yes if it is the same chef we had on Friday!
Recent visits to Himalaya on the other hand have been so so. Why is it so damned difficult for Indian restaurants to offer any consistency.
Wanted to meet the chef though. Big no no. Management will not allow so either the cook is illegal or they are afraid that he will be stolen away? Perhaps this is what they did themselves or they have had past experience with such things. Would not put it past the local restauranteurs.
Anyway just an update. How long the good eats at Hindustan will last is anyoneâs guess. These things never seem to last.
freddy
Thanks, Fred. Didnât make it their last weekend. Looking to head there this weekend.
Indian food in Taipei always seems to be hit-or-miss. Hope it will still be a hit at the Hindustan this Saturday.
Thanks again.
I always find it more hit than miss at The Himalaya on Yen Ping North.
Deepakâs also catered for quite a few functions Iâve had or attended. Catered for my wedding too. Great service, great food.
HG
HGC:
Yes, the Himalaya is good too but I am repeatedly disappointed with Deepakâs stingy use of midrange spices like coriander, cumin, paprika, etc. All I taste is chili and black pepper. The Tandoor style cauliflower (new) is a disaster that should be removed from the menu and the Punjabi pakoras or samosas are way too greasy and too bready (and the breaded part is too tough). Also, one chicken dish recently was very gamy. Overall, good but not always consistent on each and every dish.
I know what you mean Fred, but then I stick to my favourites - which I canât suddenly recall except that eggplant dish - and Iâm nevver dissapointed.
HG