It's not an inventive name for a restaurant but Calcutta Indian Food does what it says well. The brother-sister owners are Taiwanese from the West Bengal city and opened the restaurant in Ximending a couple of months ago. Hou Yong-tian (侯勇添) used to be the chef at Spice Shop in Tianmu, so the kitchen has pedigree.
Foreigners, including Indians, form a large portion of the pair's clientele, but locals are being lured in by competitively priced set meals in the week. These range from NT$190 for the vegetarian curry and NT$280 for the lamb, including a salad, soup or drink, nan bread or rice.
Most of the Indian subcontinent's better-known dishes are listed on the menu ("hot and spicy vindaloo," bhuna and madras) but the spicy hot lamb curry mass kolhapuri (a Marathi dish) was a surprise and there is an emphasis on creamy flavors such as pasanda and murgi malai. Side dishes are plentiful and the fiery laccha, a "Delhi-spice salad" is worth trying. Rice is saffron colored and there is a selection of nan breads.
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
I've visited five or six times and the food has always been of a good standard. It is North Indian in character, according to the owners, tending toward stronger flavors. An example of this was the chicken tandoori, bright orange and baked until it was ever-so-slightly charred. The chicken was good quality and far removed in taste from some of the fake tandooris served up in this city.
Other highlights of previous meals included the iced Darjeeling tea, lemon soda, daal soup and a refreshing homemade milk rice dessert called firni. The channa masala, a chickpea dish with a sweetness balanced by a firm but fair chili kick, come recommended. The raita yogurt is a favorite with many Taiwanese, we were informed, and teased the taste buds. The worst crime as far as Indian food is concerned, is being boring.
The decor will be familiar to lovers of Indian food around the world: Colonial-period, patterned wallpaper in a deep ochre red, a mini chandelier, a few brass fittings and a couple of India-themed pictures. In addition to the usual "fortune cat" (招財貓) waving his paw at the cash desk there is a brass statue of Ganesh the elephant god. Service is informal and friendly.
Last week the story of the giant illegal crater dug in Kaohsiung’s Meinong District (美濃) emerged into the public consciousness. The site was used for sand and gravel extraction, and then filled with construction waste. Locals referred to it sardonically as the “Meinong Grand Canyon,” according to media reports, because it was 2 hectares in length and 10 meters deep. The land involved included both state-owned and local farm land. Local media said that the site had generated NT$300 million in profits, against fines of a few million and the loss of some excavators. OFFICIAL CORRUPTION? The site had been seized
Next week, candidates will officially register to run for chair of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). By the end of Friday, we will know who has registered for the Oct. 18 election. The number of declared candidates has been fluctuating daily. Some candidates registering may be disqualified, so the final list may be in flux for weeks. The list of likely candidates ranges from deep blue to deeper blue to deepest blue, bordering on red (pro-Chinese Communist Party, CCP). Unless current Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) can be convinced to run for re-election, the party looks likely to shift towards more hardline
Sept. 15 to Sept. 21 A Bhutanese princess caught at Taoyuan Airport with 22 rhino horns — worth about NT$31 million today — might have been just another curious front-page story. But the Sept. 17, 1993 incident came at a sensitive moment. Taiwan, dubbed “Die-wan” by the British conservationist group Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), was under international fire for being a major hub for rhino horn. Just 10 days earlier, US secretary of the interior Bruce Babbitt had recommended sanctions against Taiwan for its “failure to end its participation in rhinoceros horn trade.” Even though Taiwan had restricted imports since 1985 and enacted
The depressing numbers continue to pile up, like casualty lists after a lost battle. This week, after the government announced the 19th straight month of population decline, the Ministry of the Interior said that Taiwan is expected to lose 6.67 million workers in two waves of retirement over the next 15 years. According to the Ministry of Labor (MOL), Taiwan has a workforce of 11.6 million (as of July). The over-15 population was 20.244 million last year. EARLY RETIREMENT Early retirement is going to make these waves a tsunami. According to the Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), the
RSS