It might be easy to overlook Masala House (異香料館), which is located among a cluster of student eateries and cafes near Shida Road (師大路). Out of India, a nearby popular Indian restaurant, looks like it attracts more foot traffic by virtue of its location at the entrance of the alley on Pucheng Street (浦城街) where both restaurants are located. But Masala House, which offers a few unique items on its menu, is worth a visit.
On my first visit, I ordered the chana masala (NT$250), a spicy dish of chick peas, and palak paneer (NT$250), a spinach curry with chunks of paneer cheese. Both were delicious. If you’re wary of spicy foods, though, be aware that both curries had a fiery kick even after a request for less spicy versions.
These dishes come with a serving of white rice shaped in a heart on your plate. Naan bread is also available for an additional NT$40 (NT$50 for garlic or butter flavored) and roti is NT$50.
Photo: David Chen, Taipei Times
The curries had already won me over, but what sealed my decision to return for a second trip was one of the restaurant’s south Indian specialties, its dosa, a large crepe made of rice flour and lentils. A dosa, which costs NT$50, is a crispy version of a crepe and makes for a nice alternative to naan bread. It’s also available with a garlic or butter for NT$60.
The dosas go especially well with Masala House’s green chutney (NT$35), a sauce made of chopped cilantro and garlic, or another south Indian dish called sambar (NT$100), a sweet-and-sour stew of green beans and cauliflower. These items also come as accompaniment for the masala dosa (NT$150), which is a dosa rolled up and stuffed with potato curry. This makes for a satisfying lunch if you’re in the mood for something other than curry and rice.
I would have tried another south Indian dish, idli (NT$80), a savory cake that’s also made of rice and lentils, but the restaurant wasn’t serving it on my last visit. Maybe next time, if I can resist not ordering the masala dosa again.
As for classic Indian dishes, Masala House offers a large menu, with around a dozen varieties each for beef, chicken and vegetarian dishes. Prices are average, ranging from NT$230 to NT$300 per dish. Tandoori grilled chicken is available for NT$250 a serving and NT$550 for a whole chicken, which needs to be ordered in advance.
In a nod to its student clientele, the restaurant offers a price-busting selection of curry and rice lunch specials: vegetable, daal and chicken curries are NT$100 each, mutton is NT$150, and beef is NT$130. The lunch comes with rice and a soda, and the rice can be replaced with naan for an additional NT$20.
The atmosphere at Masala House is cozy, with the kind of decor one expects at an Indian restaurant in Taipei, and Bollywood music videos playing. The cafe-sized space looks a little run down — you can see peeling wallpaper in the corners of the room — but the food makes up for this shortcoming.
The Taipei Times last week reported that the Control Yuan said it had been “left with no choice” but to ask the Constitutional Court to rule on the constitutionality of the central government budget, which left it without a budget. Lost in the outrage over the cuts to defense and to the Constitutional Court were the cuts to the Control Yuan, whose operating budget was slashed by 96 percent. It is unable even to pay its utility bills, and in the press conference it convened on the issue, said that its department directors were paying out of pocket for gasoline
On March 13 President William Lai (賴清德) gave a national security speech noting the 20th year since the passing of China’s Anti-Secession Law (反分裂國家法) in March 2005 that laid the legal groundwork for an invasion of Taiwan. That law, and other subsequent ones, are merely political theater created by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to have something to point to so they can claim “we have to do it, it is the law.” The president’s speech was somber and said: “By its actions, China already satisfies the definition of a ‘foreign hostile force’ as provided in the Anti-Infiltration Act, which unlike
That US assistance was a model for Taiwan’s spectacular development success was early recognized by policymakers and analysts. In a report to the US Congress for the fiscal year 1962, former President John F. Kennedy noted Taiwan’s “rapid economic growth,” was “producing a substantial net gain in living.” Kennedy had a stake in Taiwan’s achievements and the US’ official development assistance (ODA) in general: In September 1961, his entreaty to make the 1960s a “decade of development,” and an accompanying proposal for dedicated legislation to this end, had been formalized by congressional passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. Two
Despite the intense sunshine, we were hardly breaking a sweat as we cruised along the flat, dedicated bike lane, well protected from the heat by a canopy of trees. The electric assist on the bikes likely made a difference, too. Far removed from the bustle and noise of the Taichung traffic, we admired the serene rural scenery, making our way over rivers, alongside rice paddies and through pear orchards. Our route for the day covered two bike paths that connect in Fengyuan District (豐原) and are best done together. The Hou-Feng Bike Path (后豐鐵馬道) runs southward from Houli District (后里) while the