Born and raised in India, Daniel Hsiung (熊懌騰) originally came to Taiwan to study Chinese cooking. After finishing cooking school and a few stints in various pub kitchens, Hsiung abandoned Chinese cuisine in favor of his native fare and opened The Spice Shop.
A fourth-generation Indo-Chinese, Hsiung is not the only member of his family to find success in the Indian restaurant business. In fact this is the sixth Spice Shop to open in Taiwan, as two cousins own and operate a total of five restaurants in Kaoshiung, Taichung and Hsinchu.
PHOTO: DIANA FREUNDL, TAIPEI TIMES:
Offering a large selection of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, The Spice Shop serves up curry favorites such as beef madras (beef in coconut sauce), chicken tikka masala, mutton bhuna (mutton with onion and pepper) and others priced under NT$300 each. The most popular and highly recommended dish is the chicken tandoori (NT$300), served with a small side of kuchember (spicy Indian salad).
The vegetarian selection is equally plentiful and tasty. Made with seasonal vegetables the jhalfraizie (NT$180) is a refreshing change from the frozen veggies often used in mixed curry. Channa masala (chickpea curry), palak paneer (made with spinach and homemade cheese) and the daal all come highly recommended at NT$180.
Diners looking to satisfy a sweet craving after their curry will have to settle on a lassi, as there are no desserts on the menu. The mango lassi, made with fresh mango and yogurt, however, should not be overlooked.
The restaurant's decor remains debatable with a limited (yet eye-catching) selection of Indian tapestries hanging on exceptionally bright orange walls, with spindly chip board tables and plastic chairs.
A trained chef, Hsiung says he still prefers to be in the kitchen and still does most of the cooking. Apart from using less oil and chili, which can be increased on request, Hsiung claims he doesn't cater to Chinese or Western tastes, and instead prepares the food exactly as he would in India.
In less than two years since opening, The Spice Shop has acquired a substantial number of regulars who fill the tiny establishment nightly. With a maximum seating capacity of 40 persons, the restaurant fills up early, so reservations are not a bad idea, especially on the weekends.
Even at full capacity the wait for food is not intolerable and rather enjoyable with a selection of beers that includes India's own, King Fisher. Alternatively, patrons can bring their own bottle of wine, but are required to pay a NT$200 corkage charge.
The breakwater stretches out to sea from the sprawling Kaohsiung port in southern Taiwan. Normally, it’s crowded with massive tankers ferrying liquefied natural gas from Qatar to be stored in the bulbous white tanks that dot the shoreline. These are not normal times, though, and not a single shipment from Qatar has docked at the Yongan terminal since early March after the Strait of Hormuz was shuttered. The suspension has provided a realistic preview of a potential Chinese blockade, a move that would throttle an economy anchored by the world’s most advanced and power-hungry semiconductor industry. It is a stark reminder of
May 11 to May 17 Traversing the southern slopes of the Yushan Range in 1931, Japanese naturalist Tadao Kano knew he was approaching the last swath of Taiwan still beyond colonial control. The “vast, unknown territory,” protected by the “fierce” Bunun headman Dahu Ali, was “filled with an utterly endless jungle that choked the mountains and valleys,” Kano wrote. He noted how the group had “refused to submit to the measures of our authorities and entrenched themselves deep in these mountains … living a free existence spent chasing deer in the morning and seeking serow in the evening,” even describing them as
As a different column was being written, the big news dropped that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) announced that negotiations within his caucus, with legislative speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the KMT, party Chair Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chair Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) had produced a compromise special military budget proposal. On Thursday morning, prior to meeting with Cheng over a lunch of beef noodles, Lu reiterated her support for a budget of NT$800 or NT$900 billion — but refused to comment after the meeting. Right after Fu’s
What government project has expropriated the most land in Taiwan? According to local media reports, it is the Taoyuan Aerotropolis, eating 2,500 hectares of land in its first phase, with more to come. Forty thousand people are expected to be displaced by the project. Naturally that enormous land grab is generating powerful pushback. Last week Chen Chien-ho (陳健和), a local resident of Jhuwei Borough (竹圍) in Taoyuan City’s Dayuan District (大園) filed a petition for constitutional review of the project after losing his case at the Taipei Administrative Court. The Administrative Court found in favor of nine other local landowners, but
RSS