Indian Fans and its predictably kitsch wall hangings and assorted nick-knacks related to India first appeared on Taipei's fashionable Yungkang food-street two years ago. It opened a second outlet a stone's throw from the more up-market Dinghao shopping neighborhood last summer.
The place must be doing something right in order to open its second branch, but what that is leaves this reviewer perplexed. Like all too many locally owned restaurants that attempt to pass themselves off as foreign eateries and fall flat, if not so low that the gutter is the best place for them, Indian Fans is a sham.
While some bright spark had the affront to boast "best Indian curry in Taipei" on a flyer advertising the place at the recent Computex in Taipei, the truth is very different. Indian Fans serves up some of the worst curry to be found in Taipei. Sure, the decor and design are pleasant enough, but this is an eatery not a museum piece.
PHOTO: GAVIN PHIPPS, TAIPEI TIMES
The menu includes such fancy sounding fare as Kashmir chicken curry, Madras beef curry, Rajasthan mutton curry and Punjab mixed vegetable curry, but there's not a naan bread in sight. Each dish is served with a plate of rice -- the local sticky variety as opposed to the fluffy Indian type -- an odd assortment of vegetables, and comes with a complementary salad bar.
This reviewer sat down for what he thought would be a lamb pulao (NT$249), but was instead served a wok-fried plate of lamb fried rice filled with frozen carrots, peas and, of course, the ubiquitous corn. While I attempted to wade through the fried rice and accompanying grease and at the same time discern its flavor, a waitress was kind enough to pop a side dish of garlic bread made from a single slice of white toasted bread on the table.
Sadly the food's flavorlessness and the limp slice of garlic bread proved all too much and I was forced to beat an early retreat from Indian Fans with my meal left unfinished.
I opted for my complementary beverage to go, but should have declined the cup of iced Indian Masala tea as it proved as bad as the meal. Traditionally drunk as a pick-me-up, the bastardized version of this otherwise great brew served up at Indian Fans had the reverse effect. Instead of leaving me refreshed it left a rancid taste in my mouth.
The bottom line for Indian Fans is simple: If you're familiar with and enjoy Indian fare then don't go anywhere near the place!
Behind a car repair business on a nondescript Thai street are the cherished pets of a rising TikTok animal influencer: two lions and a 200-kilogram lion-tiger hybrid called “Big George.” Lion ownership is legal in Thailand, and Tharnuwarht Plengkemratch is an enthusiastic advocate, posting updates on his feline companions to nearly three million followers. “They’re playful and affectionate, just like dogs or cats,” he said from inside their cage complex at his home in the northern city of Chiang Mai. Thailand’s captive lion population has exploded in recent years, with nearly 500 registered in zoos, breeding farms, petting cafes and homes. Experts warn the
The unexpected collapse of the recall campaigns is being viewed through many lenses, most of them skewed and self-absorbed. The international media unsurprisingly focuses on what they perceive as the message that Taiwanese voters were sending in the failure of the mass recall, especially to China, the US and to friendly Western nations. This made some sense prior to early last month. One of the main arguments used by recall campaigners for recalling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers was that they were too pro-China, and by extension not to be trusted with defending the nation. Also by extension, that argument could be
Aug. 4 to Aug. 10 When Coca-Cola finally pushed its way into Taiwan’s market in 1968, it allegedly vowed to wipe out its major domestic rival Hey Song within five years. But Hey Song, which began as a manual operation in a family cow shed in 1925, had proven its resilience, surviving numerous setbacks — including the loss of autonomy and nearly all its assets due to the Japanese colonial government’s wartime economic policy. By the 1960s, Hey Song had risen to the top of Taiwan’s beverage industry. This success was driven not only by president Chang Wen-chi’s
Last week, on the heels of the recall election that turned out so badly for Taiwan, came the news that US President Donald Trump had blocked the transit of President William Lai (賴清德) through the US on his way to Latin America. A few days later the international media reported that in June a scheduled visit by Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) for high level meetings was canceled by the US after China’s President Xi Jinping (習近平) asked Trump to curb US engagement with Taiwan during a June phone call. The cancellation of Lai’s transit was a gaudy