Finding a really good Indian restaurant can be a difficult task in Taipei, where choices are limited not so much because of the small number of dining spots, but because of the similar, if not exactly identical, food on offer. Fortunately, progress is occasionally made with the arrival of establishments such as the Balle Balle Indian Restaurant & Bar.
Opened more than one year ago on Guangfu North Road (光復北路) near Bade Road (八德路), the place first caught my attention when I walked past the storefront and saw it was packed with patrons many of whom were Indian. And the reason for its brisk business proves to be self-evident as soon as I took my first bite of the rich flavors from the Indian subcontinent finely rendered at Balle Balle.
Balle Balle’s kitchen is fully devoted to Punjabi cuisine from the Punjab region in north India. As it turns out, many of the popular elements of the Indian cuisine such as tandoori cooking is derived from the region. Compared to the often extensive menus that have the weight of a book at similar establishments, the Punjabi-centered eatery has a diner-friendly carte mainly composed of appetizers, tandoori food, curry dishes and breads. Meanwhile, ingredients used by the restaurant’s team of Indian chefs directly come from the Indian specialty store which is the owner’s other business venture.
Photo: Ho Yi, Taipei Times
As Punjab is also the birthplace of Sikhism, the space is bedecked with ornaments and objects that represent its religious and cultural roots, including a life-size statue of a Sikh greeting diners by the entrance. Apart from the Sikh figurines and dolls, the dining environment is neatly arranged, devoid of gaudy travel photos of South Asian landmarks and exudes a feel of straightforwardness that is strangely comforting.
Equally reassuring is the Indian manager known as GV. Speaking fluently in English and Mandarin, the manager is as friendly as he is helpful in making recommendations and answering patrons’ needs.
With the help of GV, my dining partner and I started our meal with murg malai kebab (NT$380), a tandoori starter made up of boneless chicken marinated with cashew paste, homemade cream and spices. We were both won over by the surprisingly tender, succulent meat, accompanied by the slightly charred, lusciously sweet onions.
Photo: Ho Yi, Taipei Times
The vegetarian alternative to the chicken tandoori snack is paneer tikka, which involves Indian cottage cheese grilled in a clay oven. Among them, hariyali paneer tikka (NT$410) is marinated with yogurt, cashew paste and flavored with mint and spinach.
From the curry section, which comprises choices of chicken, lamb, fish and vegetables, we chose veg kofta (NT$290), featuring soft balls made from mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables and submerged in onion and cashew gravy, while spices including ginger and coriander add punch to the delightfully creamy dish.
The gosht rahra (NT$360) delivered a wow effect with the offering of tender, boneless mutton tossed in onion gravy and makes another mild, smooth curry delicacy.
Photo: Ho Yi, Taipei Times
The restaurant has a wide variety of naan, roti, kulcha and paratha. Both the garlic naan (NT$75) and tandoori roti (NT$85) we tried were satisfyingly substantial and chewy. Amritsari aloo kulcha (NT$120) particularly impressed with the savory stuffing of mashed potatoes and spices.
For drinks, the restaurant offers the richest and thickest mango lassi (NT$120) I have ever tried. But the best companion to Balle Balle’s hearty fare, in my view, is the pudhina nimbu soda (NT$80), that aids digestion with a concoction of mint leaves, lime, black pepper and salt.
With fine food and warm, attentive service, Balle Balle Indian Restaurant & Bar is quickly becoming my favorite spot to quench my thirst for the flavorful South Asian fare.
In recent weeks the Trump Administration has been demanding that Taiwan transfer half of its chip manufacturing to the US. In an interview with NewsNation, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said that the US would need 50 percent of domestic chip production to protect Taiwan. He stated, discussing Taiwan’s chip production: “My argument to them was, well, if you have 95 percent, how am I gonna get it to protect you? You’re going to put it on a plane? You’re going to put it on a boat?” The stench of the Trump Administration’s mafia-style notions of “protection” was strong
Every now and then, it’s nice to just point somewhere on a map and head out with no plan. In Taiwan, where convenience reigns, food options are plentiful and people are generally friendly and helpful, this type of trip is that much easier to pull off. One day last November, a spur-of-the-moment day hike in the hills of Chiayi County turned into a surprisingly memorable experience that impressed on me once again how fortunate we all are to call this island home. The scenery I walked through that day — a mix of forest and farms reaching up into the clouds
With one week left until election day, the drama is high in the race for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chair. The race is still potentially wide open between the three frontrunners. The most accurate poll is done by Apollo Survey & Research Co (艾普羅民調公司), which was conducted a week and a half ago with two-thirds of the respondents party members, who are the only ones eligible to vote. For details on the candidates, check the Oct. 4 edition of this column, “A look at the KMT chair candidates” on page 12. The popular frontrunner was 56-year-old Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文)
Oct. 13 to Oct. 19 When ordered to resign from her teaching position in June 1928 due to her husband’s anti-colonial activities, Lin Shih-hao (林氏好) refused to back down. The next day, she still showed up at Tainan Second Preschool, where she was warned that she would be fired if she didn’t comply. Lin continued to ignore the orders and was eventually let go without severance — even losing her pay for that month. Rather than despairing, she found a non-government job and even joined her husband Lu Ping-ting’s (盧丙丁) non-violent resistance and labor rights movements. When the government’s 1931 crackdown
RSS