CLOSED! indian/food court: i strongly recommend CAFE INDIA

Closed! summer 2015

CAFE INDIA 歡迎寶來屋印度風味餐廳
at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A4 food court
台北信義新天地A4館
No.19, Song Gao Road, B2
台北市松高路19號B2

MRT: Taipei City Hall

website: cafeindia.com.tw English, Chinese and Japanese

hours: $-$$

Kid friendliness: food court seating and limited bar seating

Visit reviewed: 2/6/2013 and 2/27/2013

I know that you guys are looking for great places to eat Indian food in Taipei too... my slightly outdated shortlist page is one of the top most visited pages for hungryintaipei.com so lots of you are googling for "Indian food in Taipei."

The first time I tried Cafe India was last month when I was looking for a quick bite in the area and I wasn't feeling like the usual food court suspects. I was a little hesitant to try Cafe India since my last experience with the food at that location, previously housing Indian Palace, was less than ok.

But a new name should mean a new owner and new chefs right? So I quizzed the Indian cashier and chef in English and settled on the butter chicken set menu, which comes with a similar looking mini salad and watery cream corn soup. The English and Chinese menu has about 15 different types of curry, including vegetarian options, fried rice, tandoori sets and lamb and fish curry options.

At first glance, the curry was already a lot better last my last time- the butter chicken (NT$250) looked creamy and ready to be sopped up the naan and was the right vivid color. The taste was perfect too- sweet and spicy with sizeable chunks of boneless chicken and the huge naan was fluffy and airy, the way I love it. 

Following the tradition of other Indian food court trays, the curry comes with a choice of naan or yellow rice, a soup and small salad. The creamy corn soup is bit too sweet and syrupy for my tastes and the salad falls into the "pleasing the Taiwanese customer" flavor.

I had been thinking about Cafe India so much that I ended up choosing it as a dinner spot for some friends before watching SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. I kept getting texts from them confirming "Where? In the food court?" and responding "Yes! The food court! B2!"

I think the best way to eat Indian food is to have an assortment and share family style, so I was excited to be able to try more. I reordered the butter chicken (NT$250), then also got the palak paneer spinach, chicken lababdar, aloo gobi and tandoori chicken. I also upgraded one of our naans into a buttery garlic naan. I definitely recommend the naan over the yellow rice which was too mushy for me. 

I was happy the food was consistent with the first visit and still excellent so that my friends didn't think I was crazy. It was my first time having chicken lababdar (NT$250) and I really loved it. It had a strong creamy tomato flavor and notes of cumin. 

The aloo gobi (NT$220) wasn't too heavy and had a good mix of fork tender potato and cauliflower. I also really liked the Indian cottage cheese in the spinach palak paneer.

The tandoori chicken was a good size- 6 tender, meaty pieces for NT$298. Super tender and perfect for sharing family style (or hoarding to yourself). Came steaming hot to the table.

I didn't know until I asked the second visit that Cafe India has actually been around a long time. The A4 food court location is a branch of the original Tianmu restaurant, which also has buffets . Lucky for me, this location is much closer for me (as well as all those visiting the conventions in the TWTC Halls).

We ended up sharing four curries and one plate of tandoori chicken between 5 people, basically one set per person. I loved everything and we devoured everything. What I ordered was only mildly spicy, but if you like it extra spicy, be sure to tell them and I'm sure they can add the heat. The prices are good compared to what you'd get at a sit down Indian restaurant in Taipei (especially somewhere like Saffron in Tianmu which I also love, but also so far away for me), so as long as your friends don't mind congregating in a food court and have everyone stare while you take over a table and fill it with completely with Indian food, then get a group together ASAP.

OTHER LOCATIONS
No. 30, Koqiang Rd, Tianmu
台北市克強街30號
(02) 2837-7365

food court: i strongly recommend Q SQUARE

QSQUARE 京站時尚廣場
1 Chengde Road, Section 1, B3 中正區承德路一段1號

MRT: Taipei Main Station

website: qsquare.com.tw

hours:

$-$$

Kid friendliness: mall food court with lots of options

Visit reviewed: 11/13/2010

There's no shortage of malls in Taipei to window shop in and same goes for the food courts, since most malls have a food court somewhere in their basement. Q Square is a newer mall that some might not have discovered yet, but definitely worth checking out. Easily accessible by MRT, it is even connected underground through the walkways at the Taipei Main Station stop.

The snapshots of the QSqaure food court are from a few years ago and I know since I've been there recently that it's gone through some changes since then. There's two sides to the basement floor- one side with the traditional square of food court fast food eats, plastic bento displays and plenty of seating and then the other side with mini stations of bakeries and cafes like Richard Blanc, Cloudy Cupcakes, Ariel Le Cafe and Movenpick.




There's also plenty of sit down restaurants if you don't want to bother with the food court, but during peak dining hours there's often a wait- ramen, curry, tempura udon sets.



Japanese bakeries like Yamazaki to stock up on some freshly baked sweet bread.


Jasons Supermarket if you need to pick up some fresh fruit or gourmet items as a local or tourist.

Food courts in Taipei are actually an affordable and tasty way to spend a meal. I enjoyed my bimbimbap (NT$160) with crispy rice from the stone pot....

Perfectly crispy underneath!

My friend didn't have as good luck with the Hainan Chicken rice which was lacking in chicken, instead fluffed up with shredded cabbage.

This cold soba/udon tempura combo was also a surprise in value and size, but sadly I think the Japanese shop was changed into a different store and menu on my most recent visit.


Or stick to Taiwanese eats with sticky rice ba zhang and wonton soup.



One souvenir that I've turned friends onto is the kimchi flavored popcorn from Planet Popcorn. Ask for samples if you spot this stand- it's kind of addictive with a spicy, sweet and slightly sour kick. My friends usually take home a bucket or two. There are plenty of other flavors- classic kettle corn, chocolate, cheese, caramel or wasabi.


Skip these cream puffs- I bought a box as a gift and disliked their frosting like filling and soft puff.

Lots to explore at Q Square- there's also restaurants like NY Bagel and Alleycats on the 1st floor; Ariel Le Cafe on the 2nd floor, and a whole floor of restaurants on the 4th floor including Crystal Spoon, Momo Paradise, Eat Together buffet and Vieshow theaters for movie watchers.

Oh yeah, there's shopping too!

dessert/taiwanese: KLEFUN CREPE

KLEFUN CREPE
at Xinyi Vieshow, 2 FL
No. 20 Song Shou Rd

MRT: Taipei City Hall

hours: 11AM - 11PM

$

Kid friendliness: sure, why not.

Visit reviewed: 6/7/2011


If you've ever tried a crepe from a food court in Taipei, you might have been confused when you bit into a crispy paper-like texture rather than the softer, pancake kind, as I was since I was used to the latter from my crepes in the states (and Toronto!). 

Klefun Crepe at Xinyi Vieshow foodcourt is no exception to that rule.

I usually stick to the Whoppers at Burger King when I'm catching a movie, but my vegetarian friend wanted to try his luck with a vegetarian crepe. The shop's menu is only in Chinese, but there's an English plastic menu available if you ask. Most of the crepes are around NT$80, and there are also boba milk tea and other drinks available.

When I was watching the crepe maker roll out the batter with expertise, I thought it might not be so bad, until I saw the toppings. The salad vegetable crepe had three tiny strips of cheese, corn, pineapple and salad. Only in Taiwan. When I commented on how little cheese there was, she replied, you can add more for extra money.

The end result is kind of like a salad in a thin cone. Kind of a noisy snack food for a movie, but we were watching X-Men: First Class (which was really good by the way!), so we could sneak bites during the action scenes.

The dessert crepe is a bit better with a thin layer of chocolate spread all over the crepe though the banana slices fell mostly into the middle, though it definitely can't compare to the more classic crepe from Paul. I ran out of hands to take pictures and was running late to the movie, but it's hard to mess up bananas and chocolate, though note the chocolate is a generic type, not Hershey's or Nutella, and tastes like it.

One good thing about the traffic cone like structure is that it makes it quite portable and no fork is needed.

CLOSED! japanese/food court: i recommend JIKA UDON

(CLOSED :( a/o 1/2011)

JIKA UDON
at Vie Show Cinemas Foodcourt, 2FL
20 Song Shou Road
(02) 2723-9101

MRT: Taipei City Hall

website: http://www.jikaudon.com.hk/

hours: 12PM- 10PM (their website says they open at 11am, but I got there at 11:45am and they wouldn't serve/seat until noon)

$

Kid friendliness: high chairs and kids dinnerware available

Visit reviewed: 11/19/2010 (all photos with iphone 4g)



Jika Udon is a solid, quick place to grab a bowl of udon to eat as one of the newer additions to the Xinyi Vieshow Food Court. They have their own separate seating area, so if you want to eat alongside your friends ordering Burger King, you'll have to get your order to go, as I did, and eat in the main food court area.



I uncapped my tempura as soon as I picked it up, so that the delicate crispiness wouldn't get soggy and laid out my lunch- tempura, cold udon and dipping sauce (NT$220). They only give you one sauce for both the udon and tempura, which is fine, since they also include a small bit of wasabi, grated radish and green onion slices.

The udon is quite chewy and QQ and the crispy tempura (with two shrimps) provided a satisfying crunch. It's good to have a sanuki udon place in the area, especially after my original go-to place at Vieshow, Tenpura Sanuki Udon, moved and shut down. I was surprised by the amount of udon that I got- it would have filled a large bowl and was quite filling.



Jika Udon's menu (in English, Chinese and Japanese with lots of photos) is worth exploring- with hot udon soups or cold udon, or options like curry udon, udon with cod fish caviar or udon with chicken or seafood salad which caught my eye, most from NT$100-NT$230.

mall/foodcourt: i recommend BELLAVITA

BELLAVITA
No. 28, Song Ren Road

MRT stop: Taipei City Hall

website: bellavita.com.tw Chinese only (there is an English option on the front page, but is not clickable yet)

$$-$$$

Kid friendliness: posher than most food courts, no high chairs spotted

Visit reviewed: 2/26/2010



Since 101 sprung up in 2004, a forest of shopping malls have proliferated in its shadow in the Xinyi area. I moved back to Taipei about the same time, so I have witnessed the changes and growth in the area. There's Warner/Viewshow Theaters, NY NY, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi x4, Eslite Bookstore, and most recently, Bellavita.

Said to be inspired by the European architecture and style while the founders were visiting Milan, Bellavita is striking from the inside as well with its grand skylight dome overhead.



Where there are malls, there are mall food courts. And as Bellavita is the fanciest mall to spring up, so is its food court- it's so fancy, it's not even called a food court.



Instead it's dubbed a gourmet food hall- it includes an oyster bar, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Fat Angelo's, Habibi Cafe, Cosmopolitan Steak and Grill, patisserie Sadaharu AOKI, gelato, a vegetarian deli and more.





Unlike a typical food court, where you order and get your food and sit in a common area with your dining companions, this one is more like mini restaurants on one floor.
There's no plastic bowls of unagi-dons here.





At 11:30am, we circled around a couple times in virtual emptiness. Did people not know there was a food court open here yet? Was this a bad sign, we thought?




At first glance, you'd have to pick the same cuisine as your friends (which defeats one of the advantages of the diversity of a food court). But if you want hummus and they want sashimi, then go to We Share Everything. Disguised as a restaurant complete with a menu, it's actually the common area for the food hall. You can sit down, order from the extensive menu that includes most of the dining areas in the hall and have a waiter fetch and serve your food for a service fee instead of bringing back the tray yourself. Were you ever annoyed that you didn't get water at a food court? Then you'll be happily at home here where water is poured in glasses for you.



I ordered hummus and moussaka from Habibi and my friends ordered a sashimi bowl and noodles.

At first glance, I was a little miffed at the size of my hummus for the price (NT$200). Sababa had spoiled me, I suppose. The hummus was creamy though it lacked a slight sweetness and the pita was airy and warm.



Then came my moussaka with eggplant (NT$380)- the first and only time I had eaten it was in Chicago about 10 years ago. I don't know what compelled me to order it over the recommended grilled chicken skewers. I guess I wanted to really test Habibi Cafe and see if it was going to be good.



Unfortunately, it wasn't what I remembered. I was expecting more of an eggplant lasagna, but this seemed more like a shepherd's pie, with lots of mashed potatoes atop and minced lamb underneath. I barely found any eggplant and it was kind of lukewarm and greasy. Even though I shared, my friends politely said no after one bite and we probably left about 2/3 of the dish on the plate.



Even more unfortunately, the waiter didn't really care either as when we asked him to take the plate away and said that it wasn't good, he didn't really respond.

Luckily, my friend's bowl of lu shi mian pork noodles (NT$210) were delicious with springy, chubby noodles and tender pork.



My friend who ordered the sashimi bowl (NT$980) and I were still hungry after our orders that we ordered another bowl of noodles to share. She didn't like how most of the pieces of sashimi still had skin on them and some of the fresh didn't seem optimally fresh. She would have been better off with a lunch set from Ton 28 or elsewhere.



Isn't it funny that you can travel the world in a gourmet food court, but the most delicious thing is still a bowl of noodles?




Definitely expensive mistakes for lunch, but there's definitely a lot more to explore.



There's sweets galore for the dessert lovers- gelato, chocolates, macarons, cakes and breads.





I recommend the olive foccacia from Elite Bakery and the chocolate with sea salt bar from Cacao et Chocolat. A bar of chocolate for NT$400- extravagant I know, but a good gift for the chocolate lover in your life. (Ask for a sample to make sure you get the right one!)




Even more decadent and insane to imagine is this gold cake at Elite Bakery- that sells for NT$4800 (about US$150). The entire chocolate cake is covered in gold leaf foil.



I can't imagine the look of shock and confusion that crossed my face when I saw the cake and the ridiculous price tag. Who buys that kind of cake for that kind of price? And what happens when no one buys it for that day? It makes the NT$700 cakes seem like a steal at that point.



But I suppose that's the fun in exploring Bellavita- it doesn't cost anything to browse the pretty things in the pretty atmosphere. When it first opened, there were tons of couples taking photos in front of the fountains at the entrance. Even the shops inside are yet to be fully opened, and those that are there I'd only window shop.

Luckily there are other delicious meals to be found elsewhere in Bellavita- there are quite a few restaurant/bars on the other floors- Ton 28, Haleakala, Beata te, Salon & L'Atelier Robuchon and a3 bar.



The first time I got excited about Bellavita was when I heard it was going to be home to the first Michelin starred chef restaurant in Taiwan- L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon. And though I haven't been yet to try the 8 course NT$6000 (or 4 course NT$2600 for lunch) gastronomic heaven meal, I've been saving up a visit for a special occasion. Before that I might visit the more casual Salon de The de Robuchon.




So that's a quick walk through the beautiful life that is Bellavita. Though it took me a few months to visit Bellavita, I did some catching up the last month, so I'll have some more posts coming up the next few weeks showing Haleakala and patisserie Sadaharu AOKI in their own posts.