Amma's Kitchen (South Indian Restaurant) — Restaurant in Da'an District

Went there to celebrate my friend's birthday and turns out it was the worst decision we ever made.

First of all, they have installed 3 unIts of ACs out of which just one was running so it made the inside atmosphere pretty humid and hot.

Secondly, when we were ordering, we were told that we could order just once (as we ordered many items). I don't know what kind of reason that is but it is the stupidest thing I have ever heard in a restaurant.

Thirdly, the waiter was not at all welcoming, he mixed up our orders (had ordered one kadhai paneer and veg kurma and got paneer butter masala instead of the veg kurma) and on being confronted, he said he repeated the order (although in a very fast manner) and we said okay to it. I found this kind of behaviour to be very unprofessional.

Now coming to the food, we had ordered the following items: Masala Dosa - These were the only good items we ate there although the chutney and sambhar were not that good. Masala Vada - very generic served with the chutney (which I found too liquidy and bland) Mixed veg pakora - it was okay, but they did not make it out of gram flour. No complaints though cuz it was good. Kadhai Paneer - was literally the worst kadhai paneer I have ever had in my whole life. The chef either needs to learn how to make kadhai paneer or name the dish something else. Paneer butter masala - very generic lacked the buttery taste Butter chicken - the same gravy base as paneer butter masala (so yeah not that good as well) Chicken curry dosa - it was good no complaints Chettinad Chicken Curry - just too bland. Watery gravy, lacked the basic spices in short just blehhhhh. Lemon Rice - it had everything except the main ingredient in it (you guessed it right, lemon!). It did not have a single ounce of lemon in it. Plain rice - at this point I was really surprised how they not managed to f**k this dish up. Chicken Biryani - tasted like very generic dum Biryani (not the best Biryani I have had here in Taiwan) Poori - overpriced Phulka - overpriced

Summary: Visit the restaurant only for the Dosa, rest everything is not up...

I have been to this restaurant several times before. My first review was very positive (about 4 years ago). But what I have found after going there several times is that food taste is not consistent. With South Indian food, sometimes it is excellent, sometimes is it so so. Today it was actually not good. Dosa crepe did not have a normal taste, and it tasted plain. The potato filling did not have normal taste either and sambar tasted more like a dal (with some chili powder added to it after cooking). However, the terrible dish was pani puri. Initially they gave me only puri and the mint water (pani), and not any side dishes. Pani had terrible taste that it was difficult to eat. I can taste water separate from the spices. I asked why there are no sides such as potato or tamarind sauce, so they brought me some Dosa filling instead, but the soup was still not edible. So I asked for a lemon, and put some lemon juice in Pani to make it more edible. Even though I still didn’t like it I finished it as I don’t like to waste food. There is no reason to put a dish on the menu when you don’t have some of the main ingredients. It is tempting to put such item on menu because it is easy to buy ready-made puri and pani mix at a store , but it is not fair to customers if you don’t put any additional effort to make it proper. Customers go out to restaurants expecting at least some level of authenticity but it is not right if they can’t even eat it just because restaurant did not put any effort and omitted main ingredients. Also previously only once I had a ordered North Indian dish at this restaurant and it was terrible, so I never ordered any North Indian food again at this place. I don’t know if it was one time issue, but I didn’t take any chance again as there are many other good North Indian restaurants in Taipei. I hope that the restaurant is more consistent with its main specialty, South...

My lunch date and I tried Amma’s Kitchen (South Indian food) today. What a refreshing take in Indian food. It is stripped of every pretension, the flavours that came out of familiar dishes were brand new and every dish had such a lightness on the palate and in the tummy. Comparative to other overpriced and underwhelming Indian restaurants, Amma’s prices are very affordable and the quality and thought in each dish is immediately noticeable.

The staff were completely down to earth and had such a charming warmth emanating out of them. Service was so attentive and the waiter was so spontaneous and generous in sharing information about how every dish was prepared. I’ve honestly never had such beautifully-cooked rice like that before. The dosa was fresh, crisped to perfection and filled with just the perfect amount of potato masala to get you excited whilst leaving lots of room for other dishes. The accompanying green chili and coconut chutney, sambar and onion chutney were perfectly seasoned and complemented and contrasted each other wonderfully.

We ordered a palak paneer with lemon rice. An absolute must! It felt like the first time I’ve ever tasted that dish. It was simply delicious!

They served us a complimentary dessert of warm sago porridge which was light, creamy and sugared to the perfect temperature. We ended our glorious and super affordable meal with fresh coffee served in copper cups. Watch the video in which the waiter cools it down for us.

Amma’s Kitchen is a 2-minute walk from exit 5 of Taipower MRT. It’s on the 2nd floor of a grimy building but once you take your shoes off and go inside, you are surrounded by a bright and cheerful old-school traincar vibe and are immediately taken care of. It truly feels like you are in an Amma’s warm home. Please support this wonderful, sweet, warm restaurant. There’s a lot of heart...