CHILLIESINE 淇里思印度餐廳-新竹店 Indian Restaurant Hsinchu — Restaurant in Hsinchu

I have been visiting Chillies Indian Restaurant, Hsinchu since the very first week of their operation. So, I have seen how they are improving their service over the past one year. There is no doubt that you will see some negative reviews also. That is simply because, everyone has their own expectations and choice/taste of food. If you see all positive reviews, then it would be fishy. Criticism is necessary for the improvement of service, if it is taken positively. From my experience of being a regular customer of Chillies since their first week of operation, I can say that they have taken the criticism positively and have improved their service a lot. Other than visiting their restaurant for normal dining, I have reserved their place for birthday party as well as wedding reception. Below are my experiences;

Birthday Celebration: It was my friend's birthday and few of us have planned a surprise party for her at Chillies. We bought the birthday cake and placed it at the restaurant in advance. In the evening when we arrived and started our party, Chillies even have surprises for us too. They played birthday songs all over the restaurant and came near to us to wish and sing birthday song. Also, they provided us free drinks as birthday gifts. That weren't the part of the plan and we were overwhelmed by their kind gesture.

Wedding Reception: Recently I have arranged my post wedding party for my colleagues (all Taiwanese) at Chillies. I have estimated a budget and decided the menu together with their manager (Ms. Mei). Also, I have told her what are my expectation regarding food and decoration. I was also constantly on phone with the owner, Mr. Minesh and discussed with him all my requirements. Initially, I was thinking to prepare a nice video to highlight the wedding moments and play in their TV. However, due to lack of time, I couldn't manage to prepare the video. So, I gave all the pictures to Mei to play them as slideshow. To my surprise, Mei took the pain on herself and prepared an awesome video by accurately identifying differentiating pre-wedding, engagement, wedding and reception pictures accordingly. Also, their team helped us to decorate the restaurant. Also, they customized my menu for each table and served the food accordingly. And everything came well within my budget even after we ordered additional dishes towards the end. My total number of guests were nearly 36 and it was comfortable for them to roam around with kids and softly dancing on the floor. So, I will highly recommend Chillies, Hsinchu for any kind of party with numbers of guest ranging between 30-50.

N.B.: One suggestion to Chillies, no Biriyani lover likes to buy raita separately and that makes me sad every time I go to Chillies to eat Biriyani. I hope they will take it as a...

This has now become seriously my #1 favorite restaurant of all time in Hsinchu, maybe even Taiwan for a multitude of reasons.

-#1 reason: vegetarian options and I think maybe even vegan options!!!

-Setting: the place is gorgeous. The attention to detail, the furniture, the ambiance is incredible. (I literally want to order one of those gorgeous chairs myself.) The whole place reads aesthetic to those who enjoy a fancy IG pic. The tableware, the utensils, everything is classy. -Above food, I care about service. And Chillies has SUPERB service. Literally every single person was beyond a 10/10. They were SO polite and friendly. And for my English only speaking friends, they all have great English of course. They constantly paid attention to when people were looking around to ask for help. And get this, say if they are busy, they have a nifty feature for each table where you can push a button to call a server over, get water, etc. This place has thought of it all! -Now the food and drinks. Oh man, do I recommend their milk tea. It's truly done right. I can taste the spices and it is so soothing to have. As for the food, my friend and I ordered the set for two. The portion of the food is generous. It may seem like the bowls of curry are small at first, but they're so flavorful and hearty that they're very filling. I can go on and on about each dish, but in the end, I loved each dish we had. We couldn't finish it all, so we had to take it to go. (Don't waste food people!) -Which leads to my next point. I had my take out the next day and it is JUST as good. -Price: I would say the prices fit with the prices along Guanxin Road/Hsinchu in general. But given the amount of food, I would say it's reasonable. For the flavor, totally worth it.

Side note: I no longer eat spicy goods on a daily basis. I probably should have gotten the least spiciest option (小辣/xiao la), but I went for the medium amount of spiciness. It's SO flavorful. Although it was a challenge for me as a person who hardly eats spicy food, it was still flavorful and manageable. But if you cannot take any heat, go for the 小辣。

In the end, I can't rave about this place enough. Highly recommend it!

Thank you for the great experience, Chillies! Will definitely be coming back any...

Honest Indian Review

After all the hype and excitement I decided to drop in and check out what all the noise was about.

There are some grey areas like the Naans, Rotis, Dal Makhani and Chicken tikka needs some attention. Naans were too thin, Chicken tikka was soggy - a lot of water released onto the plate and the Dal Makhani needs a re-look at the prep. Im not sure as a customer we need to see and chew the chopped onions and tomatoes in a Dhal Makhani. It needed to be alot thicker. I did order the chicken Biriyani twice. The first time it was out of the world reminding me of Biriyani back in India. The second time I bought the Biriyani, my younger son was right in commenting that there was an overdose of spices..I tasted it and it was true. It just needs a little consistancy and Chillies could have their first Hsinchu hit / favourite dish.

Now to the good part.

Tandoori Chicken - I would highly recommend this dish. The flavours come bursting into your mouth as it should, being an Indian dish and it was cooked to perfection with the right amount of smokiness and charring. The chicken itself was marinated well and was tender and juicy enough to make your mouth water while biting into a piece.

Mushroom Masala - very tasty. Mildly flavoured bringing out the earthiness of the mushrooms with a delicate blend of spice and masala. A true hero of our lunch that day.

Plain Lassi - Back to the flavour of Punjab. Awesome!

Price - In my opinion, slightly overpriced. My order of Chiken Tikka, Mushroom Masala, Plain Naan, Masala Naan, Tandoori Roti, Tandoori Chicken, Chicken Biriyani and Plain Lassi - approximately 2150/- TWD.

Value for Money - 3/5

Decor - Famously, The Indian Fatasy Style Decor - 4/5

How likely would I recommend this place -...