The Spice Shop Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Hsinchu

Living in Hsinchu for two years, I'm always craving the cuisine of my father's homeland. I've frequented the Indian restaurants between Hsinchu and Taipei and must say this is an Indian restaurant that sits low on my list. In my quest for Desi cuisine, I search for authenticity in the menu and in the dish's flavors. To the detriment of my palette's hopes, both of these essential necessities for a successful restaurant were missing from The Spice Shop.

Now, this restaurant had come with high recommendations. But I must say, these recommendations were from Taiwanese friends. There is a difference between what a Desi knows to be tasty Indian food and what a Taiwanese would expect for Indian food.

The recommendations had also come with fair warning: "Do not expect friendly service." Well, I thought, if the service is not friendly, the food must be excellent for them not to take care of their customers.

As soon as my group and I walked in, we were meet with the most unpleasant greeting ever, if you could call it a greeting.

As bad as it was, my hopes for excellent food grew. As soon as we sat down, the waitress was harsh in telling us to order quickly and that whatever we order will take 45+ minutes. Still in hope, I waited for the food to arrive.

The tamarind sauce served with the samosas was not tamarind. It was ketchup based! The mint chutney also served with it was not a mint chutney. The samosas were small and did not taste freshly made.

The raita was something else- not even sure what it was, but it was expired. When the rude waitress came back, I gave it back to her. She didn't care to ask why we didn't eat it or if there was something wrong. She just took it and went.

As we waited for the entrees to arrive, I looked at the decor, and I must say that the decor is magnificent. One of the more beautifully framed stitched art on walls I've ever seen. My eyes were happy.

When the entrees arrived, the whole table was so hungry! To be fair, the entrees were alright but definitely not flavorful or bold the way Desi food really is. The naan was hard (maybe reheated).

For just alright food, the service should be 1000% better than it is. The customers should be treated nicely.

For just alright food, the prices shouldn't be so high.

So, I will not be returning to The Spice Shop for less than mediocre food and terrible...

Updated Review Had such a wonderful lunch here today. I was welcomed kindly and served well. The staff and chef are kind and attentive. I had the mutton Vindaloo and it was delicious. I'm not a fan of goat, and have been served goat instead of mutton many times in Taiwan- but never here! The meat was also incredibly tender. It really hit the spot. I'm so glad this restaurant is so consistently good.

Original Review from 2018: This restaurant is always a delight. The environment is clean and tastefully decorated and the food is just incredible. The paneer is deliciously thick and creamy, the chicken tika was tasty and not spicy and the vindaloo was one of the best I've had. The chef heard that I complained that my husband doesn't like spicy food, so he brought over a side of spicy relish for me to add to the other food. It was spicy and so thoughtful! The service is great and it's awesome to be able to thank the chef in person. We ordered 3 dishes, rice and a naan and the bill was just over NT1000. It is real value for money, especially because we took home...

Food is not tasty, have limited items in the menu and pretty expensive. I would have not minded about the price if the quality and taste of food was good. Have tried Indian food in cities like Taipei, Taichung and Hualien which is almost or less than the price in this restaurant but the quality is par better and their menu have more varieties of food. Basically there are no dishes that south Indians really love to have, like lamb and chicken Biriyani. I can understand that food need to be prepared according to locals taste but the owner should consider Indians too and add one or two dishes that Indians usually like to have as this restaurant is closely located to National Chiao Tung University and National Tsing Hua University where many south Indians live . I am not quite sure if the cheff is an Indian either. Not satisfied with the service either. Will not suggest any of my Indian friends to try food...