The Spice Shop, Hsinchu City Sights

Photos by MJ Klein Featured Dining: Indian Cuisine

Hui-chen and I drove around Hsinchu for a few hours, shopping and sightseeing. We love Hsinchu because you never know what you will find there. With the many small shops on numerous side streets, the scene is constantly changing. After it got dark, we decided to go for Indian food at a place recommended to us by our friend Saumen. Attention: Food Photos! [eminimall]

This is a famous area in Hsinchu. The BK is a local landmark.

One must exercise care when driving in Hsinchu because of the high density of 2 wheeled vehicles.

This is another famous area in Hsinchu – the traffic circle on Dong Men road. Yes, the road really is this red color, just as you see it.

We went walking around, shopping and checking out new places. Before we knew it, the sun had set and darkness had fallen.

Don’t know what it is, but there is something about Hsinchu at night that I like.

The BK really lights up the place at night.

This is another view of the circle. You have to stand here to appreciate the sensation of movement (I recommend the large view).

I have no idea what that thing is, but it’s sticking out from a building so I had to photograph it.

This is my favorite night shot of Hsinchu. One reason that I like the city is because of the vibrant colors.

Hsinchu has one of the smallest tunnels I’ve ever seen! This one goes under the train tracks not far from the station.

It’s my opinion that people follow too closely. In this shot we can see 4 scooters entering the tunnel at full speed. If anything happened there would be a massive pileup. One reason that I don’t like driving scooters here is that if one leaves a reasonable space between themselves and the scooter directly in front of them, someone will slide in and fill the space. So you are forced to drive closer than your safe stopping distance.

Hui-chen and I decided to try an Indian restaurant that Saumen recommended.

The Spice Shop is not far from the Hsinchu train station. The photos are geotagged on flickr.com so you can see the location the map. I have also geotagged this article with the approximate location of the restaurant. The first thing that struck me about The Spice Shop is the orange and blue colors.

As you walk to the front door, you can look up and see the 2nd floor dining room window.

Now the food was excellent, but a bit pricey. I don’t mind paying good money for good food and we both agreed that we could come back again. I don’t really know the names of Indian food but I’ll show you what the dishes look like and what I do know about them.

This is a tandoori flavored grilled chicken. Surprisingly moist as this kind of grilled chicken is usually very dry.

Succulent cubes of beef stewed in a spinach sauce. This dish was amazing.

Mixed vegetables in a cream sauce with no chili spices. Really great.

The first beef dish was so good that we decided to get another beef dish. This one was also a great dish but I did prefer the spinach.

This is the bread we got. My garlic is on the top and Hui-chen’s potato is on the bottom. I liked the garlic so much that I got 2 pieces.

The dining room is orange. I like the color and when you are eating you are surrounded by this warm glow. Hui-chen’s blue top fit it just right. I white-balanced the D80 so that the colors would be true (notice the white plates and napkins). This is how it looks when you eat there.

I will leave you with this outside-looking-in shot of The Spice Shop. Let us know if you plan on going there and we’ll meet you!