I don’t know what the heck it is about this place, but I just get the darndest colds here and can’t shake them. Today I woke up and felt like I’d been setback to my worst day of the cold last week.
I can only imagine this isn’t so much a cold as a nasty allergy to Taipei. The air here really is foul, and we have to sleep with the windows open at night.
My plans for eating dinner got harpooned last night and I was starving when I awoke, that certainly didn’t help. Yet it was still 2 hours before we headed out to eat. First we tried Ding Tai Fung but as it was 11, the line was already enormous.
Then we headed for what was, I believe, the last Round Table Pizza in Taipei last time we were here, and no surprises, it’s now gone also. So much for “The Last Honest Pizza.”
Right over the top of Round Table Pizza is Ali Baba’s Indian Restaurant and on weekends at lunchtime they have all-you-can-eat for $399. The opened at 11:30 and we arrived at 11:35, perfect timing, so we thought.
First we had to get the stroller upstairs. It should have been easy as they provide a convenient elevator to whisk you to the second floor.
The problem is, the elevator is located half a floor up, and the only way to get to it is by stairs. What were they thinking?
We were the first to be seated and then promptly ignored. Others came in, in fact, the restaurant filled up, and they were all ignored. It turns out that the restaurant opens at 11:30, but doesn’t serve food until 12:00. At least we got to experience the authentic Indian ambience in the meantime – Indian music videos of Saturday Night Fever.
When the food was served, it was great. I had some really good chicken and mutton and something else I couldn’t identify but was really tasty. The meal also came with naan, which is Indian bread used to hold the sauce from the stewed dishes. That arrived 25 minutes after food was served. Also, the meal came with a drink, that was served about 45 minutes after the meal started.
Not much on service, but no complaints about the food at all!
By the time we got back to the house, I crashed. I had nothing left to keep me going. Meanwhile, Irene had arranged for us to go with the kids to her friend Phoebe’s place and meet up with several old friends. I slept right through that.
After she returned, and after I awoke, we headed out to Danshui, near the coast to look around. It’s rather like a night market and state fair combined. There was even an Indian (Native American type) band playing music on the waterfront. They weren’t bad, either.
Tomorrow, we head into the country again.