通庵 熟成咖哩

Overall Review: 🌕🌕🌕🌘🌑
Dickson's Mouthpiece Food Review #270
This time I'm here to review a well-known curry shop
I've heard a lot about Tong'an Curry, a must-visit for Taipei locals,
and I've always wanted to give it a try.
However, there are usually long lines shortly after opening,
so this time I specifically arrived early to line up.

If you're looking to get a seat for the first wave,
you can come to the entrance about 15 minutes before opening,
and you should be able to grab one of the first seats!

Also, because the interior space isn't very large and there aren't many seats,
you'll need to wait outside for a while before you can be seated.

In terms of the curry's flavor,
I might have had a lot of expectations,
and, while I found it quite decent after actually dining there,
it wasn’t as stunning as I had imagined, which is a bit disappointing.
Overall, it's a nice place for curry
that’s worth visiting again,
but it doesn’t reach the level of being extremely delicious or particularly impressive.
Overall, I would describe it as a fairly standard homemade curry taste.
However, considering the current crazy price hikes at various curry places,
this curry shop offers quite good value for money!

The available curry options here are very simple,
split into chicken, beef, or a mix.
A very appealing part is that
you can get a free refill of rice and miso soup once!

However, my personal impression on my first visit
was that the curry sauce wasn’t very abundant,
while there was a lot of rice,
which made me feel like the curry sauce wasn't enough to cover all the rice.

Also, since there were other combo meals available that day,
I tried one of the combo meals which included
squid tempura and one fried wonton.
The portion was quite generous!

As for the overall space in the shop,
even after many years of operation, it’s quite neat and fresh.
The downside is that there are very few seats;
the restaurant can only accommodate about eight customers at a time.
No wonder there are often long lines outside!

Food: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Atmosphere: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Service: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Price: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌘

⭐️ Food
This curry shop primarily serves curry,
with very simple items: beef, chicken, and a mix.
On that day, Dickson opted for the mixed variety
to enjoy two types of meat at once.

However, the restaurant seems to be quite cost-conscious.
If you order the mixed meat, the portions will be one half beef and one half chicken.
Of course, if you only want beef, you can specify that to get all beef!

The curry flavor is quite Taiwanese
and features the shop's unique chili oil.
When you place your order, you can specify the desired spiciness,
and whether you want to exclude any specific ingredients, which is quite thoughtful!

As previously mentioned,
this curry has a distinctly Taiwanese flavor
and the overall curry taste is quite rich.
However, it was a bit unfortunate that
the curry sauce seemed slightly insufficient that day.
If you want to have a more generous and mixed curry rice,
the sauce might be a bit lacking.
But if you want extra curry sauce, you'll have to pay more.

Given that the rice and miso soup can be refilled for free,
it's a bit regrettable if you don’t have enough sauce to pair with it.

The ingredients in the curry are plentiful,
and the meat is cut into satisfying chunks!
Overall, the curry flavor is quite decent!
It's a place worth revisiting for good curry!

That day, I ordered other combo items.
Personally, I think you don’t need to order extras unless you really want them.
The combo included squid tempura and fried wontons,
which were relatively less standout.
So I think we could have just focused on the curry rice! 😂😂😂

⭐️ Atmosphere
Although the shop isn't large,
the walkway can barely fit one person,
the space is quite clean and bright,
making it a very nice place to dine.

All the seating areas are in front of the bar,
so you can directly see how the staff handle the curry!
However, the space between seats is quite small,
resembling the experience of eating ramen in a typical Japanese ramen shop.

But because of this, the table turnover rate is pretty fast,
making it feel like the restaurant encourages quick dining. 😂😂😂

⭐️ Service
Every seat in the restaurant has a menu in front of it.
Once you're ready, you can place your order with the staff.
While waiting for your meal, you can also specify your desired level of flavor.
The staff will make special preparations for you while they prepare your food.

There’s nothing particularly special about the service;
essentially, you just place your order after being seated,
and then your curry is served to you.

⭐️ Price
In terms of curry rice prices in Taipei today,
the prices here are quite cheap,
especially since you can get a free refill of rice and miso soup!
This is great news for rice lovers!

So overall, I think the value for money is quite high!

⭐️ Overall
Some people refer to this curry shop as the "king" of Taipei's curry scene,
which I think is slightly overhyped.
I personally think it’s a pretty good curry shop
with cheap prices and high value.
If you don’t want to dine in,
takeout is also pretty quick!

So I think it's actually more suitable
for office workers passing by after work
to grab a few servings of curry rice to take home.
In that sense, the value for money and deliciousness are quite good!

For those who love curry
and happen to work nearby,
I think you should give this place a try!

Regardless, I believe this curry shop
is definitely a must-try in Taipei at least once!