Kunming Islamic Restaurant 昆明園
I Highly Recommend ☆☆☆☆☆
Taipei restaurant offering: Indian Food / Middle Eastern Food / Burmese Food / Curry / Hummus / Samosa / Salad / Soup / Tandoori Chicken / Kung-Pao Chicken / Fried Chicken / Keema / Kebab / Kofta / Fried Fish / Biryani / Roti / Rice / Lassi / Dessert / Tea / Appetizers / Halal Food
Address:
No. 26, Ln. 81, Fuxing N. Rd., Songshan Dist., Taipei City 105
台北市嵩山區復興北路81巷26號
Phone: (02) 2751-6776
Hours: Mon - Fri: 11:30am - 2pm & 5:30pm - 9:30pm,
Sat & Sun & Holidays: 5:30pm - 9:30pm
Last Reviewed: 7 May 2017
Kunming Islamic Restaurant has been open for 17 years (2017 is the time of this review) according to their website, which might not be updated. They were one of the first Islamic restaurants to open in Taipei. The owner and chef are orthodox Muslims and you can be assured that the meat and all the ingredients used at Kunming are halal. I've visited Kunming many times with my Muslim friend, Asif, and he thinks Kunming is the best halal restaurant in Taipei, and many other Muslims in the Taipei Muslim community agree with him.
I first visited Kunming in 2011 and remember being very satisfied with my experience. I made two more visits in later years, but it wasn't until 2017 that I made many trips to Kunming because the food is addictive, and I wanted to try enough dishes to properly review this fine restaurant in order to benefit those that live in Taiwan.
You might be a little confused as to what to order at Kunming, being that they have different types of food on the menu: Indian/Pakistani, Middle Eastern, South East Asian, and Yunnan (Chinese). The Indian/Pakistani dishes are without a doubt the best thing at Kunming. My Indian friend enjoys some of their dishes very much -- a person's critique from the same region as the food is always the best validating method, of course.
Even knowing that Indian/Pakistani food is the recommended food group to order at Kunming, there is still more you need to know in order to choose the right dishes: Some of the curry is excellent and some of it is horrible. We've found a trick to help navigate through the menu and always avoid the less desirable curry: All the curry on the menu that includes the word "curry" in the dishes' titles are the bad curry -- there are six of them: Curry Chicken, Curry Beef, Curry Mutton, Curry Dall, Mixed Curry Vegetable, and Curry Shrimp. They're more like soup than curry; you can clearly see for yourself by looking at the Curry Mutton in the picture section below. If you only ordered those dishes, you'd most likely never return to Kunming, thinking that they had awful curry. Why does Kunming create them if they can also create delicious curry dishes? Maybe they figured it would better suit the palate of the locals, I don't know. [I was later told that they're Burmese-style curry dishes and are akin to what is served in Little Burma in Nanshijiao, and there is a lunchtime deal that features these type of curry dishes, which I didn't know about because I never went during lunchtime. So if you're used to and like Indian-style curry, I don't recommend ordering their Burmese-style curry. They should label the curry items on their menu as being Indian or Burmese.] So be sure to order the curry that isn't labeled with the word "curry" in the title -- I know that sounds really weird. Our favorite curry dishes at Kunming that keep us coming back for more are: Chicken Masala, Spicy Lamb, Chana Masala, and Coconut Chicken. The first three seem to have the same spicy curry base and contain cilantro (coriander), so if you're not a fan, ask if it's possible for it to be omitted; I love cilantro so I never asked whether one could do that or not. Good secondary curry dishes are Beef Keema and Tomato with Ground Beef. It's also very important to note that the amount of curry that you get for the price is much better than any other Indian restaurant in Taipei. Those that know that Indian food is too expensive in Taipei can take comfort in this fact.
The Chicken Biryani is also delicious and is the best bang for your buck at Kunming. The Tandoori Chicken seemed to be hit and miss on our many visits to Kunming: Sometimes it was completely delicious, and other times it wasn't marinated long enough for the strong flavors to seep into the chicken, leaving it not as strong as traditional Tandoori chicken should be; however, it was juicy every time. There are also some other good options like soup and dessert at Kunming, and this information is covered in the critiquing captions of the pictures below, as always.
If you follow my instructions, you'll enjoy some delicious curry with your biryani and/or chapati -- which is actually more like roti -- when you dine at Kunming Islamic Restaurant. Now you can savor delectable Indian food in Taipei without emptying your wallet.
Vegetarian options: I didn't inquire as to what they use in their non-meat curry dishes, so I can't safely label any of them vegetarian, but after looking at the pictures of the menu below, you'll see that there are definitely some vegetarian options besides the meatless curry dishes to choose from.
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Click pictures for prices and critiques
Kunming Islamic Restaurant 昆明園 website
Kunming Islamic Restaurant 昆明園 Facebook page
Kunming Islamic Restaurant 昆明園 Chinese review by L號小姐 (Miss Large)
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Address:
No. 26, Ln. 81, Fuxing N. Rd., Songshan Dist., Taipei City 105 台北市嵩山區復興北路81巷26號 Phone: (02) 2751-6776 Hours: Mon - Fri: 11:30am - 2pm & 5:30pm - 9:30pm, Sat & Sun & Holidays: 5:30pm - 9:30pm English, Chinese, & Arabic Menu 10% Service Charge Cash Only Reservations Accepted Wi-Fi Click on the link below for their Google Map page for the street view and/or other visitor's photos. Afterwards, you can click the dedicated back button on Google Maps to view the destination on a full-screened Google Map for directions. Kunming Islamic Restaurant 昆明園 |
Anje's Lets View The World vblog of Kunming Islamic Restaurant 昆明園.
A cute Indonesian female interviews Yacoob Mah, the owner, and gives her top menu picks.
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