The Chung King mansions brings up mixed emotions for me. It is a place of conflicting descriptions, the foremost in my mind is off-putting and amazing. It is a far different place than when I first visited about a decade ago. Then, you would be swarmed by people trying to sell you drugs and sex. These days, you get mobbed by people trying to sell you cheap suits and watches. It’s a step up, really.

I first visited Chung King because of the notoriously cheap hostels. For a few bucks a night, you can get a mattress, or something that fits the barest description of a mattress, in a dorm room with nine other snoring bodies. The places can be pretty disgusting with bathrooms caked in years of neglect and a smell of body odor that permeates everything that passes the hostel entrance.

Even finding your hostel can be an adventure. As you wade through the vice dealers and shops that peddle samosas, in a place that can be best described as in indoor city, you do your best to find an elevator. But wait, there are three different towers, so after arrive at the supposed floor of your hostel, it isn’t there. You return to the ground floor to start the search again. Luckily, most people are quite friendly, so help isn’t hard to find.

These days, there isn’t as much vice peddling, so it’s a huge step up. The stench of the place has been lessened, but it is still just as crowded with mercantilism as before. The hostels still exist, so if you need a cheap place to put your head, it’s not the worst. But aside from cheap quarters, there is another very good reason to visit, the Indian food.

The mansions have some of the best Indian food I’ve had outside of India, and better than some IN India, as well! I would recommend you try the Delhi Club on the 3^rd floor of Tower C (https://goo.gl/maps/KxmMWFtEe352). The chicken tikki masala and channa masala is amazingly good.

There are plenty of shops on the ground floor, as well. I would recommend that you refrain from these. I’ve had wickedly bad experiences.