Taipei Day 1 - Simple + Hotel, 金峰鲁肉饭 (Jin Feng Lu Rou Fan/Braised Pork rice)

We arrived in Taipei after a 2 hrs flight. Took a bus from the airport but alighted a distance from our hotel. This is my 5th time in Taipei and the previous 4 times, I always stayed in Ximending area but this time round the hubs wanted us to try something "new" so I chose a hotel that had ok reviews on Tripadvisor. Simple + Hotel was difficult to find! Because it is located in an alley. We spent about half an hour looking for the hotel and the hubs had to carry the heavy luggage around, poor thing.

Finally found it! 

It's actually relatively near 小巨蛋. Though locating it was quite a feat, but the hubs actually felt that it is quite centrally located. Me, I'm just happy there's a 7-Eleven nearby. :D 

The lobby area which was homely and rustic, not for fussy travellers who love grandeur though. :)

Our room this time round was so much more spacious, which was a relief. We got the room on level 1 though, not sure if the rooms above are of similar size. They do have balconies but we don't though, so I am guessing their rooms may be slightly smaller?

The tv and the study table

Love the bathroom! Neat, clean and the toilet bowl comes with heater hehehe no need to be afraid of cold toilet seats in the winter anymore!

The hotel's gym located on the top floor

Laundry room for travellers who want to wash their clothes

The roof garden which was quite a nice place to rest and relax with a cuppa in your hands

and with Taipei 101 in the distance :)

We decided to head out for dinner as we were both really hungry and looking forward to some really fantastic snacks/food in Taipei! During our skiing trip in Seoul, the Taiwanese we met introduced us this 金峰鲁肉饭 which they claimed that is very famous and that throngs of people flock there for the braised pork rice. Upon hearing this, the hubs and I decided we shall flock there too.

Found it!

We ordered tofu, braised egg, radish soup for him and bittergourd soup for me.

Of course, the main lead of the day!

Unfortunately, the hubs and I felt a little cheated after eating this as we felt that it was only average. I think the Taiwanese we met raised our expectations so much that we were expecting a gastronomical explosion in our mouths on our first spoonful. Unfortunately that was not the case. 

Considering we walked 20 minutes (brisk walk some more!) for this, it was just very....ordinary I guess.

P/S: This post is my personal opinion and not representative of anything or anyone else. Jin Feng is a little on the sweet side, rather than being salty. Also, the pork, as you can see in the photo, are chopped so finely that there is nothing to bite. I would have preferred a little more bite perhaps?

 On the other hand, I must say that the hubs and I had to queue up for this as well. They are a small establishment and the seats were all full. The queue was quite non-stop so that is a testament to how popular they are amongst the locals. 

After that we walked around a while at Shi Da Night Market 师大夜市 and Shi Lin Night Market 士林夜市 before heading back to our hotel to rest for the night. After a while we got hungry so we strolled to the nearby 7-Eleven for supper!

Ta-dah!!! Got to love Taipei food coz everything's so affordable yet uber delicious! The mee sua (top) is mine while the beef don and chicken cutlet with curry is the hubs'! Plus two giant bottles of Yakult, some liang teh and a cup of Jagabee! 

I hate to say this but Taipei is better than home at times! *grin*