Mr J 義法廚房北醫店 (Mr J French-Italian Restaurant II - The Secret Restaurant)

Mr J 義法廚房北醫店 (Mr J French-Italian Restaurant II)

This is just a part of my Solo Yolo Taiwan Trip Day 1 in 2015!
Check out my suggested itinerary here!

The Secret Restaurant!

This was the second Jay Chou Restaurant that I set out to visit! 

Check out the earlier restaurant Mr J 藤原豆腐新生店 Fujiwara Tofu Shop here!

Also check out his now defunct Mr J restaurant here!

I checked online that it is recommended that you make a reservation before visiting. However, the restaurant was pretty empty when I reached. In any case, email to mrj.mrj@msa.hinet.net for any reservation.

This is the most popular of all his restaurants! And the most easiest to locate!

So below is the public transport way:

Directions: 

Take metro to Taiwan City Hall Station.

Go to Exit 2.

Take the free shuttle bus which comes once every 15 minutes I think. 

And then, this is the hospital. 

Besides running from the city hall to the hospital, the free shuttle buses also goes to some brown line metro station. Do check it out and plan for your next trip after Taipei University!

After they dropped you off here, do not walk straight into the hospital. Walk along the corridor to the right.

This is what you will see. The actual campus where the medical students will congregate.

This is what you see on your left! Mr J is located in here!

This is the interior of the restaurant. 

The mandatory photo with the secret piano

This Jay Chou painting used to be in his old restaurant! Guess they have shifted a lot of paintings to this place.

They sell Jay Chou's souvenirs here. If you are thinking of getting, be prepared to bring more money! The cheapest item starts from NT 99.

You get hang your love messages to Jay Chou here! I wonder if he reads!

The whole restaurant takes up 2 floors! The second floor only has the toilet. Climb the stairs to 

relieve yourself.

I think Jay Chou is very cute! Very charismatic when he plays the piano! 

I chose this pasta, which looks yucky and tasted not really ideal. Couldn't understand the chinese words and randomly picked this. I think it was some veggie sauce. I asked for a set meal for NT99. Total cost for the meal is NT 396.

I could not finish the meal. I asked them to just serve the dessert. A petite cake.

If you ask me, I think this restaurant is a must-go for all Jay Chou fans! Skip the tofu restaurant. Just come to this restaurant. Ask for the set meal and you will be quite full at the end of it :)

Mr J 藤原豆腐新生店 Fujiwara Tofu Shop

Mr J 藤原豆腐新生店 Fujiwara Tofu Shop

This is just a part of my Solo Yolo Taiwan 2015 Day 1!.
Check out what I did for the rest of Day 1 here!

This is a restaurant I must visit! Previously, I came here in 2013 once and the restaurant was closed! I was really disappointed last time! (click here). Check out his now-defunct Mr J restaurant here!

I have already made my reservation previously online as I read that they may sometimes turn away customers if the restaurant gets too crowded. You can email to mrj.mrj@msa.hinet.net for any reservation. But much to my dismay, the tofu shop was rather empty.

So I took around 2 hours to get to the venue! But that was because I trusted the wrong people and was lost. There was this rather unhelpful man who told me to just follow using googlemaps. Well, actually should have just striven to find the place myself.

Directions: Alight at Taipower Station Exit 2.

After which, walk straight out downwards, and turn left after you have reached Wen Zhou Jie (溫州街).  

Address: Daan District, Taipei City, Taiwan No. 6, Lane 74, Wēnzhōu (臺灣臺北市大安區溫州街74巷6號) St 

Phone: (+886) 02 2364 3456 

Opening Hours: Mon – Sun: 11.30am – 2pm, 5pm – 8pm

Ask around if unsure but just remember you can do it searching alone! 

Really happy to have finally reached the place! Made eye contact with a solo traveller from Shanghai as well and we sat together to have lunch in celebration of our unexpected meeting.

My new friend

Many souvenirs on sale. 

I think the food here is rather expensive. For around NT200+, I got for myself cod fish. Pretty small portion. Be sure to have your lunch beforehand and come here just for tasting of food haha.

I exchanged travel tips with my newly made friend before we ended our lunch. It was a pity she was rushing for time as I had planned to go to Mr J's Secret Restaurant in the later part of the day.

Check out my review of the next restaurant in my next post!

Space Inn Hostel Taipei Review

Space Inn (太空艙青年旅舍)

This is part of my Solo Yolo Taiwan Day 1 2015!

Check out my other attractions here!

I stayed in Space Inn Hostel for 3 nights between 31st Aug to 3rd Sept during my solo trip to Taiwan in 2015. For other reviews, please click my previous posts!

Coming out from Ximen Exit 4, walk around 2 and a half buildings before stopping by Block 51 building. Space Inn is at the basement, which shares with other tenants such as a tuition centre.

I arrived in my hostel at around 9 plus to 10am as I took a midnight flight. Check - in time to the hostel was 3pm, which means I could only deposit my luggage. 

The receptionists were able to converse fluently in English but I chose to speak in Mandarin. This is Taiwan; I love their accent. So after ensuring my luggage are well-secured, I went to Mr J restaurant. At around 4pm, I came back again to check in my stuff and have a quick shower. 

I was given this access card which was used to gain access into the inn.

You enter the common lounge once inside.

Yes at night, you are able to sit around and talk to people. But compared to other hostels which I have stayed in during my solo backpacking trip, I think it's not easy to make friends in Space Inn. 

Everyone is with their friends, ready to explore the city of Taipei. I feel that people here are not as receptive as other hostels. I don't feel the warmth that should be expected of a hostel. Yes, this is just a dormitory. A no-frills accommodation.

There were three types of rooms - female dorm, male dorm and mixed dorms. 

My dorm was in F11, at the innermost end of the whole hostel. 

Along the way, I passed by the laundry room, where washing and dryer machines are available for rental, for a fee of between NT 25 to 50 if i don't remember wrongly. You can also purchase detergent for around NT 10. 

And then, there is the kitchen, where you are able to borrow mugs for drinking. There is a fridge available as well. What I really like are the recycle bins! Besides the usual recycle bins for paper, plastic and cans, there is also this recycle box for electronic products. 

Free coffee is also available in the morning. 

And then, there is this shower room / toilet. There is only one of such in the entire hostel, so this has to be huge. Having said that during peak hours, shower rooms may not be available. Cubicles are almost always available. Otherwise, there is enough supply. 

(edited form Google)

Hair dryers on one side, basin on the other side. Dryer available. 

And then.. My dorm!

Special light effects showing the room number :)

I got assigned the 8-beds dorm. 

So the same access card is used to unlock / lock your personal locker.

Quite big actually, I could place the luggage below in.. And also my backpack! 

Oh yeah, I requested for the bottom bunk so that I can use the bottom locker haha.

Oh ya, do remember not to put your access card inside the locker! It happened twice to me :X I was so embarrassed. 

Felt that this hostel offers the most complete electrical socket! There are 2 USB charges as well. But note that if you are using both ports, charging can get quite slow.

And this is my welcome gift! A pack of tissue! HAHAHAH.

So behind the door, there is actually a mirror where you get to check yourself up.

There is also a door bell if you were to forget to bring your access card.

Basically, I feel that this is really a dormitory.. Lacking of the typical Taiwanese warmth. This place is well kept, well-run by a system and there was not much interaction among the guests, unlike a minsu. However, overall, I still made friends with 2 China girls whom we went Shida Night Market together on one of the nights.

Another thing I do not like about this dormitory is that, I have to walk a long way towards the toilet. For someone like me who kept forgetting to bring along my shower stuff especially, it was a torture.

Still a great experience for my three nights here :)

Address: B1F., No.51, Hengyang Rd., Taipei City, Taiwan

Directions:  By car: Highway No. 1 → Chongqing North Road interchange → On Chongqing North Road, go toward the center city area → Make a right turn on Hengyang Road.

MRT: Bannan Blue Line and Xiaonanmen extension. Get off at the Exit 4 at Ximen Station. 5 minutes walk to the destination.
Taiwan Railways: After arriving at Taipei Main Station, transfer to MRT Bannan Blue Line or Xiaonanmen extension to Ximen Station.
High-Speed Rails: After arriving at Taipei Main Station, transfer to Taipei MRT or bus.
Bus: Take 15, 18, 22, 220, 247, 257, 276, 287, 513, 621, 938, 640, 835. Chongqing branch to 228 Peace Memorial Park.
Taoyuan International Airport: Take the airport shuttle bus at the southwest side of the arrival hall on the 1st floor of Terminal 1, or the northeast side of the arrival hall of the 1st floor of Terminal 2 to Taipei Main Station and transfer to MRT or bus (information on airport shuttle bus).
Songshan International Airport: Take the Neihu Line of MRT and transfer to Bannan Blue Line to Ximen Station.

Adapted From