San Yuan Hao Braised Pork Rice was originally located in Old Jiancheng Circle, making it a very old and famous braised pork rice shop. It was founded in 1920 and has been around for over 100 years. When the circle was demolished, it moved to its current location on Chongqing North Road.

Even though it's a hundred-year-old shop, the dining environment has always been well maintained. A few years ago, they remodeled it with a traditional Chinese courtyard style, giving it a nostalgic feel that attracts many international tourists.

Back in the Old Circular Era, there were four famous braised pork rice shops: Long Yuan Hao, Long Feng Hao, San Yuan Hao, and the original Hu Xu Zhang. Long Yuan Hao, San Yuan Hao, and Hu Xu Zhang stayed around the circle, while Long Feng Hao moved to Luzhou District.

San Yuan Hao Braised Pork Rice is great in every way—unique dishes, nice atmosphere, and friendly service. The kitchen is very clean, and if you look closely, you won't see a drop of soup or oil on the tables.

San Yuan Hao Braised Pork Rice is busy from morning till night, open from 9 am to 9 pm—pretty much all day. Even during the busy hours, the staff is always friendly and attentive.

Right from the moment we queued up, the staff came to ask how many of us there were. After we sat down, they also checked if we were finished ordering. I know they're rushing to turn tables, but even during busy times, you can still feel the staff being friendly.

San Yuan Hao Braised Pork Rice doesn't have many dishes. The main dish is just braised pork rice. There are three soups: shark fin meat soup, matsutake quail egg soup, and pork rib soup.

Almost everyone here orders braised pork rice, so I didn't notice they also have shark fin meat soup and shark fin meat noodles. These two are also really good, and many regulars often order them too.

Since the only main dish is braised pork rice, I recommend ordering a large bowl. Getting a small bowl with soup might not be enough, and you might end up ordering another small bowl later.

The side dishes aren't many—garlic pork slices, preserved egg tofu, dried mackerel, dried tofu and seaweed, braised eggs, and some blanched vegetables.

There are two seasonings on the table: black vinegar and pepper. If the Shark Fin Meat Soup isn't tangy enough, you can add a bit of black vinegar. If it's not salty enough, add some pepper.

Chopsticks and utensils are on each table, and you can help yourself to a small bowl if you need one. Also, if you order the braised pork rice, don't forget to get the pickled cucumber to go with it. The pickled cucumber isn't included with the rice—you have to grab it yourself, or you might miss out.

Braised Pork Rice (魯肉飯)

San Yuan Hao Braised Pork Rice has the Northern-style braised pork with almost no fat, mostly lean meat. The meat is sliced very thin, and there's lots of sauce, so it's not dry and still tastes delicious. The lean meat isn't tough either.

I think the saltiness is just right, a flavor everyone can enjoy. I saw a foreigner at the next table eat three bowls all by himself.

I really like the pickled cucumbers at San Yuan Hao Braised Pork Rice. If the braised pork rice isn't flavorful enough, you can add the pickled cucumbers. They're self-serve, crispy, not too sour, and a little sweet. It tastes really good and refreshing.

Shark Fin Meat Soup (魚翅肉羹)

I think the braised pork rice here is pretty average, maybe a little above middle. I believe the best dish at San Yuan Hao Braised Pork Rice is this bowl of shark fin meat soup, which costs 60 TWD. It looks really small, but after eating it, I found it's actually packed with ingredients.

A small bowl, not much soup, but packed with pork thick soup, Chinese mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and sea cucumbers.

The Pork Thick Soup has a great texture, very tender meat. The broth tastes slightly tangy and a bit sweet. It tastes even better with Braised Pork Rice.

Matsutake and Quail Egg Soup (松茸鳥蛋湯)

This bowl of soup is full of mushrooms, almost spilling out. I really love mushrooms, so I get super excited when I see this.

It's packed with ingredients like Chinese mushroom, radish, and quail eggs. There are even 3 quail eggs! The bowl costs 60 TWD, but I think it's really good value.

The broth tasted pretty bland and lacked flavor. Honestly, it felt more like eating mushrooms than drinking soup. If you want soup, I'd recommend the pork rib soup instead.

Garlic Pork Slices (蒜泥白肉)

His garlic pork slices are made with pork belly, and this plate costs 60 TWD. I think it's a bit not worth the price. The whole plate is covered with soy sauce paste, which surprised me at first—I was worried it'd be too salty. But I found out the soy sauce paste isn't very strong in flavor.

I think all the dishes at San Yuan Hao Braised Pork Rice are good, but I don't recommend this one because the meat is too tough and uncomfortable to eat. The soy sauce paste isn't very salty either. I don't think they should cut the garlic pork slices so thick — it's really hard and tough to chew.