VASO Hong Meat Sauce Rice Shop is a Bib Gourmand recommended restaurant. I had eaten at the Kaohsiung location before and thought the spicy meat sauce rice with a soft-boiled egg was amazing. The meat sauce was rich in gelatin, the spiciness was just right, and I gave it a five-star review right after finishing. Recently, I found out that they opened a branch in Anping, Tainan, so of course I had to try it, but the experience was a bit disappointing.

This time I ordered the signature meat sauce rice, and while the flavor was okay, it felt slightly different from the Kaohsiung store. The spiciness was a bit weaker, and the sauce aroma wasn’t as rich. I’m not sure if it was just the cooking conditions that day. Although it was still better than typical braised pork rice, it lacked the stunning impression I had before. The meat bone soup I ordered was quite shocking; there was a piece of meat in it that had a lot of hair. I truly don’t understand what part it was, and it instantly affected my appetite. The soup base was also average, without any special aromas, which was completely different from my impression of the Kaohsiung location.

The vegetables and side dishes were just ordinary—there were no special surprises. Overall, the meat sauce rice at the Anping location maintained a fair standard, but it wasn’t as impressive as the Kaohsiung store. The other dishes were quite normal. I originally came in with extremely high expectations, so I was a bit disappointed. I would give the Kaohsiung store five stars, but for the Anping store, I can only give about 3.5 stars.