I can't believe I never went to this filming location and I never wrote about it. I guess I just thought I'd always get a chance to pop by during my next visit to Taiwan. That probably won't be happening for awhile, but I can still talk about it here! For newer Jasper fans, Pleasantly Surprised was the first drama Jasper did with Puff Kuo back in 2014- a drama about the developing romance between two chefs, the light-hearted, personable Ah Jie and the anti-social Du Kaiqi. Pleasantly Surprised was my first exposure to Jasper and I loved the drama so much I started a drama blog. The story isn't exactly to the standards of say, Someday Or One Day, but Puff and Jasper had amazing chemistry. And the cast also had really great chemistry...so good in fact that they're all still friends today! Anyway, in my recent obsession with drama filming locations, I've decided to write about the main filming location for Pleasantly Surprised: Figuro restaurant, or Buono Bella in real life.
Figuro Restaurant (Ah Jie & Kaiqi's workplace) - Bo nuo yidali liaoli-xinzhu 波諾義大利料理-新竹 Buono Bella Italian Restaurant-Hsinchu
Address: No. 525, Nanda Road, East District, Hsinchu City, Taiwan 300
Chinese Address: 300台灣新竹市東區南大路525號
Opening Hours: 11:30am-2:30pm, 6:00pm-10:00pm, Everyday except Tuesday
The main filming location for Pleasantly Surprised was a restaurant where the main characters, Ah Jie & Kaiqi, worked at. This restaurant is actually an Italian restaurant in Taipei. While it was known as Figuro in the drama, it's called Buono Bella in real life. It stands alone on it's own grounds surrounded by a lovely garden and pond. Many people visit for special occasions such as anniversaries, birthdays and proposals! In terms of food, it serves Italian dishes, particularly pizza, pasta and risotto, but also does some fancier cuisine like fillet steak with duck liver and truffle!
When Pleasantly Surprised was filming, the cast would take over the kitchens, back porch and gardens. Even though the drama was filmed 6 years ago, it looks like you can still find the actor's autographs if you visit. There were photos from late last year/ early this year of fans posing the the banner that Puff and Jasper signed for Buono Bella. One of Jasper's big Instagram fans, namliu1222, went on a pilgrimage here and took photos of other autographed things in the restaurant including a plate that Jasper signed for the owners as well as a giant tiled display with all the casts' signatures.
If you do visit make sure to keep your eyes out for the Pleasantly Surprised crew! Jasper has been known to visit from time to time (The picture of the restaurant's menu below was taken by Jasper!) But also, the crew are still friends and try to visit this restaurant at least once a year together - isn't that sweet? (Puff will join these hang outs most of the time, but Jasper is often busy these days). You can see the Instagram photos here.
Outside the restaurant - Building
