3 Meals a Day — Restaurant in Singapore

A popular spot amongst locals and recently amongst tourists as well serving good quality food at affordable prices in a very much localized yet clean environment. It’s located inside Sim Lim Square, a mall mainly selling electronics and repair services.

Do note that there are 3 queues, one for caifan (economic rice where you select from a range of dishes and pay accordingly at the end - prices for 2 meat and 2 veg would be in the range of $5-7 depending on the type of meat usually), one for ordering from the ala carte menu (this is where you order zichar dishes or the freshly cooked dishes), and the third to queue to wait for a table. I went for the ala carte option as I wanted to try their salted egg chicken. I also ordered some iced lemon tea to cool down from the heat.

They would give you an order number while you queue and subsequently deliver the food to you. The whole process ran pretty smoothly and the timing is just nice whereby you’re served shortly after you queue and sit down. There’s a lady who is pretty much the traffic warden to control the whole flow.

Food was delicious. For those new to salted egg, it is pretty much an egg that has been brined. The chicken is fried and coated in a creamy, eggy, salty and slightly spicy sauce. It goes well with an over easy egg and white rice. There’s also some prawn crackers at the side for the added sinfulness. Iced lemon is light and refreshing, I prefer the kind that has little to no sugar and this hit the spot.

Edit: I came back 2 more times to try their caifan aka economical rice. Do note the queue is separate from the ala carte queue, but you still need to wait to order because of the seating availability. There’s also takeaway options available and for that you don’t need to wait for the seats and can just order.

Anyway on to the food. The first time I ordered 2 meat and 3 veg and it was $6.10. Second time I ordered 3 veg items and 3 meat items and it was $7.30. I think it’s pretty worth it as they are pretty generous w the serving and the food itself is very good. The meat is proper meat unlike some stalls where it’s mostly flour.

Dishes I ordered:

1. fried egg, brinjal, tofu, curry chicken, fried chicken cutlet w lemon sauce
2. fried chicken cubes, fried chicken cutlet, curry chicken, egg, brinjal, curry veg

If you’re a tourist, seriously give this a shot. This is one of those local experiences you should have as it’s one of the staple meals of every Singaporean growing up or even when working.

Edit: came on a weekday around 1030am. The last time I came around 1pm all the caifan ingredients were gone. Glad I came earlier this time as there wasn’t a queue and I could get seated even though the eatery was already quite full. Satisfying caifan at good...

My first experience at 3 Meals a Day, eagerly anticipated for its famed Salted Egg Chicken Rice, turned out to be quite the culinary adventure. Alongside this highly recommended dish, we decided to try their Butter Chicken Rice for comparison, accompanied by refreshing drinks to complement our meal.

Navigating the ordering process was a bit tricky initially. You're required to place your order at the restaurant counter before joining the queue for seating. For first-timers, this setup can be confusing, especially given the absence of clear lines. While the staff does their best to assist, they can sometimes be preoccupied, making it challenging to get immediate attention. Additionally, it's worth noting that you can't hold your place in line while a friend orders for you—a fair policy given the lack of signage.

Seating options abound both inside and outside the establishment. We opted for an outdoor spot, although it's worth mentioning that this might not be ideal for families due to its proximity to a provocative shop. For a more comfortable dining experience, I'd recommend snagging a table indoors. Fortunately, with ample seating available, we didn't have to wait long before being seated, and our food arrived promptly, just 15 minutes after being seated.

Both the Salted Egg Chicken and Butter Chicken dishes were a delight to the senses. Served with crispy crackers and a fried egg, the chicken was generously coated in sauce. While both dishes were visually appealing, I found myself leaning slightly more towards the Butter Chicken—it struck a perfect balance of flavors for my palate. However, the Salted Egg Chicken, while a tad strong for my taste, still impressed. At around $8+, the pricing felt reasonable, especially considering the restaurant's CBD location.

Would I return? Absolutely. Beyond the rice sets, they offer a diverse range of...

Walked pasted quite a number of times around lunchtime and the queue was always crazy so I have never really tried until this time I visited at a time close to 3pm. The place was still very crowded but the queue was short. I queued only about 5 minutes and was then able to take my order. Finding a space was also pretty quick. The moment I paid for the food the staff got me a table immediately. 5 minutes later he came and said he wanted to shift me to inside the shop I said okay but ended up nothing happened. Everything was quick but the waiting time for the food took quite a while. Waited for about 20 minutes for the rice to be served. Felt strange I ordered a drink and I was halfway through the meal it wasn't even served yet so I asked the staff to check and they finally brought it over. Speaking about the salted egg chicken with egg, I have to say it felt only pretty average to me. The good points first: the salted egg sauce was totally heavenly, one of the best ever tasted. I didn't think of finishing the rice cause initially I thought there was too little sauce but managed to scoop almost everything dry to finish the rice. The fried egg was good too, loved the dark orange yolk coating the rice as well. The keropok, very crispy and soft, pretty unusually good. The not so good: chicken was cold, doesn't even look like chicken pops cause it's even smaller, and the chicken was quite tough it tasted more like pork to me. Looked crispy but it's not. Had the 3 layer tea, looked interesting and surprisingly when I drank with my eyes closed it tasted like bandung! A little too sweet for my liking though, had to wait for the ice to melt a little to dilute the drink. Price wise considered reasonable and timing was good to queue didn't know about the long waiting time. Won't recommend queueing during peak hours so better go outside meal hours if you...