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Local foodies who want an indulgent would head to 3 Meals A Day at . The very popular eatery is packed daily with diners who patiently wait for its affordable salted egg dishes, which start at $7 for salted egg chicken, pork or fish with rice.  But lesser-known is the cafe’s two zi char sister outlets, which have been operating at Tampines and Hougang since 2021.  No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg . 1 6 Salted Egg Prawn with Rice 3 Meals A Day’s owner, Chew Kim Yong, 44, tells that he opened all three outlets at the same time. Although the Sim Lim Square branch is the most popular, the Hougang outlet at a HDB void deck is actually his original one. Prior to opening his eateries, he worked at another stall which also sells salted egg rice, but declines to reveal its name.  While Kim Yong’s Sim Lim Square diner specialises in salted egg rice and single-pax meals like Bee Hoon ($5.50) and Yang Zhou Fried Rice ($5.50) , the Tampines and Hougang branches offer an extensive selection of zi char dishes for sharing. 2 6 Sim Lim Square outlet with snaking long queues “We decided what to sell based on what we felt was suitable for the location. [Heartland] Hougang and Tampines are good for zi char eateries, while it's more appropriate to serve smaller dishes like cai fan and bee hoon at Sim Lim Square,” he explains. 3 6 Salted Egg Chicken with Rice Salted egg dishes sold here too But diners can still get their salted egg fix at the Tampines and Hougang eateries, and at a slightly lower price too. Here, salted egg chicken or pork ribs with rice goes for $6.50, instead of $7 at Sim Lim Square. According to Kim Yong, he adjusted prices at Sim Lim due to the GST hike this year, but it is still unconfirmed if he will do the same for his other branches. Other rice sets sold at Sim Lim that are also available here include Sweet and Sour Pork with Rice ($5.90) , Cheesy Butter Chicken Rice ($7) and Dried Chilli Chicken Rice ($5.90) . They are priced about 50 cents lower too.  4 6 BBQ Stingray Signature zi char dishes to order Despite the popularity of his salted egg dishes, Kim Yong says “more customers [at Tampines and Hougang] order the zi char dishes” compared to salted egg rice sets. 5 6 Deep Fried Pork Belly with Fermented Bean Paste Signature menu items include Creamy Salted Egg Chicken (from $13) , JB Ah Fook Street Claypot Curry Fish Head ($25) , Deep Fried Pork Belly with Fermented Bean Paste (from $13) and BBQ Stingray (from $18) . 6 6 JB Ah Fook Street Claypot Curry Fish Head Kim Yong tells us that the best-seller at Tampines and Hougang is the curry fish head, which turned out to be more popular there than 3 Meals a Day’s signature salted egg dishes. Though the claypot curry is inspired by and named after the famous Kam Long Ah Zai Curry Fish Head at Jalan Wong Ah Fook in Johor Bahru, Kim Yong says his kitchen team uses their own curry recipe, which “is enhanced with ingredients like Indian curry spices”.  But he named it after Kam Long Ah Zai’s address because “Ah Fook street is famous for their fish head curry”, though he avers that “the dish name is just a name”, and doesn’t follow the restaurant’s recipe. 3 Meals A Day is at #01-201 Blk 201 Tampines St 21, S520201 (Tampines), #01-1346 121 Hougang Ave 1, S530121 (Hougang) & #02-01 Sim Lim Square, 1 Rochor Canal Rd, S188504 (Sim Lim), Open daily 11am - 10pm (Tampines), 10am - 9.45pm (Hougang) & 9am - 7.45pm (Sim Lim). More info via their Instagram. Photos: 3 Meals A Day No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg . 8days.sg is now on #tiktok! Follow us on www.tiktok.com/@8dayseat