Fans of Eat 3 Bowls at Crawford Lane will be thrilled to know that they have opened a second outlet in the West at Pasir Panjang near to MapleTree Business City.
The popular Taiwanese cafe first started off from a humble stall at Seah Im Food Centre and has quickly gained a permanent space and fanbase at Crawford Lane.
Their speciality is in authentic Taiwanese food and with famed 3 bowls (thus the name): Braised Pork Rice, Chicken Rice and Oyster Intestine Mee Sua.
Instead of the classroom theme at Crawford Lane, their 40-seater space here at Pasir Panjang features the theme of a train station, bringing diners on a gastronomical ride around Taiwan.
One will notice a time table reflecting the arrival timing of the trains at the various train stations in Taiwan.
This includes an “LED” panel commonly found on train platforms, a wall mural of the Taiwan Railway Administration train and various “windows” depicting the different iconic sceneries in Taiwan.
The number of menu items seem to have increased over here, with outlet exclusive items such as Sautéed Beef Cubes with Garlic 蒜香骰子牛 ($19.90), Tomato Omelette 台式番茄炒蛋 ($6), Sliced Pork Belly With Garlic Sauce 蒜泥白肉 ($7.20), Night market snacks such as Salted Crispy Chicken 酥炸盐酥鸡 ($7.80)，Fried Fish Fillet 东港炸鱼块 ($7.80)，Bitter-gourd Pork Rib Soup 苦瓜白骨汤 ($5.50).
There are also refreshing drinks such as Passion Fruit QQ 百香果QQ绿茶 ($4.80), Lemon Wintermelon Tea 冬瓜柠檬茶 ($4.30) and Black Tea Latte with Pearls & Red Beans 相思豆珍珠奶茶 ($4.80).
The Eat Three Bowls Set ($15) available at Crawford Lane will no longer be available here.
Instead, they are available as a la carte items of Braised Pork Rice 古早味卤肉饭 ($5), Chicken Rice 鸡肉饭 ($5) and Oyster Intestine Mee Sua 蚵仔大肠米线 ($7.20) respectively.
Fans of Eat 3 Bowls (like me) would have notice the difference in their bowls which are white instead of black over at this outlet.
The Braised Pork Rice 古早味卤肉饭 ($5) is as good as I remembered, with a nice ratio of pork meat and fats braised for a number of hours on top fluffy-short grain rice and drizzled with the right amount of sweet-savoury braised gravy.
For a moment, I thought I was really in Taiwan, eating a bowl of good Braised Pork Rice with the familiar Taiwanese 欢迎光临 accent coming from the staff in the background.
The Taiwanese Chicken Rice 鸡肉饭 ($5) is another must-order here, different from our local chicken rice, topped with very tender shredded meat and fluffy rice, onion and soy sauce, that is light and refreshing,
I decided to order the Sautéed Beef Cubes with Garlic 蒜香骰子牛 ($19.90), a popular night market snack in Taiwan but their pricing is not as night market-friendly over here though.
The Sautéed Beef Cubes with Garlic comes beef cubes lightly seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled to a medium rare doneness so that it’s not over cooked.
The garlic chips are addictive, adding crunch and flavours to the combination but it would be better if there’s more charred and smokiness in the beef cubes.
I enjoyed the outlet-exclusive Crispy chicken 酥炸盐酥鸡 ($7.80) that comes with a light and thin batter, deep-fried to give a golden brown shade.
You can choose your spiciness level here and it will vary by the amount of chili powder sprinkled onto it.
The chicken meats are extremely soft and tender yet the thin batter is light and crispy, with a distinctive textural contrast in every bite.
Apart from their Night Market menu that includes Fried Fish Fillet 东港炸鱼块 ($7.80) and Fried Squid 炸花枝 ($8.50), their Bittergourd Pork Rib Soup 苦瓜排骨汤 ($5.50) made a comeback since their days at Seah Im Food Centre.
Other soups include Herbal Pork Rib Soup 药炖排骨汤 ($6.50), Wintermelon Clam Soup 冬瓜蛤蜊汤 ($5.50) and Shiitake Chicken Soup 香菇鸡汤 ($5.50)。
To stay true to the theme of a train station, keep a look out for Eat 3 Bowls who will be serving Train Bento boxes here in the future.
Eat 3 Bowls 呷三碗車站
103 Pasir Panjang Road, Singapore 118531
Opening Hours: 11am – 9:30pm (Wed – Mon), Closed Tue
Other Related Entries
10 Luscious Lu Rou Fan In Singapore
Hei Lun Shi Tang 黑轮食堂 (Queensway)
Jiak by Jin Feng 金峰 (Ang Mo Kio)
Supreme Pork Chop Rice 一品排骨饭 (Beach Road)
Isshin Machi 一心一町 (East Coast Road)
* Written by Nicholas Tan @stormscape who loves all things [NEW]. DFD paid for food reviewed unless otherwise stated.