11 Cai Png Hawker Stalls Where You Can Get Hearty Economic Rice For Under $3

For those who love dining out, rising food costs has put a dampener on makan sessions. Despite its name, even the dependably wallet-friendly cai png is not as economical these days with hawker stalls charging eye-watering prices for a plate of rice and some meat and veggies. But it’s still possible to enjoy a hearty meal for under $3, provided that you know where to find the kind-hearted hawkers who are committed to selling their food at affordable prices.

Here are 11 cai png stalls:

Lam Chan Mixed Veg Rice

This popular Jurong East stall has a constant queue, as it serves filling yet budget-friendly cai png with generous portions. A meal with 1 meat + 1 veg, or 3 veg (all with rice) costs only $2.50. There’s a wide variety of dishes like chicken curry, sweet-and-sour pork, fried fish, fried chicken, stir-fried brinjal in bean sauce and ngoh hiang. Although the official opening hours of this stall is from 9am to 5pm on weekdays, it can close as early as 1 pm when its food sells out. So be sure to drop by early.

Address: #01-180 Yuhua Market & Food Centre, 347 Jurong East Ave 1, S600347.

Opening hours: Open Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm or till sold out.

VI Economical Rice

Hong Lim Food Centre stall VI Economical Rice is easy to spot with its bright blue signboard emblazoned with the words “any 3 items + rice $2.80”. But if you order 3 meat dishes to go with rice, it will cost $3.50. Stall owner Fu Ruiqiang has been selling cai png for over 20 years and keeps his prices low to cater to his elderly customers. He’s also not calculative about his pricing, and lets small eaters order two dishes with rice for just $2.30.

There’s an old-school flavour to Ruiqiang’s cooking that reminds us of homecooked food, and he typically sells out of his food by around 2pm. The stall offers around 18 dishes at a time – the meat options include stir-fried pork, curry chicken, pork liver, sardines and ngoh hiang while the veg options include garlic cai xin, preserved Chinese sauerkraut and fried tofu.

Address: #02-06 Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, 531A Upper Cross St, S051531.

Opening hours: Open Mon-Sat except PH, 8am-3pm or till sold out.

Photo: Edde Edeleden Chan/Facebook

Goldhill Family Restaurant

Known for its $1 fried chicken wings and affordably-priced cai png, Goldhill Family Restaurant regularly attracts insanely long queues in Hougang. Other than chicken wings, customers also flock to the eatery for the $2 economic rice, which includes 1 meat + 1 veg + rice.

The choices here span a good selection like braised pork belly, curry chicken, ngoh hiang and Goldhill’s signature golden-brown fried chicken wings with crispy skin and succulent meat.

One can expect to wait around 30 minutes for their turn to order, especially during peak mealtimes. As there is limited seating, do what many other customers do and tapow the food to eat in the comfort of your home or office.

Address: #01-78 6 Hougang Ave 3, S530006. 

Opening hours: Mon-Fri 7.30am-8pm, Sat 7.30am-7.30pm, Sun 7.30am-2.30pm.

Photo: Lai Heng Food Stall/Facebook

Lai Heng Economical Mixed Vegetables Rice

Lai Heng Economical Mixed Vegetables Rice at Kim Keat Palm Market & Food Centre is easy to spot with the owner’s portrait on the signboard. It has been operating for over than a decade and still serves dishes at economical prices – A plate with 1 meat + 1 veg + rice goes for only $2.10. You can choose side dishes like sweet-and-sour pork, fried chicken, chicken with chilli peppers, and veg like stir fried cabbage, mixed tau gay with carrots and chilli brinjal to name a few.

Address: #01-07/08 Kim Keat Palm Market and Food Centre, 22 Lor 7 Toa Payoh, S310019.

Opening hours: Open daily, 6am-8pm. Photo: Tastebud Eating House/Facebook

Cai Png 菜饭 at Tastebud Hougang Eating House

This Hougang stall offers cai fan at very reasonable prices, listed on its signboard as “1 meat 1 veg $2.30” and “1 meat 2 veg $2.60” (all with rice). It should be fairly easy to spot with fiery flames surrounding its Cai Png logo. You can order dishes like otah, sardines, luncheon meat, fried chicken and prawns while some of the veg dishes include long beans, mixed broccoli, carrots, black fungus and cauliflower.

Address: #01-04 Tastebud Hougang Eating House, 932 Hougang Ave 9, S530932.

Opening hours: Open daily, 9am-9pm.

Mixed Vegetable Rice and Economic Bee Hoon at GHK 407 Food House

Housed in the same coffeeshop as The Axe Western, this cai png stall with long queues during lunchtime and dinnertime stretches across 2 units under the umbrella signboard of ‘Mixed Vegetable Rice’ and ‘Economic Bee Hoon’.

Depending on the type of meat dishes selected, a plate of cai png with 1 meat + 1 vegetable + rice ranges from $2.40 to $2.80. The cheapest meat option is minced meat with either egg, beancurd or vegetable while the slightly pricier ones (going up by 20 to 40 cents per portion) include two pieces of mid-joint chicken wings, salted egg with meat, chicken chop, prawn paste chicken and pork belly. The stall is also open round-the-clock to serve hungry customers anytime.

Address: GHK 407 Food House, 407 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10, S560407.

Opening hours: Open 24 hours.

Shi Cai Fan • Fan Shu Mo

A stall in Ang Mo Kio called 什菜饭 • 番薯摩 (which means ‘economic rice and sweet potato porridge’ in Chinese) serves up 1 meat + 1 veg + rice cai png at $2.50 a plate. It also sells Taiwanese-style sweet potato porridge ($0.50) with chunks of the orange tuber cooked in gruel, which you can order to go with the dishes here. They are a tad fancier than your average cai fan stall, with picks like rendang chicken and pork ribs.

Address: #01-948 FoodCity Ang Mo Kio, 632 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4, S560632.

Opening hours: Open daily, 9am-9pm.

Xiang Wei Qing Economical Rice

Located opposite Swee Kow Kuan Temple, Xiang Wei Qing Economical Rice is another well-priced cai png stall located in Ang Mo Kio. Here, you can get a 1 meat + 1 veg + rice meal at $2.60, with swish sides like sautéed prawns with broccoli, braised pork, sambal petai and hae bee-tossed string beans.

Address: BGAIN 630 Eating House, 630 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4, S560630.

Opening hours: Open daily, 9am-9pm.

Photo: Song luck eating house - 2008/Facebook

Mixed Veg Rice at Song Luck Eating House

A familiar sight at Serangoon Central for over two decades, Mixed Veg Rice at Song Luck Eating House sells 1 meat + 1 veg, or 2 meat + rice cai png at $2.50, and has not raised its pocket-friendly prices for around 10 years now.

Customers have a choice of getting rice or noodles (like kway teow and beehoon) to go with ingredients like steamed chicken, lup cheong and wontons. What’s unique about this stall is also its epic operating hours – it’s open from 5.30am to 2am daily, so you can drop by for a very early breakfast or very late supper.

Address: #01-97 Song Luck Eating House, 262 Serangoon Central Drive, S550262.

Opening hours: Open daily, 5.30am-2am.

184 Family Cooked Food

Just a five-minute walk from Beauty World MRT station is 184 Family Cooked Food at Bukit Timah Market & Food Centre. Its 2 veg + 1 meat + rice cai fan costs $3, which gets you food like chicken cutlets, chicken wings, ngoh hiang and mock goose. Their fried chicken wings in particular are popular for boasting succulent meat with crispy skin.

Address: #02-184 Bukit Timah Market & Food Centre, 51 Upper Bukit Timah Road, S588215.

Opening hours: Mon-Sat 5am-3pm, Sun 5am-1pm.

Kimly Mixed Rice

Opened by the famed local coffeeshop operator, Kimly Mixed Rice is a chain with 59 stalls islandwide. At the Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 outlet we visited, we saw a huge display sign advertising “1 Meat 2 Veg 1 Rice” for $3.00.

Their brightly lit orange and blue stall front points customers to their yummy range of dish items. Some notable ones on display include braised pork belly with preserved veg, salted egg chicken cubes, minced meat french bean and hong kong cai xin, all of which you can get with either rice or porridge.

Address: #01-805 Blk 408 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10, S560408.

Opening hours: Open daily, 10am-9pm.

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