MealPal, a US-based meal subscription service that was recently launched in Singapore a couple of months ago. It serves the crowd in CBD, Orchard, Novena and Buona Vista.
Well, I belong to the group that do not pack and bring lunch to work. Everyone who works in CBD, knows about the lunch crowd. Finding a seat, joining long queues, etc. People leaving offices at 11-11.30am, to beat the lunch crowd, save time finding seats / queuing for food.
There are options such as Why Q / FoodPanda / Deliveroo / Honestbee / Plum etc, where they do delivery. I mean it is more convenient and saves time. You can also save delivery cost if shared amongst colleagues.
However, there are also many who do not want to stay in office ALL DAY! (unless of course you got no choice) So, a good walk during lunch time, to explore shops and other food options along the way + trying new food.
MealPal is a monthly subscription service (there are lunch and dinner plans).
– S$95.88 for 12 restaurant meals (S$7.99 / meal)
– S$97.88 for 12 restaurant meals and 2 Hawker meals (S$6.99 / meal)
– 15 Meal Dinner (S$8.49 / meal)
– 10 Meal Dinner (S$8.99 / meal)
That is a great deal, considering there are many many options, it would be easy for you to finish using your meal plan if you do it 3 times a week. Find a “Meal Pal”, which I did, and we walked to collect the food together quite often.
I even found a favourite store and ate 3 days straight. The same store would serve up different food on different days. And, I would shave off a few dollars EVERY meal. Also, you do not have to join the same queue as the rest. You can just go straight to MealPal collection, scan the QR code and show it to the staff. I definitely had much healthier food choices than the previous months. Haha.
On my commute to work everyday, I would explore all the food options and decide on what to have for lunch. **You have to place your order between 5pm the previous day, to 10.30am on the day itself. Make sense since it also save the vendors time to know how much order they have for the day. You would also have to specify the meal collection time such as 12:00-12:15. Half the time I am late, but no worries. Most of the vendors prepare my food upon collection. Not that they cook and leave it there till it turns cold. It’s more of portioning for the expected order and not waste food.
There is always a downside to everything.
You have to use the meals within the window period. Some vendors would not allow dine-in, as this is a take-out option. Some had no issues of me and my colleague dining in though. I guess, it makes sense for them to cater the seats for people who buy (at a higher price), generate more revenue when people see empty seats and choose to dine in. It can be fun, exploring and finding hidden “treasures”. But for people wearing formal wear and not everywhere in the CBD is underground air-conditioned. I’ve heard about cases where people walked around to find and ended up drenched in perspiration (not just in Singapore!)
In summary, I would pretty much still use it, but maybe not in a long run. I would prefer to have an 8-meal or 10-meal option. I would not want to be tied down or been forced to use that often (3 times a week?). Then again, a colleague shared with me about nomnomby. They offer 6 meal subscription plans, but it’s more expensive. I guess, you can never have the best of everything, it may not be a viable/sustainable business model.
SGFOODIARY 