One of my main hobbies is exploring new food and I've been meaning to write about all the many places, so will be starting a series documenting our food hunts! This year, my family has been going around trying kaya toasts in Singapore because kaya toast is the quintessential Singaporean breakfast and comfort food, but we almost always only eat Yakun, and recently the kaya in the kaya toast has been sooo little so we thought it's time to broaden our kaya toast horizons! Also, there are many lists of 'best kaya toasts in Singapore' floating around so I was tempted to give them a try. So here goes, listed by chronological order of visit.
Chin Mee Chin Confectionery
This place was an institution and closed for awhile, before reopening with new aesthetics. It's on Joo Chiat Road, so very near a bunch of other famous eateries like Micro Bakery at Red House, Petit Pain, and a whole long list of cafes. Our strategy for these famous places is to go at opening time, so we headed down at 8am and got a seat easily. We tried the kaya toast, which comes in a round bun so it looks very different from the usual square/rectangular crispy pieces. Kaya amount was decent, and there was a slab of butter on one side only which was convenient, because I usually avoid the butter. Taste wise was pretty decent, but I probably wouldn't travel down specifically for it. They do have other confectioneries as well. I really liked the chocolate tart, while the sugee cake and custard puff were decent. To me, all half boiled eggs are generally similar, but my dad said this was the best of all the places we tried. For the drinks, I got the hor ka sai which was reallyyyy good. Traditional kopi was pretty good too!
Tong Ah Eating House
My parents are regular patrons of Tong Ah but only for the coffee. They tried the kaya toast before and my mum didn't like it. But of course, I had to test it for myself, and I have to say I agree with my mum. This was one of the worst kaya toasts out of all the places we tried. We ordered both the thin and thick toast versions - the toast itself was fine (mediocre, but not offensive) but there was hardly any kaya! In fact, some mouths were just plain toast! Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the deconstructed toast to show it. We also had the saddest "steamed kaya bread" ever lol. I was expecting something like Yakun's soft pillowy buns, not a normal piece of white bread cut so unglamly. Their coffee though, still the best.
Heap Seng Leong
This old school kopi house located at North Bridge Road opens really early, so be strategic and get there early to beat the crowd! We went at 7am on a weekend and did not have to queue. Unfortunately, the iconic old man is no longer there. Our kaya toast was freshly prepared by a middle aged gentleman and turned out pretty decent. Honestly, based on prior reviews, I wasn't expecting much so this actually surpassed by expectations. Toast was crispy but still had a good bite and kaya amount was sufficient.
Good Morning Nanyang Cafe
A nondescript cafe at Far East Plaza, we were surprised to see a crowd during an early morning. We had the normal kaya toast which was one of the more well-made toasts among all that we tried, but the standout was their specialty orange kaya ciabatta toast. Perfectly toasted with a hint of citrus from the orange. Would come back for this, but be prepared to wait as they take awhile. They don't have iced yuan yang on the menu so it was just kopi which was decent.
Bao Er Cafe
The trendy cafe recently! On our first visit, we arrived at 8.02am and there were already 10 people in front of us, and the queue built up quickly. They took awhile to even start taking orders, and the food took forever to come, so don't come here if you're in a rush. (I used to work nearby and contemplated trying it for breakfast, but thankfully not cos I would be late for work!)
So was it worth the wait? My dad says YES. The bread was perfectly sliced and toasted, and they were so generous with the kaya that it was literally dripping out. The taste of the kaya wasn't my favourite (a little too eggy for me), but that's just being nitpicky. For $2, this is absolutely worth it. Kopi was pretty normal, and I didn't order the iced yuan yang because it was $3 :O
We visited a second time recently and I was all ready to wait in line but surprisingly there wasn't much of a queue this time. Quality of the kaya toast was consistent. In fact, they might have the opposite problem of putting TOO much kaya that it was literally spilling out, so do be careful when eating!
Great Nanyang Heritage Cafe
A fairly new cafe that opened last year along the hip enclave along the Neil Road/Duxton area, we went really early and secured seats easily, but there was a longgg queue when we left. And I can see why, because this was good! They have quite an extensive menu, and each item even features different types of toast (thin/thick/wholemeal) to cater to different preferences. We had the thin and thick version of the kaya butter, the peanut butter with thick toast, and the french toast with kaya. All of them were really good.
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| Kaya butter thick toast |
The french toast was so decadent and I love the little pot of kaya at the side so I can use it as a dip for all my other toasts as well. This was my favourite kaya as well, sweet with some coconut taste but not overly eggy.
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| French toast! |
The kopi was okay, but the standout was this massive hor ka sai, which also came with a massive price tag of $5.
So happy there's a new outlet at 111 Somerset so I can visit it more often!
YY Kafei Dian
Located along Beach Road, we were shocked to see a queue forming before the cafe even opened! Luckily, once they opened at 8am, the queues split in half as one side is for the heavier stuff like beehoon, while the right side is for kaya toast, and they're fairly fast with taking orders and serving.
Another disappointing place (this was the most disappointing until I tried another place a few weeks later - read on to find out). Their kaya toast looks different - they use these thicker buns instead of the thinly sliced toast, which is similar to Koufu. We had the kaya butter and peanut butter, and the latter was pretty good, but it's hard to go wrong with peanut butter. Unfortunately, the kaya butter one was super disappointing. The kaya didn't have much of a coconut taste, and it wasn't generous, so the kaya to bread ratio was off since the bread is so thick. My mum said Koufu's tasted better LOL. For the drinks, my iced yuan yang was like a very diluted milk tea, so much so that my dad mixed in his kopi gao to get it to taste vaguely like yuan yang. All in all, I don't understand why this place has been recommended, and I definitely will not be recommending it.
Coffee Break
A hawker stall with multiple outlets, we tried the one at Amoy St but they also have outlets at Hong Lim and Market Street. Their specialty is the black sesame toast which was nutty and flaourful, but their kaya toast is very decent as well. Note that their toasts only come in a bag for takeaway, and they don't serve eggs.
The kopi was good but my iced yuan yang was diluted and had little coffee taste, so skip that. Instead, go for their affordably priced flavoured lattes. I tried their sea salt latte previously and really liked it!
Ah Seng (Hai Nam) Coffee
Maybe the most disappointing place. We went on a weekend and they were not serving french toasts so we just had the kaya toast and this was so sad looking. The toast was neither crispy nor soft, and the kaya did nothing to redeem this. Looking at how the kaya toast turned out, I wouldn't want to return to try the french toast. My dad has tried the coffee previously and said it was terrible, but decided to give it another chance. Well, second time was equally bad.
Skip this and just go to Coffee Break on a weekday or Mad Roasters (which serves kaya toast with brioche and awesome local kopi and flavoured lattes) on a weekend.
Killiney
Killiney is one of the quintessential local breakfast chains in Singapore and there's outlets everywhere, but we went to the original outlet on Killiney road as we live pretty close by. Visited on a weekend and it was pretty crowded (contributed in large part by tourists) but crowd control is fairly good. The usual kaya butter toast was ok but nothing special. They also have a baguette kaya toast which is definitely more memorable as the baguette texture was something different. Worth a try! Unfortunately, the french toast was very mediocre. Bread wasn't crispy outside nor fluffy inside, and the egg taste didn't come through either. Coffee was decent enough.
Yakun
Ending off with our usual Yakun order. Steamed bread with kaya butter and kaya peanut toast are still the all-time faves. Used to love the french toast too but the standard has dropped recently and it's not as fluffy anymore :( Still worth ordering for that little pot of kaya to dip everything else in!
Speaking of french toasts, we LOVE the western version and have probably tried more than 80% of the french toasts in cafes so I'll be posting about it in the next food hunt series!