Toast Box
Seven outlets: Food Republic in Wisma Atria; Capital Square; Plaza Singapura; Great World City; Centrepoint; and two in VivoCity Open: 8am to 10pm daily
Opened by the BreadTalk group as a foodcourt stall in Food Republic last October, it has grown into a seven-outlet chain that is packed at almost all times of the day.
It offers three bread options - thick, thin and soft buns. Toppings include butter and sugar ($1.20), butter and hae bee hiam (left, spicy minced dried shrimp, $1.30), butter and peanut ($1.30) and otah otah ($1.60).
Kudos for glamorising humble staples that Singaporeans eat at home.
Must-try: The pork floss toast ($1.40, left) comes with a yummy mayonnaise-based cream - like BreadTalk's famous pork floss buns - that is utterly addictive. The butter and peanut toast is so thick and sticky you'll need to pull your jaws apart.
In fact, just about everything tastes good because the toppings are substantial and all the bread is made fresh at BreadTalk outlets. It also offers mee siam ($3.20), tauhu goreng ($3.20) and nasi lemak ($1.80) which all taste good, too.
Heads Or Tails
01-37 Market Street Car Park; Tel: 6438-6428 Open: 7.30am to 7.30pm, Mondays to Fridays; 8am to 1pm on Saturdays; closed on Sundays
This master franchise of a chain from Bangkok offers Thai-style kaya, which is slightly different from local versions. The kaya is more watery - like custard - and lighter on the palate.
Opened earlier this year in Tangs' food hall, it relocated to Market Street Car Park last month. Besides plain kaya, it has kaya flavoured with yam, pandan and vanilla (all at $1.70 per slice).
For those who want something more substantial, it also sells three Thai dishes every day. These include Thai curry, beef ball noodles and Thai mee pok (all at $4 each).
Must-try: Chilli paste with chicken floss (left, $1.70). The paste, the same one that the shop uses to make tomyam soup, gives you a kick like no other floss toast. There is also a hint of hae bee hiam.
DeToast
01-60 Bugis Junction
Tel: 6337-2210 Open: 8am to 10pm, Mondays to Thursdays; 8am to 11pm on Fridays; 10am to 11pm on Saturdays; 10am to 10pm on Sundays
It may be a small cafe tucked in a corner of a major shopping mall, but DeToast offers the biggest range of toppings by far.
There are 10 options to go with thick toasts, including cheese ($2), ice cream ($2.30), cinnamon sugar raisin ($2.30) and chocolate rice, milk and cheese ($2.30).
It also offers pizza toast with three toppings - meat lovers ($3.50), Hawaiian ($3) and vegetarian ($2.80).
But the most outrageous is the pasta toast ($4.50, above), which has penne tossed in a creamy mushroom sauce and served on a bed of garlic toast. It is a meal in itself.
Must-try: The chocolate rice, milk and cheese toast. It is sweet from the chocolate and condensed milk, but also a little salty from the cheddar cheese. Weird, yes, but wonderful.
Baguette
Two outlets: B1-55 Raffles City Shopping Mall (open: 10am to 10pm daily); 01-39 Market Street Car Park (open: 8am to 8pm weekdays, closed on weekends)
Baguette sells a delicious range of Vietnamese sandwiches, noodles and to-die-for fried chicken wings. It introduced the bak kwa toast ($2.60, above) this month. Owner Wei Chan says he was inspired by a bak kwa sandwich pushcart he saw in Kuala Lumpur.
The bak kwa, supplied by leading brand Bee Cheng Hiang, comes in thick slices. Each is sandwiched between two pieces of thin, buttered toast, along with cucumber slices and a special plum sauce.
The fine-textured, fluffy bread is baked fresh every day at its bakery headquarters in Ang Mo Kio.
