Made our way down to 56 Eng Hoon Street initially wanting to try out Pin Sheng Teochew Bak Chor Mee, but found out that the stall was actually situated within Tiong Bahru Yong Tao Hu and that it was closed with no announcements being made. Since I wasn’t quite craving for Yong Tao Hu, I found myself ending up with the Toast Set instead — you know, the typical Hainanese breakfast kaya toast set that seems particularly apt considering I am seated in a coffeeshop situated in an apartment block built in the colonial era.

There isn’t a choice of toast available at Tiong Bahru Yong Tao Hu; so I found it pretty surprising that they actually serve the UFO buns by default — most other places that do not give patrons a choice would use either white loaf bread or brown toast (i.e. the same ones that Ya Kun uses) instead. Coming with a slight char from being toasted on the grill, I liked how the bun is soft and fluffy inside, yet coming with a crisp exterior — a good balance of textures where Kaya Butter Toast is concerned with UFO buns being served. Rather than using Pandan Kaya, they have seemingly opted for the Caramel Kaya (i.e. the Hainanese variant) instead. While being probably a commercial one that was bought from a manufacturer, the Kaya was suitably sweet and carried an earthy sweetness that is typical of this type of Kaya. The soft-boiled eggs are served de-shelled (just like how they do at Ya Kun); great for those who do not like to deal with the scalding hot eggs off the water bath and having to crack them open, while the Kopi was pretty decent — roasty and aromatic being just suitably sweetened with condensed milk.

Not a Yong Tao Hu lover so I am not probably one who will come down to just have Yong Tao Hu, but I guess this is something I wouldn’t mind having if a friend drags me here to settle his Yong Tao Hu cravings — probably one of the better kaya butter toasts around from a spot that serves it as a secondary offering.