Which popular cafe chain offers the most value for money kaya toast set? We tried them all out

The cost of living in Singapore is a much talked-about topic in 2024, and it’s not hard to see why. Due to inflation and GST hikes, dining out is now less easy on the wallet.

A common grouse is that eateries have increased their prices – some significantly – despite offering the same food portions or less. “Value-for-money” is now as much a buzzword as safe distancing during the pandemic years. On the flip side of things, F&B owners are also grappling with rising overheads, which necessitates a price increase.

One particularly sore point for some diners literally involves their bread and butter: The humble kaya butter toast set that’s pretty much Singapore’s national breakfast. We remember a time when you could order a set for under S$5, but that’s mostly no longer the case now.

If you are reconsidering splurging on your kaya butter toast breakfast these days, 8days.sg has done the legwork of visiting five different cafe chains that specialise in it in order to compare the prices and food that you get from each brand.

HOW WE DID IT

In order to ensure as much consistency as possible and that we are not comparing heartland standards to the CBD, we visited all five cafe outlets only in the same Jurong area (Jurong Point/ Westgate/ Ng Teng Fong General Hospital).

As an anonymous customer, we bought the most basic kaya butter toast set, which comes with two soft-boiled eggs and our choice of coffee or tea.

We then grade how value-for-money the set is according to these criteria, with five stars being the most bang for the buck:

• Food and drink portions
• Amount of kaya and butter given  
• Taste

1. HEAVENLY WANG

Outlet: Ng Teng Fong General Hospital

Price: S$5.70

At Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, the price for a kaya butter set remained unchanged from last year. Out of the five cafes we visited, this is also the lowest-priced set.

The portions we got in our set were good; two thick pieces of bread smeared with kaya and a pat of cold butter, two large eggs and a big mug of teh filled to the brim.

Compared to the other four brands, Heavenly Wang is pretty lavish with its kaya. There’s enough of the gooey coconut egg jam that we can’t even see the toast peeking through, plus a reasonably chunky (by 2024 standards) pat of butter.

Though evenly toasted, it’s a pity the bread (which appears to be healthier wholemeal bread probably ’cos we were in a hospital) was dry and bland, and the kaya too sweet for our liking. The eggs were unfortunately slightly watery, but we couldn’t finish our mug of milky tea, which was overly tannic.

While Heavenly Wang’s commitment to giving customers generous portions is commendable, we hope that the quality will match its quantity.

Value for money rating: 3 out of 5 stars

2. KILLINEY

Outlet: Westgate

Price: S$5.80

Killiney’s Jurong outlet is in an unusual location, inside an Eccellente by HAO Mart supermarket, albeit with dine-in tables and chairs. Prices vary across outlets, but a check with the Westgate staff indicated that there was no price change for the traditional breakfast set here.

Ours came with kaya butter toast of decent thickness, toasted to a crispy finish and quartered. The soft-boiled eggs were of average size. A small cup of tea rounded off the meal.

We were not blown away by the portions, but the quality of Killiney’s nosh holds up here. The toast, despite being charred along some edges, boasted fab crispiness and flavour that made for a very enjoyable teatime snack dipped into the jammy-yolked eggs. So too the fragrant, rich kaya (we wish there was more of it) and not too stingy cold pat of butter. While our cup of te was a small one, the milky tea was thick and robust.

For those who are comparing a cai png meal they can get for S$5.80, this will not be as filling for your tummy or value-for-money in that sense. But if you’re looking for a satisfying Nanyang-style kaya butter toast set, this hits the spot.

Value for money rating: 4 out of 5 stars

3. FUN TOAST

Outlet: Jurong Point

Price: S$5.90

Fun Toast has apparently raised the price of its kaya butter toast set with eggs from S$5.30 to S$5.90, a whopping increase of 60 cents.

The current price gets you two large eggs, a large cup of tea and browned kaya butter toast of average thickness, which is reasonably filling for a light meal.

The soft-boiled eggs were decent enough, though the bread, kaya and butter were nothing to shout about. While the toast was nicely crispy, it lacked the distinct, er, toastiness that makes eating it so enjoyable. We find the kaya here too sweet, with none of the egginess and coconutty aroma found in good kaya. Our cup of tea was also not particularly memorable.

If you are looking for a quick breakfast, this is serviceable enough. But if we were sticking to a limited food budget, this might not be the place to splurge your coins.

Value for money rating: 2 out of 5 stars

4. TOAST BOX

Outlet: Jurong Point

Price: S$6.20

According to its staff, Toast Box has raised its price for the traditional kaya toast set from S$6 to S$6.20, a small increase. Out of the five cafes we tried in Jurong, Toast Box and Ya Kun Kaya Toast were the only brands to price their kaya butter toast sets above S$6.

We got toasted square white bread sliced in half, two comically large eggs and a supersized mug of tea (filled to the brim, though our dining companion accidentally took a huge swig before we snapped our photo), which somehow justified the S$6.20 price tag.

We don’t fancy the sweet, strangely dense toast here, which reminds us of something we could make with a supermarket loaf at home. Peeling it apart revealed a good amount of shiok brown kaya, along with a heavy-handed smear from what Toast Box calls, in a Facebook post, its “iconic butter mountain”. It doesn’t look or taste like pure butter to us, though there was a lot of it.

We filled our tummy with the runny soft-boiled eggs instead, which were tasty, along with the nicely-brewed big cup of teh.

Value for money rating: 3 out of 5 stars

5. YA KUN KAYA TOAST

Outlet: Jurong Point

Price: S$6.30

Arguably the most popular chain for kaya toast in Singapore, Ya Kun Kaya Toast raised eyebrows last December when it increased the price for its Set A with kaya butter toast, eggs and coffee/tea from S$5.60 to S$6.30.

Compared to its counterparts, Ya Kun’s portions are puny, from the misshapen, almost compressed-looking toast to the atas-ly small cup of tea (our cracked eggs appeared to be largish).

We are sure a part of the S$6.30 we paid goes towards the Ya Kun staff’s training with an elite samurai to slice their toast so thin. And also to crack our boiling hot soft-boiled eggs onto a plate so we don’t have to dirty our hands (a perk that none of the other four cafes offered). Convenience comes with a premium, we guess?

That said, we concede that Ya Kun still makes some of the best kaya toast and soft-boiled eggs on this island. The wafer-thin toast appeared to have a purpose, as it had the kind of delicate crispiness that was almost like a keropok, with a subtle nutty flavour from the competent toasting. It went well with the luscious kaya and melting butter that we wanted more of (there wasn't quite enough).

The eggs had rich runny yolks and jiggly egg white that we could slurp up with a teaspoon without it oozing everywhere. While we don’t normally favour Ya Kun’s tea or coffee, we find this an overall shiok set that, despite the smaller portions, offers enough intangible satisfaction to make it worth our money and calorie count. But at S$6.30, we may have to cut down on the frequency of our visits and regard Ya Kun as an indulgence, rather than a staple.

Value for money rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This story was originally published in 8Days.