Shibuya toasts did take some time to get trendy in Singapore. Taiwan (Dazzling Cafe) and Thailand (After You) already had the craze some years back.
Basically, they are modified from the French’s Pain de Mie, a brick toast decorated with syrups, fruits, ice cream and whipped cream. HPB should tell us about the calorie count in one of those giant breads.
Do you know that there was a café called “Shibuya Toast” in Singapore? Couldn’t get past 2014, unfortunately. It is all about the timing.
Daniel’s Food Diary went to try most of those listed on “Best Shibuya Toasts in Singapore”. (This took a while as we couldn’t handle too much sweetness in a week.)
The verdict of 10 Shibuya toasts in Singapore – We went through thick & thin
Stateland Café
32 Bali Lane Singapore 189868 (Bugis MRT)
Tel: +65 8715 5475
Opening Hours: 12pm – 10pm (Mon – Thurs, Sun), 12pm – 12am (Fri-Sat)
Their in-house baked bread is the winner – butter and honey baked twice under the oven, so that outer layer is crisp while the inside still remains fluffy.
Its newly released Charcoal Toast ($14.90) called “TAN” (which means ‘charcoal black’) is further drizzled with malt sugar, added with liquid marshmallow, salted caramel and topped with coconut ice cream and toasted nuts for a full explosion of buttery sweetness.
We went “Wah, wah, wah!” as we chomped down every piece of goodness. The only drawback: this black beauty took more than half an hour to arrive. Literally had to TAN gu gu (wait long long).
Dessert Project
22 Havelock Road #01-673 Singapore 160022 (15 min from Tiong Bahru MRT)
Opening Hours: 12pm – 930pm (Mon-Tues, Thurs, Sun), 12pm – 11pm (Fri-Sat), Closed Wed
The Gula Melaka Coconut Toast ($14.90) – a 3 inch toast with 2 scoops of coconut ice cream, whipped cream, grated coconut flakes and gula melaka syrup, was surprisingly soft and buttery. Breads are ordered from an old-school bakery from Whampoa.
We went to this café near Bt Ho Swee twice. The first time, we feedback that the toast was not buttery enough. The second time, they went full-on with the butter. Every warm piece with a spread of cold creamy ice cream was guilt-fully satisfying. (Read: Dessert Project Havelock Road)
Nam’s Brewing Thai Tea and Coffee
137 Amoy Street, #01-05, Singapore 049965 (Telok Ayer MRT)
Tel: +65 9383 0419
Opening hours: 9am – 6pm (Mon-Fri), Closed on Sat, Sun
Long queues for their Thai Iced Milk Tea ($2.50) every weekday, where office workers would ‘ta-bao’ the tall drinks for tea. Coincidentally, their Honey Thick Toast ($8.90) reminds us most of Thailand’s After You.
While looking deceptively simple, the signature toast topped with coconut ice cream was surprisingly addictive – we just couldn’t stop having it. Lightly drizzled with honey, the bread was soft almost like a pillow. The better news, homemade Thai milk tea ice cream is available OCCASIONALLY. Count your lucky stars if you get it.
Assembly Coffee
26 Evans Road, Singapore 259367
Opening Hours: 8am – 7pm (Tues – Sun)
(We digress but…) Does Assembly Coffee have the one of the most chio aka prettiest toasts, AND baristas around?
Back to the topic, the Shibuya Honey Toast ($12) is one crunchy hollowed-out block with cute-toasted cubes and strawberries within, topped with a big round scoop of vanilla ice cream. The yoghurt on the side provides a sourish variety to balance out the sweetness.
We liked its lightly-toasted crunchiness on every single piece (which were by the way skillfully stacked). Doesn’t feel too heavy, can have this again.
Wa Café
#B1-51, Chinatown Point, 133 New Bridge Road Singapore 059413
Tel: +65 6444 7646
Opening Hours: 11am – 9pm Daily
Before all the other local cafes started selling Japanese style toasts, Wa Café at the basement of Chinatown Point has already been quietly selling their version.
The oven baked golden broad toast is LARGE, thick and chunky. 3 of us had some difficulty finishing it. The Vanilla Honey Toast ($15.80) is topped with ice cream, mochi balls and red bean from Hokkaido. Loved the creamy toppings, but wished this could be more buttery. Too much carb perhaps. Burp.
Loaves Me
SMU #B1-45, 70 Stamford Road Singapore 178901
Tel: +65 9665 1631
Opening Hours: 8am – 9pm (Mon – Fri), 10am – 9pm (Sat), Closed Sun
Shibuya toast for the budget-conscious as this is the most affordable at $6.50. We wished there were more exciting ingredients other than the usual nuts, cherry, chocolate sauce, sliced banana, and vanilla ice cream. But it IS $6.50, this is half or a third price of some of the rest.
Small in size, cute, for a sugar boost before tutorials and exams.
Dazzling Cafe Singapore
15 Stamford Road, #01-85 Capitol Piazza Singapore 178906 (City Hall MRT)
Opening Hours: 12pm – 10pm Daily
Dazzling Café has different ‘generations’ of toast. The Mango and Coconut Gelato Honey Toast ($18.90) is a flavour exclusive to Singapore, which the Taiwanese waitress described as their ‘3rd generation toast’. Super photogenic. We meant the toast.
Coconut Gelato, fresh mango fruits and smooth custards on top of a toast within a toast. The inner rectangular slices were crisp and soft, and the coconut ice cream worked wonderfully well with mangoes.
A pity that the outer layer was tough like cardboard, and the knife couldn’t go through easily.
The Loft Café
268A South Bridge Road Singapore 058817 (Chinatown MRT)
Tel: +65 6221 2103
Opening Hours: 7.30am – 11pm (Tue – Sun)
After too many sweet Shibuya toasts, The Loft Café’s version ($11.40) with generous servings of berries and compote was a breath of fresh air.
Loved its presentation, and sweet-sour taste, but the toast was unfortunately marred by one main ingredient – the ice cream. After having many unique locally made (Dessert Project) or creamy Häagen-Dazs (Dazzling), the disparity sticks out unfortunately. Otherwise, good toast, beautiful space, personable service.
Watanabe Coffee
350 Orchard Road Shaw Centre, Swiss Cottage Estate, Singapore 238868 (Orchard Road MRT)
Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm (Mon-Sun)
We were pleased with our initial experience with Wa Cafe’s Matcha and Ogura Shibuya Toast ($16.80) which was thick yet fluffy, topped with smooth matcha and vanilla ice cream, mocha and ogura Japanese red bean.
However, our next time at Watanabe’s didn’t quite live up to our initial expectation. The toast was burnt at the edges which were pretty tough to chew. Guess it is not easy to maintain consistency on a busy weekend.
Thai In Town
244P Upper Thomson Road, Singapore 574369
Tel: +65 8687 9990
Opening Hours: 11:30am – 11pm (Mon – Fri), 11am – 11pm (Sat-Sun)
Thai In Town sells almost every other thing a Thai casual restaurant can possibly sell (Mookata next door too). That includes Honey Toast. At $10.90, we were expecting an adult size, though ended up with a kid’s version.
The caramelized bread comes with strawberries, powered sugar, sweet honey and ice cream. Taste-wise, some would say “not bad lah, soft and sweet”; the others “like that loh”.
*Daniel’s Food Diary pays for food reviewed unless otherwise stated. After this entry, Daniel desperately needs to go jogging and zumba more frequently as his face is looking more like Pain de Mie.
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