Ya Kun Kaya Toast (Far East Square)

Ya Kun Kaya Toast began in 1944, when Loi Ah Koon, an immigrant from Hainan, registered a coffee stall at Telok Ayer Basin, selling coffee, crackers and toast to dock workers and traders. The stall moved to Lau Pa Sat in 1972 and later back to Telok Ayer Market, and in 1998, when the market closed, it settled at Far East Square and took the name Ya Kun Kaya Toast. Two years later, under founder's son Adrin Loi, it began to franchise, and it has since grown into a chain with outlets across Singapore and abroad. The Far East Square shop, a short walk from where the stall started, is its flagship.

The menu is built around a classic Singapore breakfast. Thin slices of bread are toasted until crisp, then sandwiched with kaya, a sweet jam of coconut milk, eggs, sugar and pandan, and a thick slab of cold butter. The usual way to eat it is with two soft-boiled eggs, cracked into a saucer and seasoned with dark soy sauce and white pepper, plus a cup of kopi, the strong local coffee sweetened with condensed milk, or teh, the tea equivalent. Ordering a set gives you all three at a modest price. Variations include French toast, toast with cheese or peanut butter, and simple hot dishes.

The shop opens at 7.30am every day, closing at 7pm on weekdays and at 5pm at weekends and on public holidays, with last orders half an hour before closing. Weekday breakfast is the busiest time, when office workers from the Central Business District stop in on their way to work, so mid-morning or mid-afternoon is calmer. Service is quick and seating is simple.

It suits anyone wanting an easy, inexpensive introduction to a local breakfast, including families and solo travellers. Learning to order kopi in local style, such as kopi-o for black coffee with sugar or kopi-c with evaporated milk, is part of the fun, and the staff are used to helping visitors.

Far East Square is a conserved block of shophouses at 18 China Street, close to Telok Ayer MRT station and a few minutes from Raffles Place. Thian Hock Keng Temple, the bars and restaurants of Telok Ayer Street and Lau Pa Sat are all within walking distance, and Chinatown begins just to the west.