Toast Box

Lovely toast box outlet with good decorations. Was there for casual meeting with my Singaporean friends. Always love their Milk Tea and Kaya Butter.

visited during off peak hour at 4:30pm, poor customer service, used tray on table by previous customer not clear for more than 30min, asked for serviette to wipe table declined by staff.

During the lockdown, this place was the one place that still gave me a semblance of normality. You see, we stayed with my elderly parents near here during the lockdown, and it was a ghost town in that 2 months of work-from-home and whatever that went by. This shop was pretty much what we got for a coffee or meal. So it was pretty grim and walking here to pick up a coffee was a highlight for the day for me. They were opened and I was one of those poor fellas that stood in line and thanked them profusely for that cup of coffee, knowing how much it must have took for them to keep that place open as I am sure they were losing money with so little business at the time and even though it was just takeaways, it still gave me the comfort that there’s still hope and things aren’t all that bad. And sure enough, we got to Phase 2 which meant we can do more and things started picking up. Within this store, you could see customers coming back in and started enjoying a cup of coffee and toast. And I see it as I came here everyday to pick up that cup of coffee. It was a progression of how we picked ourselves back up and pieced our lives back together after quite the madness of panic buying and staying home for largely the whole year of 2020. It largely reflected our moods and documented the experiences that I went through. It was cathartic, to see people sitting down enjoying themselves and life started going back to as normal as we can be, even though we were plenty cautious at the beginning. I guess all that is said and done, it’s the small things that makes this world a better place, and I would like to thank Toast Box for keeping their stores opened, I don’t know how you did it, but it surely made a difference in my life over those months. Here’s to a better 2021, over a cup of coffee, and stay safe everyone.

My favorite goto place for tea and slice of cake. Its very economical and taste is always good.

A perfect tea place for Pakistanis. Their flavour of milk tea is the closest I could find to our local taste. Prices are lower than other similar cafes. I loved their honey cake. Highly recommended for Pakistani folks.

Decent place for a quick bite. Interesting wall murals makes it good for some photos and a good place to fill up before going to watch a movie upstairs at Shaw Cinema.

Update 10 May 2022 Had another strange encounter again with the staff today. It’s the usual aunties again this time. Actually they always bicker among themselves and it’s not a surprise to hear them complaining about customers once they are out of earshot. Just not when you’re standing in front of them. Basically the yuan yang was collected at the takeaway counter. No issues this is the usual practice. Usually for the packet toast bread it’s also collected inside once it is ready. So not sure why today it was thrown to the front. The auntie was mumbling something to the other staff about collecting from the front. But not directed at me. Finally one of them pointed to to go back to the front to collect the takeaway toast. I didn’t even know it was ready? ?looks like here no fixed system even after so many years in business. ? Moral of the story: Don’t expect the service here to be kind or good especially during busy periods. On off peak hours when it’s not so busy the aunties are quite okay. Not so grouchy lol ? 14 Apr 2022: The usual aunties and sisters here are usually patient and will never unleash anything unkind to their customers directly. However I was shocked when I ordered one yuan yang and one butter sugar which is a common combination. “Yuan yang butter sugar.” The old timers will usually ask what size whether I want traditional. The new assistant looked totally blur and walked off while she muttered what yuan yang butter sugar. She then retrieved one butter sugar bun and asked is this the one? I replied no it’s the toast? And I was berated in her tone. she said I need to tell her if I want the toast bread. Well I asked her if you are not sure why can’t you ask me? Then she said anyway you need to step inside to make the purchase as her counter is closed. To which I replied well it’s always been outside for takeaways and there’s no sign to say it’s closed. If it’s closed she could have just directed me into the inside counter which is usually for dine in. Appalling service today! Dropping a star ⭐️ for this employee. Items are still good though as it’s the usual aunties and they chided her right in front of me… goodness… she even thanked me when I left, well I expected an apology! Old review: Toast Box is always my go to for fresh toast in the mornings when I’m outside. The prices are very reasonable and the service is fast means I can fill my tummy quick. The service is no nonsense and efficient as well across the branches. The other variable is the location as different branches have different flavours of the food that they prepare even if it’s the same item eg yuan yang coffee and tea. The other standard items are quite the same but I believe some places the venue looks cleaner. Other than that, Toast Box as a franchise is rather consistent in terms of the experience it provides. This particular branch at Shaw centre is always crowded and it might be difficult to get seating most of the time. I used to get frustrated in the past but nowadays I just get the food and drink to go and eat it along the way or at a suitable location nearby.

Confused about the system here and there seems to be no standard. There’s one queue for dine in and another for takeaway. But , I think diners are supposed to find their own seats first before queueing for dine in as I ended up with no seats after ordering at the cashier The aunties seem to be too busy with food prep to help Need clearer signs or someone to organise the whole situation as it is very confusing