Hawker-Baker Sells Tasty, Good-Value Char Siew Bolo Buns & Pandan Egg Tarts After Leaving Bakery Chain Biz

Mall bakery-quality bakes between $1 to $2 each

Behind the counter are Malaysian-born husband-and-wife duo Tommy Ng, 45, and Lynn (the latter declined to be photographed, she has a day job and only helps out in the evenings), 41, who offer mall bakery-quality bakes priced between $1 to $2. Tommy starts his day at 4am to prepare the day's goods. With over 20 years of experience under his belt, he handles all the baking himself while his wife manages orders after her day job in customer service.

Why name their hawker bakery Mini Toast House? "A friend had already registered the name for this stall when we took over," Tommy explains. "We didn't change it and just decided to use it for now."

From school dropout to veteran baker

Tommy started his baking journey when he was just 16 years old. "I wasn't particularly interested in studying, so I left school," he explains. Through family recommendations, he started baking at a factory in Malaysia. "I went to learn some skills, and slowly it became a job I truly enjoyed."

Tommy moved to Singapore at 18 to pursue his baking career, while Lynn followed a similar path, arriving in Singapore at 20 after completing her diploma in Computer Business and Administration in Malaysia. The couple met in Singapore while building their respective careers.

Used to co-own franchise outlets of a bakery chain in malls, including Raffles City

This isn't Tommy's first entrepreneurial venture. In Singapore, he worked at numerous bakeries throughout his career and previously owned a now-defunct bakery in Boon Lay.

“Almost 10 years ago, someone approached me to become partners, and we opened two franchise bakeries of a Hong Kong-style bakery chain in Raffles City and Asia Square," he recalls. He declined to name the brand on record. The local chain is known for its Cantonese baked goods like bolo buns, egg tarts and wife cakes, and it currently has three outlets.

At these establishments, Tommy served as not just partner but head baker, overseeing all baking operations. But then COVID-19 severely impacted the business and Tommy made the tough decision to leave the partnership. "I was reluctant to leave after all those years of hard work," he reflects. "But you have to keep moving forward." 

When asked about investment details and circumstances surrounding his involvement in the franchise biz, Tommy declines to share more, alluding it wasn’t an amicable separation with his previous partners.

Pandemic sparked new beginnings

After his departure from the biz, Tommy decided to open his own stall at Chinatown Complex Food Centre about two years ago. 

"A friend recommended this stall opportunity, so I decided to try a new challenge and change my environment," Tommy explains.

Transition from mall bakery to hawker stall tough initially

The transition from a mall bakery to hawker stall brought significant changes. "The environment is completely different. In the hawker centre, the hours are much longer, while in the mall we just had regular working hours," Tommy notes. The working conditions are also tougher in a hawker bakery stall. "The heat makes it much harder – many people can't stand it and end up closing their shop," he says.

The challenges of being sole baker 

Tommy wakes up at 4am every day to begin baking alone. While he hopes to bring an assistant on board someday, he hasn’t started hunting for help yet. "I have to handle everything now personally. The pressure is greater, and I hold myself to higher standards," Tommy admits.

"It’s actually quite fun, but the hours are very long and tiring," admits the wife.

Despite living "a bit far" from their shop in Jurong, the couple maintains long operating hours from 8.30am to 9pm daily. 

Working together as a couple

Tommy’s wife works full-time in customer service at a marine company, helping at the stall after finishing her day job at 5.30pm.

When asked if maintaining both jobs is tiring, she admits, "Yes, but we're working hard for a living." As for working together as a couple, they laugh when asked if they ever argue. "Yes, we do," she confesses with a smile, "but we make up quickly." 

When asked if the stall is profitable, they're cautiously optimistic. "It's still okay," she says diplomatically, "It's hard to say if business is good or bad."

Wide array of bakes daily

Tommy makes a large variety of bakes daily, ranging from neighbourhood favourites like Chicken Floss Bun to trendier creations such as Matcha Salted Egg Bun. He also has an interesting range of five HK-style Bolo Buns, filled with typical char siew or more unusual stuff like salted egg custard, kaya and chocolate. Additionally, there’s a selection of traditional Chinese pastries like Tau Sar Piah, Wife Cakes and Taro Pastries.

The day we visited, he baked an impressive 46 varieties of treats.

8days.sg samples some of his offerings.

Original Bolo Bun, $1.70

Tommy rotates between five different bolo bun flavours daily, offering three varieties each day. Besides the original, char siew, and kaya versions we sampled, he also makes chocolate and salted egg versions.

This classic Hong Kong-style bolo bun doesn't disappoint. The bun is wonderfully soft and fluffy, topped with a generous layer of the quintessential butter-sugar-flour crust that gives it a satisfying crunch with each bite. The thick, crisp layer with its diamond-shaped scoring (the reason it's called "pineapple bun" in Cantonese) provides textural contrast to the pillowy bread beneath.

Char Siew Bolo Bun, $2 (8 Days Pick!)

This savoury-sweet version was a winner. The char siew filling strikes a perfect balance between savoury and sweet that makes this Cantonese BBQ pork addictive. The amount of filling, albeit not a lot visually, is well-portioned to balance the flavours of the char siew and bun. The bread is a little less fluffy than its counterparts as there is less of it to make room for the filling, but you still get the satisfying crunch from the sweet crust.

Kaya Bolo Bun, $1.80

The same crispy-topped soft bun gets a local twist with kaya and butter filling. While the mouthfeel hits all the right notes with its perfect balance of crunch and cloud-like softness, we found ourselves wishing for a more generous hand with the kaya and butter. The result is a milder flavour profile than we expected. Still tasty, but a bit more filling would’ve taken this to the next level.

Pandan Egg Tart, $1.60 (8 Days Pick!)

The pandan tart comes with a thick cookie tart base that has a nice crunch, though it could be a bit less dry. The filling offers a not-too-sweet and prominent pandan flavour. Tai Cheong's pricier pandan egg tart at $2.60 has a more buttery and crumbly pastry with a more pronounced fresh pandan flavour. But at a dollar less and reasonably tasty, Tommy's version offers pretty good value. His original egg tart was decent too, but we preferred the pandan one as it was more fragrant.

Salted Egg Lava bun, $1.80 (8 Days Pick!)

Tommy's salted egg bun is one of his most popular items, and we can see why. The feathery, buttery bread has a lovely sugary crunch on its crown, with thick, gooey salted egg custard in every bite. Sure, the texture of the custard is a tad grainy, but it’s overall sweet, savoury and yum for the price. If you’re taking this home, warm it up a little so the lava becomes more oozy.

Matcha Salted Egg Lava Bun, $2

This fusion creation features the same fluffy bread as the original salted egg lava bun but with a lighter flavour profile. The matcha filling had hints of green tea but not much of a salted egg hit compared to the original version. We found ourselves wishing for more of the custard too, and it was missing the butteriness that made the original bun so satisfying.

Banana Walnut Bread, $1.80 (8 Days Pick!)

Soft and airy with a pleasant, slightly crisp cookie-like crust. Inside, you'll find large banana chunks that add a refreshing tanginess and sweetness. The walnuts lend a nice crunch and earthy tone, and they're crisp and easy to bite into. Yummy.

Banana Cake, $2

We like that this cupcake studded with sliced bananas is soft and not too sweet. However, it’s a tiny bit dry, so pair it with coffee.

Traditional Pastries: Taro, Pandan Lotus & Black Sesame, $1.60 each

The flat purple-hued Taro Pastry features a pleasantly flaky and crumbly pastry. While the taro filling is not too sweet, it’s a little too light on the taro flavour. Meanwhile, the Black Sesame Paste one has a very strong earthy punch. The best of the lot was the Pandan Lotus Paste pastry, with a gentle pandan aroma complementing the lotus paste. We can see these being popular with elderly folks who want a not-too-sweet old-school treat.

Tau Sar Piah (Sweetened Bean Paste), $1

This traditional Chinese pastry made with corn oil (the stall has a no pork no lard policy) was flaky and crumbly, but the sweetened mung bean paste within was too mild in flavour. At $1, it's an affordable nostalgic snack, but not the standout item among Tommy's bakes.

Traditional Mooncakes, $3

Mini Toast House is also known for its traditional handmade mooncakes which they typically start preparing in June for the Mid-Autumn Festival. 

Mini Toast House is at #02-105 Chinatown Complex Food Centre, 335 Smith St, S050335. Open daily, 7am to 9pm.

Photos: Kelvin Chia, Tasha Ting

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