Hawker Behind Popular Old Airport Rd Kaya Toast Stall Co-Invests $300K Into Café In CBD

If you’re a fan of Toast Hut at Old Airport Road Food Centre, you’ll know that their kaya butter toast and Hainanese-style kopi are often sold out by 11am. Now, you can enjoy the same snacks on the all-day menu at the hawker stall's new air-conditioned outpost in the Central Business District without having to endure the long queues. 

Toast meister Melvin Soh has been honing his craft part-time since he was 17 at a local kaya toast chain Ya Kun. At 23, after graduating from ITE with a certificate in Electrical Engineering – “but I’ve never worked in that industry” – he started his own hawker stall at Old Airport Road due to his strong interest in F&B. After all, he grew up helping out his father, a retired hawker who ran an economic rice stall.

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The boyish 39-year-old father of two also co-owned the now-defunct cafe Sandffee N Co, at Connection One at Bukit Merah for six years. “Coincidentally, our lease was up in 2020 – just when COVID-19 hit us – and we decided not to continue.”

Earlier this year, when the management from Hub Synergy Point at Shenton Way invited Toast Hut to open a café at its ground floor, Melvin gathered his old Sandffee N Co partners to launch the adorably-named Six Beans by Old Airport Road Toast Hut on Anson Road in September.

From left: Cindy, Melvin and Jasmine

Started a family business with aunt and cousins, invested $300K total

The ‘Six Beans’ are the six partners, who are all relatives. “We’re a close-knit big family and Melvin came up with this idea for a family business,” says his equally youthful looking cousin Cindy Kan, in her early 40s.

Aunt Jasmine Ng, 66, manages the 40-seater café on a daily basis though Melvin comes by at least twice a week to oversee the food production and quality control. 

The other three owners are his sister Kitty, and cousins Audrey and Eugene. They all hail from non-F&B-related industries but contribute in areas like accounting and HR. They invested $300,000 into Six Beans. “We were willing to invest so much because when we were running Sandffee N Co, our business was good – even though most customers were from the building itself and we rarely had members of the public patronising us. So, now that we’re in the CBD area, and there are a few condos around us, we foresee a better crowd.” Indeed, they tell 8days.sg they’re seeing a full house during lunch daily. 

The minimally decorated Six Beans features grey cement screed flooring, white tables and grey seats, with some taller bar tables and bar stools. The signboard proudly bears the line: ‘By Old Airport Road Toast Hut’ and you will recognise their signature yellow cups. A few photos of their hot dishes adorn the walls. We like that the self-service cafe doesn’t pack the tables too close together – unlike most chain kopi stores – so, coupled with the high ceiling, it makes for a less claustrophobic dining experience.

Open from 7.30am to 5pm on Mondays to Saturdays, their main customers are CBD denizens who pop by for breakfast, lunch or tea. Some are Old Airport Road regulars who were pleasantly surprised to discover their CBD outpost. On Saturdays, they get cyclists who make a pit stop after an invigorating ride through the city. 

The menu

You’ll find the whole Toast Hut menu, including their sandwiches made with ciabatta, here. Given its location and the much more comfy (though sparsely decorated) air-conditioned environment, prices are understandably higher. For example, their coffee costs $1 at Old Airport Road and $1.50 at Hub Synergy Point. Their kaya toast, soft boiled eggs and hot beverage set costs $3.60 in the food centre VS $5.80 at Six Beans. What’s new: More substantial meals like local faves laksa, curry chicken/sesame chicken rice and mee rebus. They also offer Aglio Olio and Soba bowls. All mains are priced at $7.90.

Kaya Butter Toast or Giant Bun, $2.70; (8 Days Pick!)

The bestselling kaya butter toast comes in your choice of two pieces of brown bread, or a fluffy giant bun, popped on an electric grill.

We prefer the crispier, thinly sliced old-school bread, especially when the slab of New Zealand Anchor brand salted butter melts deliciously over it, fusing with the not-too-sweet pandan kaya. Although they don’t make their own kaya, they got their long-time supplier to make a sugar-lite version, which is used at both Toast Hut and Six Beans.

Ham & Cheese Sandwich, $4.70

The Ham & Cheese Sandwich is made with slices of chicken ham and cheddar cheese between a fancier grilled ciabatta, instead of regular bread. This photogenic ’wich with the quintessential cheese pull will hit the spot if you want a more protein-packed toast.

To make your toast or sandwich into a set, add $3.10 for a hot drink/$3.60 for cold, and two soft-boiled eggs. Our kopi siew dai, brewed with a blend of Robusta and Arabica Indonesian beans roasted with butter and sugar, is fragrant and packs an oomph, the way we like our kopitiam-style kopi.

Sesame Chicken Rice, $7.90 (8 Days Pick!)

Five pieces of mid wings, served with crunchy cucumber slices, are thoroughly infused with the soy sauce and ginger gravy, a 20-year-old recipe from Melvin’s dad who used to run an economic rice stall. A slightly stronger sesame flavour would’ve made it perfect, but we still enjoyed this with hot rice. Get this over the middling curry chicken.

Soba Bowl, $7.90

This brightly coloured bowl with cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, corn kernels, quail eggs and a supplier-sourced fried chicken patty is great value for money, considering that similar bowls will easily hit $10 in the CBD area. We like the idea of this refreshing and light lunch on a sweltering hot day, but there was not enough of the house-made citrusy sauce dressing concocted by Melvin. Our soba was a tad dry, but tasted good after we asked for more sauce.

Laksa, $7.90

This bowl of thick rice noodles, fishcake slices, shredded chicken, quail’s egg, and gravy soaked taupok is decently lemak and slurpable. Not the best we’ve tried but as good as any you’d find in a hawker centre, if you’re craving a spicy bowl of noodles.

Bottom line

Six Beans isn’t offering ground-breaking cuisine, but serves tasty comfort food at reasonable prices in the CBD if you’re in the area. Their silky, punchy kopi and toast – we like that the kaya isn’t too sweet – are comparable to, or better, than what we’ve had at most kopi chain stores. Six Beans’ roomier space also makes dining here a comfier, less claustrophobic experience. Another draw: they're offering a free hot drink with every order of a main dish, till 31 October.

The details

Six Beans by Old Airport Road Toast Hut is at 70 Anson Road, #01-01 Hub Synergy Point, S079905. Open Mon to Sat 7:30am – 5pm; closed Sun. Tel: 9847 1338. More info via Facebook and Instagram.

Photos: Aik Chen.

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