The cost of living in Singapore is a much talked-about topic in 2024, and it’s not hard to see why. Due to inflation and GST hikes, dining out is now less easy on the wallet.
A common grouse is that eateries have increased their prices – some significantly – despite offering the same food portions or less. “Value-for-money” is now as much a buzzword as safe distancing during the pandemic years. On the flip side of things, F&B owners are also grappling with rising overheads, which necessitates a price increase.
One particularly sore point for some diners literally involves their bread and butter: The humble kaya butter toast set that’s pretty much Singapore’s national breakfast. We remember a time when you could order a set for under S$5, but that’s mostly no longer the case now.
If you are reconsidering splurging on your kaya butter toast breakfast these days, 8days.sg has done the legwork of visiting five different cafe chains that specialise in it in order to compare the prices and food that you get from each brand.
HOW WE DID IT
In order to ensure as much consistency as possible and that we are not comparing heartland standards to the CBD, we visited all five cafe outlets only in the same Jurong area (Jurong Point/ Westgate/ Ng Teng Fong General Hospital).
As an anonymous customer, we bought the most basic kaya butter toast set, which comes with two soft-boiled eggs and our choice of coffee or tea.
We then grade how value-for-money the set is according to these criteria, with five stars being the most bang for the buck:
- Food and drink portions
- Amount of kaya and butter given
- Taste
1. HEAVENLY WANG
Outlet: Ng Teng Fong General Hospital
Price: S$5.70