BreadTalk group taking over Old Tiong Bahru Bak Kut Teh spot with ‘Toast Box Coffee House’
The upcoming coffeeshop will also house a First Street Teochew Fish Soup outlet, which the group acquired in 2020.
In an interview with 8days.sg, Judy Tay, 67, explained that she had decided to retire in order to “attend to some personal matters.” Since there were no successors to take over, she gave up her business.
She returned her unit to the landlord, but 8days.sg learns that the next tenant taking over is BreadTalk Group, which is opening a quaint old-school coffeeshop called Toast Box Coffee House at the same spot.
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Hoarding already up
The hoarding is already up at 58 Seng Poh Road, which still retains Old Tiong Bahru Bak Kut Teh’s awning. This is not the first time that the group is moving into an iconic shop’s space. In June this year, a Toast Box outlet opened at Bras Basah Complex, in the same unit that was occupied by heritage bookstore Music Book Room.
Instead of erasing all traces of the literary icon, BreadTalk Group kept Music Book Room’s teal signboard up. It remains to be seen if Old Tiong Bahru Bak Kut Teh will live on in the same way, through its awning at its old stomping ground.In response to 8days.sg’s queries about the coffeeshop, a rep for Toast Box says: “We are unfortunately unable to share any comments or details at this point as many aspects are still being finalised at this point.” The brand is also celebrating its 18th anniversary this year.
Coffeeshop to have famous fish soup stall
But here is what we know so far about the coffeeshop: Other than Toast Box, it will also house an outlet for hawker brand First Street Teochew Fish Soup, which BreadTalk Group acquired in 2020 (get all the deets here).
The original family-run fish soup stall is still operating at Upper Serangoon Road, along with an outlet at the BreadTalk-owned Food Republic food court at its Tai Seng headquarters. A third branch opened in Dec 2021 at Hougang Green mall’s Food Loft food court, though that appears to have closed.According to the hoarding, Toast Box Coffee House in Tiong Bahru is slated to open next month, and the company is currently hiring F&B staff for its new eatery.
Toast Box Coffee House is opening in Oct 2023 at 58 Seng Poh Road, S160058.
Photos: Jonathan Fam/ Kelvin Chia/ Toast Box
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