Korean import Isaac Toast spawned a craze for breakfast toast sandwiches here when they opened their first Singapore outlet at Plaza Singapura’s basement last June. And now, there’s a new Taiwanese toast sarnie chain in town — Fong Sheng Hao.

Fong Sheng Hao has two branches in its native Taipei, and started out as a stall at the famous Shilin Night Market. It recently opened a Singapore franchised outlet at the new Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ) mall selling charcoal-grilled sandwiches. Its concept sounds similar to Isaac Toast; savoury ingredients like meat and cheese wedged between thick square slices of charcoal-grilled milk bread.

The bread here is baked daily with premium New Zealand butter by Fong Sheng Hao’s Singapore franchise owners in a central kitchen before being transported over to the shop. About 80 to 120 loaves are baked fresh daily.

Since its opening a month ago on August 30, the cafe has seen a constant crowd at all hours of the day (after all, toast sarnies can be enjoyed anytime). The 32-seat space beside the FairPrice Finest supermarket feels a little claustrophobic; the tables are placed very closely together outside the store unit, while the tiny unit itself is mainly occupied by a narrow kitchen. And it’s self-service here — place your order at the cashier, grab a buzzer and collect your order at a window beside the kitchen when your sandwich is ready.

Fong Sheng Hao’s Singapore franchise is owned by young Singaporean Louis Tan (right in pic), 31, who personally runs the business with his secondary school pal Benedict Tan (left in pic), also 31. “We’re not related, but we get people asking us that all the time ’cos we share the same surname,” Louis laughs. They were based in Taipei for one and a half years to learn how to bake the brand’s famous thick-cut milk loaves.

Despite being first-time F&B bosses, the two young lads are very steady on the job; Louis wipes down tables at the cafe and serves orders efficiently (he had previously worked for his family’s engineering business), and takes turns with Benedict to be stationed at the central kitchen to bake bread.

While Fong Sheng Hao in Taiwan offers non-sandwich bites like bento sets and noodles, the Singapore menu is smaller and focused on sarnies. There are three Singapore-inspired flavours exclusive to this local outlet, which Louis says will be launched sometime “in mid-October at our grand opening”: Kaya Butter Toast, Butter Sugar Toast and Ham & Cheese Toast. A selection of kopi and teh beverages (from $1.80) is also offered on top of FSH’s Signature Milk Tea and Cane-Flavoured Black Tea to go with your sarnie.

Not available on the menu currently: the Fong Sheng Sandwich, FSH’s version of a club sandwich that’s good for two pax, and the Potato Special, which has “creamy mayonnaise with a hint of freshly-baked potatoes”. According to Louis, the full menu squad will be served after he stabilises his operations.

Oddly enough, we also spotted a random Ang Ku Kueh ($2 each) listed on the sides section of the menu. “It’s supplied by a famous local [kueh maker],” Louis tells us. “We want to offer something local to go with our kopi and teh.” There’s something for both millennials and their parents here, we guess.

Fong Sheng Hao is most famous for this sarnie; it claims that one of this omelette sarnie is sold every 36 seconds in Taiwan. It’s pretty yummy; the cheesy cheddar omelette is decadently thick and fluffy, though the thin slab of pork loin is a little too tough. But it also feels like something one can, er, DIY at home with competent-enough cooking skills. So perhaps what you pay for is the convenience of not having to grapple with hot pans and greasy washing up.

What most folks can’t make at home, however, is Fong Sheng Hao’s fabulous milk bread — delish when we gnaw on a warm piece that’s fresh off the charcoal grill. It’s lightly crispy to the bite, and soft and pillowy inside. Good enough to eat plain.

Compared to the tough pork loin in the Pork & Egg Cheese sandwich, the house-made minced pork patty in this pick fares better. The thicker patty is juicier, and more shiok to munch on.

This is FSH’s Pork & Egg Cheese Sarnie, but with their Taiwan-imported FSH chilli sauce that Louis describes as “kinda like Tabasco sauce”. It’s indeed runnier and less viscous than the traditional chilli sauce from a bottle, and gives a tangy kick to the hearty pork omelette combo. Nice.

Instead of a pork patty, this sarnie is stuffed with a generous heaping of pork floss drizzled with condensed milk. The sweet-savoury pairing works; we like how the coarse bak hoo gives the soft, wobby omelette some bite.

This is one open-faced PB toast that will divide your squad. What it is: a fat slice of milk toast slathered thickly with chunky house-made peanut butter, and sprinkled liberally with crushed peanuts and peanut powder. Our colleagues thoroughly enjoy this classic, comforting breakfast item. We think it’s kinda underwhelming, and the peanut butter somewhat bland. We wouldn’t pay $7.10 for a set for this lah.

FSH’s version of nai cha is brewed with fresh milk and black tea leaves from Taiwan’s oldest 140-year-old tea shop Lin Hua Tai Tea Co. It’s served cold and is silky enough on our palate, but tastes more like milk than tea. We could do with stronger tea flavour. If you want a drink, order this instead of the tannic kopitiam-style kopi and teh that unfortunately overpower the sarnies.

The same black tea used for the Signature Milk Tea is flavoured with house-made sugarcane syrup. It’s fragrant, not too sweet, and our heaty body feels cooler after downing a cup.

Fong Sheng Hao has a seemingly endless stream of customers who pay argurably rather steep prices for its homely toast sandwiches (though avocado toast at a hipster cafe can also easily cost twice as much as a FSH sarnie). What you get here is more than decent, hearty sandwiches (we prefer the savoury picks) — that’s if you don’t spend too much time getting photos for the ’gram, and chow down on the delicious, crispy charcoal-grilled milk bread immediately.

FSH boss Louis has no immediate plans to open a second outlet (“We want to get this outlet at PLQ on track first,” he tells us), but we kinda wish he would open a shop that's more spacious than its current digs, which is too cramped considering its popularity.

Fong Sheng Hao Singapore, #B2-04 Paya Lebar Quarter Mall. Open daily 8am-10pm. www.facebook.com/FongShengHaoSG.

PHOTOS: MARK LEE