Fong Sheng Hao Review: Popular Taiwanese Charcoal-Grilled Milk Toast, Dan Bing And More

Fong Sheng Hao has popular Taiwanese dishes at NEX

Back in 2013, a stall in the Shilin District of Taipei came up with the idea to sell charcoal-grilled toast and milk tea together. This quickly sparked a craze, which at its peak saw queues with an average waiting time of 40 minutes—we hear that it sometimes got so long and unwieldy that the police had to step in. It wasn’t long before that stall, known as Fong Sheng Hao, expanded overseas.

Since their arrival in 2019, the brand grew to eight outlets across the country at the time of writing. Though we’ve featured them before, we hadn’t had the chance to review their food until recently, when Fong Sheng Hao invited us to their NEX outlet to try some of their new dishes and signature items.

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Food at Fong Sheng Hao

We started with one of the brand’s new items, the Milky Butter Toast ($6.50). These unassuming two slices of bread, like all other toasts on the menu, were house-made, allowing them to be carefully constructed to the optimal fluffiness and thickness. We hear that anhydrous milk fat (concentrated butter) from Fonterra, New Zealand’s top dairy company, was used in this dish.

And what pleasant toast it was! We had no complaints about the texture of the bread, as it was light and airy on the inside, with just a slight crispiness on the outside. The flavour of milk and butter was more than evident here, adding a creaminess to each bite. Also, while the milk-butter crumble you see above made the dish a little messy to eat, we appreciated the additional crunch it added to the toast.

Another new item we tried was the Nanyang Chicken Satay Toast ($8.20). Using Fong Sheng Hao’s signature toasts, this sandwich spotlighted a chicken patty paired with peanut sauce, onions, and cucumber.

As you’d expect, the aforementioned ingredients gave this dish a satay-like character. The rich, nutty peanut sauce did much of the heavy lifting here, with the onions and cucumber adding crunch and freshness. But we were a little let down by the chicken patty, which wasn’t as crispy or juicy as we’d have liked.

Regardless of which toast you get, be sure to pair them with the Signature Milk Tea ($5.40) for a complete Taiwanese breakfast experience!

Now, on to some Taiwanese classics. Their Braised Pork Rice ($8.60), AKA lu rou fan, was a lot better than the ones you’d find at most local eateries.

The tender slices of pork belly, braised till full of fragrance and umami goodness, went excellently with the fluffy pearl rice. The pork belly itself had a good meat-to-fat ratio, which is always appreciated when it comes to lu rou fan. Finally, a hard-boiled egg and some fresh cucumber rounded out this simple but well-executed dish.

Then there was the Pork Foss Egg Omelette ($6.90), which was a pretty standard rendition of the street food classic. While it featured a decent amount of pork floss, we found the flavours somewhat muted. Get this if you’re looking for a light snack, but if you’d like something tastier, the aforementioned dishes should do the trick.

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Ambience at Fong Sheng Hao

Fong Sheng Hao’s interiors are decidedly nostalgic, with wall murals depicting a Taiwan from days bygone set alongside old-school wooden furnishing. The space can get a little cramped, though, so you may want to avoid peak hours if you want to enjoy your food with some peace and quiet.

This eatery is a five-minute walk from Serangoon MRT Station. But since there are eight outlets in Singapore, be sure to check if there’s one near you!

The verdict

If you’re looking for some solid Taiwanese eats, especially those suitable for breakfast, Fong Sheng Hao is a good option. They’re not going to blow you away with their fare, but there’s enough to appreciate with their charcoal toast and milk tea combination.

For Legit beef noodles and cheesy dan bing in Farrer Park, read our Lai Lai Taiwan Casual Dining review. For a Taiwanese cafe with fried intestines mee sua and pig trotter rice under $10, read our Jiak Ba Food Heaven coverage.

Address: 23 Serangoon Central, #B2-15, NEX, Singapore 556083
Opening hours: Daily 7:30am to 9pm
Tel: 9757 8550
Website
Fong Sheng Hao is not a halal-certified eatery.

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Photos taken by Marcus Neo.
This was a media tasting at Fong Sheng Hao.