Had the chance to dine alone whilst working from the office; wanted to drop by other places but found myself hitting Curious Palette instead — one of the spots that is rarely exercised even when eating alone around the office.

Wanted to go for something more substantial, but found myself eventually going for the Kaya, Coffee Butter — the very same item which I had went for when I first made my return to the cafe when dine-in was just re-instated after moving into Phase Two of the Circuit Breaker. The aesthetics of the dish had since changed — gone were the days of the square sliced toast stacked up with the soy sauce bottle one would often find in coffeeshops that contains their Espresso Shoyu; now the items come with toasts sliced in triangles, and the Espresso Shoyu comes in a saucer instead.

The Kaya, Coffee Butter Toast was what I remembered it to be — the crisp, old-school toast that it came with resembles that of Ya Kun’s Kaya Butter Toast; just sliced slightly different and comes slathered with ample portions of Kaya and Coffee Butter for a balance note. Perhaps of the way the toasts are being sliced now, the flavours of the Kaya and Coffee Butter are also a bit more pronounced this time — the Kaya being all smooth and carried a distinct note of the caramalised coconut jam; all that without being overly sweet nor grainy as the commercial variants available in supermarkets, while the coffee butter carries an alluring bitter undertone that cuts through the usual saltishness of butter which is an interesting flavour profile that brings the usual pairing of coffee with Kaya Butter Toast straight into the toast itself. The sous vide eggs that accompanies the Kaya, Coffee Butter Toast comes wobbly with molten egg yolks — the best sort of eggs with Kaya Butter Toast that we so much enjoy in the traditional Hainanese breakfast, and comes accompanied with Espresso-infused Shoyu; do go easy with the dousing of the Shoyu considering how the Espresso Shoyu comes with a rather deep, earthy and saltish note that is more intense than the usual light soya sauce that some will enjoy their eggs to go together with.

The Kaya, Coffee Butter is probably one of those items that is rarely seen being ordered at Curious Palette — after all, the other items on the menu would probably appeal to the cafe-goers a lot more and are also more substantial in terms of portion size. I do enjoy their twist to the usual Kaya Butter Toast though — one that can only be pulled of by an establishment that specialises in specialty coffee; and is something I would consider having again for a light lunch/brunch at Curious Palette.