First dibs: Breakfast Hola – Quaint Taiwanese joint with toasts & braised pork rice to start your day

On 15 June 2022, a quaint little Taiwanese joint named Breakfast Hola opened at Chinatown, serving breakfast food and some Taiwanese dishes.

As a person who loves Taiwanese food, I was keen to go down and try their food.

Breakfast Hola’s exterior and interior are cheerful, with splotches of yellow and postcards pinned on the walls, and I immediately went to the counter to order.

I wanted to order the Handmade Egg Crepe Roll with Grilled Pork (S$6.50), but unfortunately the Handmade Egg Crepe Roll was out of stock. The server at the counter recommended the Grilled Pork (S$6.50) with Whole-Wheat Crepe (additional S$1), so I decided to get that instead.

To my disappointment, the Whole-Wheat Crepe was very doughy and had a slight rubbery texture. If the crepe had been thinner, it probably would have been crispier, which would’ve given it a better bite. The grilled pork within the crepe was slightly dry, and was not that flavourful either.

Perhaps ordering the Scallion-Oil Pancake (S$2) would’ve been a better choice.

I was excited for the Authentic Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice (S$4.80 for small, S$6.80 for large), which had a Breakfast Hola thumbs up next to the item on the menu, and decided to order its small serving.

There was a generous heap of pork and it looked pretty appetising. The pork was well seasoned and tender, and the pickled cucumber went well with the rice and sauce. It was fragrant with each bite, and I enjoyed this dish.

The Luncheon Meat & Egg Toast (S$5.40) came with two slices of white bread, a sunny-side up egg, fresh lettuce and pickled cucumbers.

The white bread added sweetness to each bite. It was well toasted, and the luncheon meat went well with the lettuce and cucumbers. However, the bread was thick with respect to the fillings, thus the dough-to-filling ratio was slightly off. If the bread was slightly thinner, it would be a decent piece of toast.

Lastly, I ordered the Grilled Meat Club Sandwich (S$7.90), which came skewered onto four wooden sticks, which reminded me of toothpicks. Each stick had four pieces of bread, with layers of pickled cucumbers, egg, tomato, lettuce, and grilled pork meat.

This impressed me the most. It had a savoury dressing, which really tied all the different ingredients together. The pork in this club sandwich was more tender and moist than in the crepe. My only gripe would be its size— it was rather tall, so trying to fit everything in one bite could be challenging for some!

It was a hit or miss for Breakfast Hola, with some of its dishes unfortunately being a miss for me. Perhaps I ordered the wrong dishes or they didn’t sit well with my taste buds, but I’d say that there is definitely some room and opportunity for improvement here.

Nevertheless, given that Breakfast Hola opened within the week, I’d give them the benefit of the doubt that they’re still trying to perfect their recipes.

Other articles you might like:

Famous Taiwanese bakery Wu Pao Chun opens second outlet at Paragon, Orchard

Get S$1.50 delicious giant egg rolls made fresh at BEARS, a Taiwanese snack store in Plaza Singapura