How a Chinese takeaway kid brought Hong Kong-style French toast to London – with a twist

Imagine this: a thick slab of golden-brown toast, topped with a perfect knob of butter melting slowly into the middle, finished with a drizzle of sticky golden syrup. For many Hong Kong diners, this variation on French toast is a familiar sight and a staple on menus across many of the city’s cha chaan teng. But don’t expect Cantoast Bakery in London to follow the mould. “A lot of the time, I get questions from customers,” says Haydon Wong, chef-owner of the pop-up bakery, which specialises in an updated version of the dish. “‘What is salted egg?’ or ‘What is Hong Kong-style French toast?’, which I feel like is the first step in getting people more curious.” Cantoast’s signature is made with rectangles of house-made milk bread that is deep-fried and cloaked in flavoured custards, such as pandan coconut, salted egg and black sesame. “At a glance, Cantoast doesn’t resemble the traditional cha chaan teng French toast at all,” says Wong, adding that the philosophy of Korean cafes and Japanese bakeries has long inspired him. With Cantoast, he keeps his menu rooted in traditional Cantonese baking, but adds a slightly different flair. “You see it with choux pastry all the time with different fillings, but not so much with pineapple buns,” he explains. “I try to pull different aspects of Asian bakes and pastries together to create something different rather than replicate. I think there’s space for traditional and new.” He works alongside his pastry chef partner, Natalie Tj, who has experience working at the Hotel Lutetia in Paris, France – recently renamed the Mandarin Oriental Lutetia, Paris – and Arome in London. Together, they have been popping up all over the British capital for the past year and a half. “Navigating our relationship as a couple and business partners has been a steep learning curve,” Wong says. He is the face of Cantoast, leading on cooking and recipe development, while Tj works mostly behind the scenes, handling spreadsheets, finances and outreach. “The baking and late nights are just part of the job – it’s hard and rewarding, but my partner is really the brains behind the operation, all while juggling a full-time job in corporate, too,” he says. “Managing a relationship, separating personal life from work, and staying on the same page is the real challenge.” After a run of successful pop-ups at Victoria Park Market and Shotengai Market, they have just launched a bakery in central London that will operate for the next six months. Located in Marylebone, the space is part of Westminster City Council’s Meanwhile On scheme, which gives independent brands, entrepreneurs and creatives access to empty or underused shops in prime locations at rent-free or highly discounted rates, as well as design support. “I’ve always had my sights set on opening a bakery one day,” Wong says, adding that the residency will be the longest Cantoast has settled in one place. Launched on April 8, the bakery-cafe is serving coffee along with Korean-inspired salt breads and a seasonally rotating selection of pastries. “It is a real chance for us to showcase our vision beyond our home kitchen and market stalls,” Wong says. Wong’s cooking journey began in his family’s Chinese takeaway in Torquay, southwest England, a world of beaches, coach tours and retirement homes that felt far from his own. Opened by his grandparents in 1992 and now run by his parents, the shop was home, workplace and classroom all in one. Wong spent evenings at the packing station while his father and grandfather worked the woks. By eight, he was sealing aluminium containers under his grandmother’s watchful eye, careful not to cut himself. Like many children of takeaway families, he initially aimed elsewhere. He left Devon for London to study biological sciences at Imperial College London, following the usual pressure to succeed academically. Graduating without a plan, he spent months back home before returning to London. Cooking was the only thing that felt natural, so he applied for a commis chef role at Taiwanese restaurant Bao in Fitzrovia. “I wanted to make something of myself or at the very least achieve ‘greatness’ so that my parents wouldn’t be disappointed in me for abandoning my university studies to pursue a job that they see as a waste of my opportunities,” he explains. “I never told them what I was working as when I left for London, as I was too ashamed to, but of course that secret never held long with my siblings being interrogated.” Wong went on to work at the now-closed restaurant Xu, Bao’s take on Taiwanese fine dining, before leaving restaurants to join Dumpling Shack, a street food stall at Spitalfields Market specialising in sheng jian bao, or fried soup dumplings. There, he experimented with brunch specials, including his signature Cantonese brick-shaped toast, which sparked the idea for Cantoast. He later helped develop menus at Dumpling Shack’s sister site, Sichuan Fry, building menus and testing recipes, and baked at Italian bakery Forno. Without formal training, Wong learned through trial and error, testing recipes on customers before striking out on his own. Since then, Cantoast has been steadily rising. Throughout, Wong has shared the highs and lows of running a small food business online, baking from home and using his former employer Forno’s kitchen after hours, building a loyal following along the way. He was recently named in Code Hospitality’s 30 Under 30, an annual list celebrating some of the most influential young people in hospitality, though he plays it down. “When you do things on your own, you can feel a bit separate from the rest of hospitality,” he says. “It was a nice surprise, but it doesn’t really change my goals.” That sense of uncertainty hit him early on, after Cantoast went viral on social media thanks to an Instagram post by Secret London promoting its collaboration with Araw Ice Cream at Spitalfields Market. The post labelled the creation as “the viral Hong Kong-style French toast”, and the reaction was immediate. Many, including people from Hong Kong, said it was not traditional at all, and it left Wong questioning his identity and where his work fit. “I don’t blame them,” he says. “It doesn’t look like the French toast you’d find in a cha chaan teng, and there isn’t really anything like it in Hong Kong, either. Without that context, it reads differently.” For Wong, there was a time when he felt a strong pull to represent his heritage through food and seek approval from others. That has changed, and he no longer measures his success by others’ standards or feels the need to “make it” as a chef. “There’s still resistance, especially from purist Cantonese audiences,” he says. “French toast is already in the West, and it’s accessible. It is not like your cinnamon rolls or classic croissants, which are already widely accepted. “I see Cantoast as a gateway to push those boundaries and introduce more Hong Kong Asian desserts and flavours.” Cantoast Bakery, 21-23 Nutford Place, London, W1H 5YH

How a Chinese takeaway kid brought Hong Kong-style French toast to London – with a twist

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}London bakery Cantoast’s deep-fried milk bread comes in flavours such as salted egg. It’s Hong Kong-style baking but not as we quite know it

London bakery Cantoast’s deep-fried milk bread comes in flavours such as salted egg. It’s Hong Kong-style baking but not as we quite know it