Don Pie in Toa Payoh: the full story

The short version of Don Pie’s history goes CBD, then Jalan Besar. The longer version has a middle, and that middle is Toa Payoh North, the subject of our Don Pie Toa Payoh section. This is the full story of those years, told from food-blog visits, listings and the brand’s own account. Where the sources disagree on a date, we say so.

Before Toa Payoh: a pie shop in the CBD

Chef Don Lim’s chicken pie recipe dates, by the brand’s own account, to 1983, when he was baking for a staff cafeteria at a large technology company. In 2000 he opened his first shop, “DON: Your Personal Pie Club”, at Far East Square. It grew into a restaurant across the street at China Square Central, and for office workers around Raffles Place the Don pie became a familiar lunch.

Around 2014 to 2015, Chef Don sold the Don Pie brand. The year depends on which source you read: the brand’s About page and several articles say 2014, while two 2017 food blogs say November 2015. Reports also say he was not allowed to sell pastries for a period afterwards, which explains what came next.

2015: a crab stall in a coffee shop

In March 2015, by the account of two food bloggers who visited, Chef Don opened Don Signature Crab at a coffee shop at Blk 206 Toa Payoh North, #01-1197. The brand’s own timeline puts the start in 2014. Either way, the dish was not pastry. It was crab bee hoon soup, served in a claypot, built on a herbal stock.

Articles from those years describe a one-man operation. A 2017 listing gave the hours as 12pm to 8.30pm daily, with crab dishes at about $25, $30 and $40, and larger crabs up to $55. Miss Tam Chiak’s headline that year was simply about delicious crab bee hoon in Toa Payoh for $25.

2019: the pies come back

In 2019 the business moved a short distance to 1008A Toa Payoh North, the food centre known as Toa Payoh Food Centre II. Owner-style posts quoted on FoodAdvisor say Chef Don’s pies were sold “only” there from late November 2019, under a new name: Don’s Pie & Cake. The stall also kept the crab, so it traded as “Don’s Pie & Cake, Signature Crab”.

The brand’s own home page now describes this period, plainly, as a partnership at an industrial canteen. It was also the moment the Don pie returned to the public after several years away.

A September 2020 food blog visit to the stall recorded a personal chicken pie at $5. At the time, phone orders ran from 10am with an 8.30pm last order, and orders of $20 or more within 1 km were delivered free, according to the posts quoted on FoodAdvisor.

2021: the move to Tyrwhitt Road

During the pandemic in 2021, Chef Don asked his nephew, Kelvin Leong, to help revive the business properly. The result was Chicken Pie Kitchen & Don Signature Crab at 39 Tyrwhitt Road in Jalan Besar. A 2022 post from the restaurant marked its first anniversary there in October, which suggests an opening around October 2021. As the restaurant opened, Chef Don wound down his Toa Payoh partnership, according to ieatishootipost.

Why the Toa Payoh name lingers online

Three things keep “Don Pie Toa Payoh” alive in search results years after the stalls closed:

1. Old articles. The 2017 to 2020 write-ups still rank, and their titles say Toa Payoh.
2. Legacy listings. At least one travel review site still files the current restaurant under a Toa Payoh area name, and FoodAdvisor tags the listing as Toa Payoh seafood and pastries.
3. Memory. People who queued at the food centre still associate the pies with the estate.

None of that means there is a Toa Payoh outlet now. There is not. If you are in Toa Payoh, see how to get a Don pie from Toa Payoh, or go straight to the AMK Hub kiosk, three stops up the line.

What the Toa Payoh years left behind

The crab bee hoon soup that began at Blk 206 is still on the menu at Tyrwhitt Road, described as the signature dish that started it all. The pie recipe that came back at Food Centre II is the one the kitchen bakes today under the DonChef name. And the pairing of pies and crab under one roof, which first appeared at the food centre stall, is now the whole identity of the restaurant: West meets East, in the brand’s own words. The kitchen has written up The Toa Payoh Years from its side too, if you want the same chapter told from the stove.