A Woman Led Food Venture
Toastid is built around Mehek’s love for food, but also around the fact that she chose to build a serious food business in a space that is still heavily male dominated.
What makes that journey even more personal is that she continued building Toastid through one of the biggest transitions in her own life, becoming a mother.
The brand has therefore grown alongside her, with Mehek continuing to lead the food, menu thinking and day-to-day culinary direction with a very hands on approach.
It is not positioned as a woman entrepreneur story first and a food brand second. The food has to stand on its own. But the fact that it has been built so personally, and largely driven by one woman’s taste, instinct, and persistence, is an important part of the Toastid story.
Experimental Food, Without Being Experimental for the Sake of It
Toastid is not interested in serving food people have seen everywhere else.
The menu is intentionally experimental, not in a complicated or intimidating way, but in the way familiar food is reworked through unexpected ingredients, techniques and combinations.
That can mean pairing grilled pineapple with a buffalo chicken burger, using kokum, tamarind and dates with ricotta, bringing ghee roast flavours into a burger or flatbread, or pairing pulled pork with poached egg and wasabi hollandaise.
The starting point is usually a familiar format. A burger. A toastie. A pizza. A plate of ribs. The experimentation happens in how that format is layered, flavoured and finished.
Gourmet, But Approachable
Toastid sits in a space between casual cafe food and restaurant style cooking.
The ambition is to deliver gourmet, experiential food without the stiffness of fine dining.
House made breads, carefully developed sauces, thoughtful cooking techniques, layered garnishes and strong flavour contrasts are all part of the experience, but the food is still meant to feel generous, comforting and easy to enjoy.
You can walk in for a sandwich or coffee, but the food is built with the same attention to detail you would expect from a more serious restaurant kitchen.
Bread Is Still the Foundation
Bread remains one of the strongest signatures of the brand.
Toastid works with unique breads like shokupan, brioche and focaccia (among others) and the bread is treated as part of the dish rather than simply something that holds the filling together.
That philosophy extends to the rest of the kitchen as well. Many of the sauces, spreads, jams, pickles and accompaniments are made in house, allowing the team to control flavour and build combinations that feel distinctly Toastid.
The idea has always been to create the whole bite, bread, filling, sauce, texture and finish, rather than assemble a dish from standard components.
A Menu That Doesn’t Belong to One Cuisine
Toastid takes inspiration from everywhere.
European cafe food may have been an early influence, but the menu today freely borrows from Asian, coastal Indian, continental and global comfort food flavours.
Miso can sit next to hollandaise. Chimichurri can meet a smashed pork burger. Kokum can appear in a modern cafe plate. Ghee roast can move beyond the formats people traditionally associate it with.
That freedom is very intentional. Toastid isn’t trying to become an Italian cafe, an American diner or a continental restaurant. It is building its own food language.
Technique, Texture and Layered Flavour
Toastid puts technique at the centre of the food, but always in service of flavour.
The 24 hour timber smoked ribs are one example, but the same approach runs through freshly baked breads, sauteed mushrooms, fried chicken, grilled pineapple, ghee roast preparations, whipped feta, hollandaise, house pickles and sauces developed from scratch.
Across the menu, the focus is on contrast: creamy with acidic, smoky with sweet, crisp with soft, rich with fresh. The objective is to make every dish feel layered and memorable rather than simply heavy or indulgent.
More Than Toasties
The name may be Toastid, but the brand has grown well beyond sandwiches.
The menu today spans breakfast, toasties, sandos, burgers, pizzas, mains, coffee, beverages and desserts, with regular experimentation and seasonal additions keeping the menu evolving.
Toastid has also expanded into catering, taking the same food first approach into corporate gatherings, private celebrations and larger events.
Built for Experiences, Not Just Orders
The idea was never to create food that simply travels well on an app.
Toastid is designed around moments.
A slow breakfast.
A coffee date.
A business conversation.
A long weekend lunch.
A quiet meal alone.
A table full of friends ordering too much food.
The space, menu and service are meant to make people want to stay a little longer.
Who Toastid Is For
Toastid is for people who are curious about food.
They enjoy comfort food, but they also want to discover something they haven’t eaten before. They appreciate quality ingredients and thoughtful cooking, but don’t need a formal dining environment to experience them.
They may come in for something familiar, but ideally leave having tried something unexpected.
The Toastid Philosophy
At its core, Toastid believes that comfort food does not have to be predictable.
It can be experimental without being pretentious, gourmet without being formal, and indulgent without being lazy.
That is really where the brand sits today. A neighbourhood cafe in Indiranagar, built by a woman who loves feeding people, experimenting relentlessly and turning familiar food into something people remember.
FAQs
What is Toastid and what makes it unique?
Toastid is a woman-led food venture where Mehek combines her personal culinary instincts with a hands-on approach to lead the menu and day-to-day kitchen direction. It is not a woman entrepreneur story first; the food must stand on its own, though the personal journey adds an important part of the Toastid narrative.
How does Toastid approach experimentation in its menu?
The menu is intentionally experimental, reworking familiar formats with unexpected ingredients, techniques and combinations, such as pairing grilled pineapple with a buffalo chicken burger or using kokum, tamarind and dates with ricotta, while keeping the food approachable and not overly complicated.
How does Toastid balance gourmet quality with approachability?
Toastid sits between casual cafe food and restaurant cooking, delivering gourmet, experiential food without the stiffness of fine dining, with house-made breads, carefully developed sauces, and thoughtful techniques designed to feel generous, comforting and easy to enjoy.
What role does bread play in Toastid’s dishes?
Bread is the foundation and is treated as an integral part of each dish, with unique breads like shokupan, brioche and focaccia used to build flavor, not just to hold fillings, while sauces, jams and pickles are made in-house to control flavour.
Who is Toastid for and what experience does it aim to create?
Toastid is for people who are curious about food and enjoy comfort food while discovering something new, with the aim of creating moments—whether a slow breakfast, a coffee date, or a long lunch—where people want to stay longer and experience thoughtful cooking and quality ingredients.
