10 years ago, Punggol Jetty was a dark place to rendezvous your dates and increase the birth rates of Singapore. You would see vans shaking violently, heads bobbing up and down inside vehicles, and cars steaming, like that car scene in Titanic.

But apparently, the government thinks Singapore is over-populated, so they changed this sleazeball place to a family-oriented one, with lots of children cycling while their dads try to catch finger-sized fish in polluted water.

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There are many Chinese seafood restaurants here, including the famous white beehoon 白米粉 (Yes, they have an outlet here), which my mother frequents. But that day, we didn’t want Chinese food; the queue was horrendous anyway. We also didn’t want pub grub. And we had tried the overpriced French Horizon Bistronomy.

By method of elimination of not wanting to queue, we entered Trunk at Bay. Someone once told me that an authentic Thai restaurant hangs portraits of Thai King and Queen, and I was relieved to see the royalties’ faces on the wall. We visited the restaurant twice.

Although the place was packed, we didn’t have to wait for a table. The servers were running everywhere, but they were swift to respond when we could catch their attention. Not bad service, considering how busy they were.

The food was pricy but good. The mango salad ($8.90) used Thai green mango, extremely sour and hard like guava–appetizing and tangy. Stuffed chicken wings (2pcs, $6) were fat with minced meat, mushroom, vermicelli and came steaming hot from the deep-fryer. Unlike elsewhere which serves a sweeter version, the green curry ($13.90) packed serious heat and came with Thai green brinjal that I loved. The tom yum seafood ($15.90) made us sweat: super spicy, super sour, super salty, super! Sambal kangkong ($7.90) was normal, and we couldn’t taste any basil in basil pork ($12.90) Including two bowls of rice ($1.50/bowl), and two lemongrass drink ($4.50/glass), we paid $45 for two persons for the first time, and $64 for two persons for the second time. How expensive is rental here?

Though the food was good but expensive, the development has destroyed the bucolic charm of the place. I remember when I was 8, my dad brought me here at 3am to catch crabs. Now, that country charm is ruined and lost forever. There is no space to breathe in Singapore. Sigh. I miss the old Singapore.

Trunk at Bay

3 Punggol Point Bay, The Punggol Settlement #02-06, Singapore 828694
T: +65 6702 7072
T-Th 5.30pm-10pm, F 5.30pm- 11:00 pm, Weekends 11.30am-2.30pm, 5.30pm-11pm
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Value: 5.5/10
Food: 7/10
Ambience/Decor: 5.5/10
Service: 7/10
Rating: 3.125/5

Written by A. Nathanael Ho.