The Ponggol Seafood restaurant at The Punggol Settlement closed down quietly on May 2, 2024 after more than 50 years in business.
Its last day of operations was on May 1, The Straits Times reported.
Started in 1969
The restaurant was started by Ting Choon Teng in 1969 and was iconic, given its zinc-roofed premises in the 1970s and 1980s.
via Ponggol Seafood Facebook
Originally named Hock Kee, it was located at the end of Punggol Road, near Punggol Jetty, a previously rustic, rural part of Singapore.
The founder died of lung cancer in 2016.
Moved out of Punggol Road & returned
In 1994, the restaurant moved out of its original location after the land got acquired by the state.
It operated at a few other places, such as at World Trade Centre and in East Coast Park, but had to move again due to redevelopment.
It then opened at the Marina Country Club at Punggol Marina in 2006, but failed to attract diners.
It finally moved back to The Punggol Settlement in 2014.
The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 saw the restaurant struggle to survive.
Business sold in 2023
The second-generation owners of the restaurant sold the business in 2023.
The investors who took over the restaurant were Fabian Lim, 38, who ran a wine bistro next door to Ponggol Seafood, his father Joseph Lim, 65, and nephew Edward Ho, 34.
They did not want to pay a separate fee to use the original name and took over the operations on May 1, 2023, with most of the kitchen crew retained.
They changed the company’s registered business name from Ponggol Seafood Holdings to New Punggol Seafood in April 2023.
The restaurant’s signboard was only changed in April when they shortened its name to Ponggol.
But the high rental, burgeoning operating costs, and manpower woes brought the restaurant to its knees.
The losses are expected to be about S$1 million.
Top photo via Google Maps & Punggol Seafood Facebook