Having a sea-facing anything is fantastic and many of us love a waterfront dining experience, or better yet, BTO with a view. Joining them is Northshore Plaza, Singapore’s first sea-front neighbourhood mall, situated in Punggol. We couldn’t resist a first look of the fully-opened mall and had to check out if things lived up to the hype.
For those who don’t drive, the mall is connected to Samudera LRT station; for those who do, the mall is only a short 7-minute drive from Waterway Point.
Move aside, Waterway Point, as Northshore Plaza may have just stolen the crown as the coolest mall in the area. The mall is split into 2 segments, Northshore Plaza I and II, with the former having opened in October 2021, and the latter opening progressively since January 2022.
After a long wait, the mall’s opening is in its final stage, with the official opening ceremony happening on 24th July 2022.
If you need any reason to head to this serene corner of Singapore, amenities and stores in Northshore Plaza II include waterfront restaurants, a pirate ship playground and even a Daiso.
Upon crossing the link bridge from Northshore Plaza I, one of the first things you’d come across is the designated lookout point on Level 2 – the most scenic spot of the mall. Shoppers can spot Punggol-Timor island and JB across the water, as well as ships sailing by. If you’re lucky, you can also catch a glimpse of people sailing off on a mookata dinner cruise from a nearby marina.
Since Punggol PCN lies right at the mall’s doorstep, fitspo families can also squeeze in a morning run or bicycle ride along the sea, before stopping by the mall for food.
Fans of Dancing Crab, here’s a highly-aesthetic seafront dining option to satisfy your seafood cravings. Northshore Plaza’s outlet offers a beachy aesthetic with bright blue benches, artificial plants hanging off the ceiling and LED signs for a vibey date with your SO. Swing by on weekdays for lunch deals with seafood mains like Crispy Chicken Rolls from $16.90 (U.P. from $22.40).
Check out dining deals at The Dancing Crab.
Once you’re done, desserts are but a stone’s throw away. Sharing the space is Slappy Cakes which has all-you-can-eat pancake buffets ($9.90/adult and $6.90/child) available daily from 2.45pm- 3.45pm and 4pm-5pm.
Check out the dining deals at Slappy Cakes.
Quirky food courts are all the hype now and adding on to the list of aesthetic food courts in Singapore is Nomstar, with a safari theme complete with dinosaur decorations all around. It doesn’t even matter if everyone in the fam has differing food preferences as there are a myriad of popular eateries like TimHoWan, Tsuta, Mrs Pho and Thai Lae Dee to choose from.
Nearby residents can also look forward to more affordable meals in the ‘hood. Classic food court nosh can be found at Cantine by Koptiam, with local favourites like chicken rice and nasi padang.
Having visited on a hot mid-July afternoon, discovering an ice cream parlour here was a cool find, to say the least. Creamier has a spanking new outlet here with coffee and ice cream. On their limited-edition menu this period is the Donut Sandwich ($6.90), which comes with any ice cream flavour of your choice, stuffed between a pillowy and sugary donut sliced into 2.
Enjoy your dessert and coffee while chatting with your pals in the air-conditioned cafe, or order your food to go, to snack on as you wander along the nearby waterfront.
No longer will North-Easties need to head down to Changi Airport or Ang Mo Kio for their fill of A&W. Punggol residents can now enjoy curly fries, root beer floats, and hot dogs at Northshore Plaza’s retro-inspired outlet with cute neon signs. You can’t miss this store as it’s located at the entrance of the mall.
Walking into any Daiso store often leaves the best of us checking out with a gazillion items we never knew we needed. Shopaholics, add items into your basket with abandon at this new branch. While not the largest outlet out there, they’ve still got a good variety of products ranging from snacks to storage boxes.
As exciting as the food options are, what really sets the mall apart from your everyday neighbourhood mall is the amount of open space it has. With high ceilings and an open-air concept, the mall gets a natural breeze from the sea to keep things cool.
There are a handful of lounging spots with large benches for families, couples, and friends alike to relax while enjoying the views outside.
Apart from the playground in Northshore Plaza I, kids can also skid down slides and run free at the pirate ship-themed playground at Plaza II.
As fans of green spaces in Singapore, we were also thrilled to hear that the mall would have a dragonfly pond by the sea. This is no clickbait – there are colourful dragonflies buzzing around and resting among the rocks and plants!
It’s no small complex either: in Northshore Plaza I, there’s a myriad of food options that’ll make the journey there worthwhile. McDonald’s, Haidilao, and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf are some of the exciting picks in-store. There’s also KOI for all the bubble tea addicts out there, as well as Grove cafe with vegetarian and vegan food options.
Decathlon sports store and Anytime Fitness are also around to help motivate you to burn off calories after. The former is a 2-storey duplex that has various in-store activities for you to try out the equipment before making your purchase.
These include a mini-skating area as well as various stations for ball sports, such as soccer, rugby, and basketball.
Here’s the full list of tenants in Northshore Plaza I:
Image credit: Northshore Plaza
Other than shopping and eating, there’re also multiple playgrounds on the second floor for kids to run amok. One of them even has a giant zipline swing that will sure to make any kid giddy with excitement.
The North-East may just as well soon be the best side of Singapore with the opening of Northshore Plaza, on top of everything else that already makes Punggol such an enticing town. Even if you aren’t a resident of the area, having a spanking new mall to explore is always good news in our books.
For more places to shop in Singapore:
Originally published on 14th October 2021. Last updated on 20th July 2022.
A portion of this content may contain referral links to products. Our opinions remain our own.
Photography by John Lim.
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