Red Trellis Seafood Garden, Lagao’s newest dining trophy!
Trellis - (noun) a garden structure of open latticework that supports climbing plants or vines.
Tiongson Street in Barangay Lagao, General Santos City continues to strengthen its status as the city’s most exciting specialty-restaurant strip as another diner opened recently farther up on the Kanan (right) end of the road, at the corner of Calina Street.
The Red Trellis Seafood Garden Sign
This is the Red Trellis Seafood Garden owned and managed by the husband-and-wife tandem of George and Joni Sandoval. The property on which it stands is the old lawn beside the ancestral house of Rue Ramas which they leased from her and transformed into a Japanese-inspired garden, amidst decade-old acacias.
For authenticity, the couple had a mini-pond with a wooden bridge installed in the center of the garden.
In keeping up to its name, the place is now bordered by red-roofed trellises, where diners can eat underneath in wooden tables or al fresco in the center area.
Red Trellis serves mostly Asian Fusion cuisine but as George said, that they would like to be known for the fresh crab and prawns dishes in their menu. The two times that Bariles was there, he went for the Red Trellis exclusive, the “Crabs in Coconut Milk“, a spicy Indonesian-inspired concoction (minus the curry) which he swears could make Red Trellis very, very famous soon.
Bathed in a thick yellow-orange sauce made up of small slices of long green pepper, aligue (crab fat), fresh coco milk and secret spices from the Red Trellis Bicolano cook, the crab meat was as tender and as succulent as it can be and it had Bariles and his photographer Marz licking the the sweetish-and-sourish mixture from their fingers.
Upon finding out that Red Trellis’ cook hails from Bicol, Bariles asked for “Taro Leaves in coco milk” or simply “Laing”. It came in a heapful but was so spicingly delicious with just the right number of pork cuts for the guilt trip that Bariles almost forgot about the crabs, and amazingly finished off half the plate.
Then came the Grilled Prawns with Lemon Sauce. Split in the middle looking like butterflies, the prawns’ meat were chewy and at first, Bariles felt it needed more salt. When dipped into the Lemon Sauce however, he found that it made a perfect pair.
On Bariles’ next visit with another set of friends, he ordered Sweet Chili Crabs which tasted as good as it looked below.
A group of his friends from another table ordered Sweet Chili Prawns. It looked so yummylicious that he took a picture of it first before they consumed it.
Other than these, Red Trellis Seafood Garden also offers Adobong Pusit, Grilled Squid and Calamares at P90 per serving. For fish lovers, they have a choice of Tilapia and Pompano.
For those who likes Laing as much as Bariles does, why not try the hotter and spicier Bicol Express (mixed veggies) at P90?
And yes, for rice, take a pick between their Black Rice and Hainanese Rice at P20 per serving. (Bariles says Black Rice is a major win!)
As Bariles sees it, the food won’t be the only reason which will make patrons come back again and again. The establishment’s open-air garden setting and its oriental decors and fixtures which seamlessly blend into the existing flora of the Ramas’ old lawn will be another factor.
Through the help of Rue Ramas herself, every part of the restaurant was carefully thought out making sure that the existing plants and trees contribute well to the restaurant’s theme and design.
And oh, the owners would like to point out that the whole area was designed to be handicapped-friendly, so people in wheelchairs can easily navigate their way inside and around the compound. Now, isn’t that even more commendable?
Red Trellis Seafood Garden is open from 11am to 12 midnight so people can stay on after dinner and wash off all that rich food with coffee or ice cold San Mig Light. Red Trellis can be reached by dialing 302-CRAB (302-2722). It is located right across the new IBED building of the Notre Dame of Dadiangas University at the back portion of their Lagao Campus.
Tagged Barangay Lagao, crab restaurant, gensan restaurant, Red Trellis Seafood Garden, Tiongson Street
blackmeat08/29/2009 at 3:30 PM
Napadaan nga kami dito during their opening.. sana the next time na dumaan kami dyan ay kakain na.. Ahehe! Sarap
sheng08/29/2009 at 3:55 PM
Been wanting to get inside here, nadadaanan namin palagi, soon I guess.
.-= sheng´s last blog ..Seatlbelt: One Slip That Could Save =-.
BrAvO SiX08/29/2009 at 4:05 PM
looks so serene and cosy……delectable array of seafood cuisines…
so yummy…! indeed, it’s a nice place…
lito08/29/2009 at 5:24 PM
sarap ng mga prawns!…(mouth watering)
magandang lugar…masubukan nga one of these days….
.-= lito´s last blog ..queen tuna park… =-.
Lyle08/29/2009 at 7:06 PM
Nice place, lovely food shots, delicious food.. What else can you ask for?
Looking forward to trying the place out when my family and I go back to GenSan soon or perhaps when me and my blogger friends visit for the Tuna Fest.
Regardless, I’m sure it will be worth the trouble.
.-= Lyle´s last blog ..UP PLURK Design =-.
Aubrey08/29/2009 at 7:53 PM
Pagkalami na lang gyod sa ila food! Nice place too! Favorite ko ang shrimps and crabs.
fahdingding08/29/2009 at 8:50 PM
Wow! Magnifico… Ganda ng ambiance!
fahdingding08/29/2009 at 8:51 PM
pila ka table naa dnh kuya?
sswe08/29/2009 at 10:12 PM
haha dito ako nagpapalipas gabi.
Rue Ramas08/30/2009 at 1:23 AM
Excellent writeup and photography, Avel! Big thanks!
meg santos08/30/2009 at 1:50 PM
hi ter,
lam mo ma i suggest kami sa yo na side street carinderia along lagao.. parang fiesta lagi ang food..very reasonable ang price and pang masa…well bring you there one of these days..promise….
btw kudos to the newly opened RED Trellis!!!!
menggay
jung08/31/2009 at 7:59 AM
congrats friend, hope someday we can visit there. . . . .
orman08/31/2009 at 8:48 AM
OMG! yummylicious! i hope the crabs are fat!
Rea08/31/2009 at 10:23 AM
yum. yum. yum. waaaaaaaaahhh. hope i could visit this someday.
.-= Rea´s last blog ..Kahapon Lamang =-.
Geline Sandoval08/31/2009 at 10:55 AM
Hi! Thanks for the wonderful writeup about my parents’ newly opened business! However, I’d just like to point out some corrections. The Red Trellis actually closes at 10pm and the contact number is 302-CRAB (302-2722), not 301. Thanks again!
gensanite08/31/2009 at 7:48 PM
the place looks great – it looks like well-made and well-planned… good to know that there are bistros like these…
the food looks delicious…
bon appetit!!!
jinky09/01/2009 at 8:21 AM
wow, congrats to red trellis!
i’ll be there for sure, within the week. . .
.-= jinky´s last blog ..Tuna Sale at RDEX Seafoods Shop =-.
Fan09/01/2009 at 10:50 AM
Congratulations to Dhia & Joni for the newly opened Red Trellis. The place looks really nice and the food looks super yummy
I hope to try it out very soon when am in GenSan.
Nate Marx09/01/2009 at 2:53 PM
I’m a sucker for prawns! definitely gonna check this place out.
.-= Nate Marx´s last blog ..Know before you act! =-.
Toinks09/03/2009 at 12:56 AM
Nice!:)
Meekee09/06/2009 at 12:01 AM
Congratz uncle george and auntie joni! Mom will surely bring me there when i get back… hahaha! can’t wait! P.S. sooooooo love the place… LOL!
purple2409/11/2009 at 9:07 PM
During the opening of Tuna Fest ’09 we (me, gay2, te juvy, kuya ronald, bitoy, ching2, lakay, Ma’am meg, & mmm) were lucky that a table was provided for us despite the fact that they were fully-booked for the night. A sumptous treat from mmm which included Bicol Express, Sweet Chili Shrimps, Tilapia (Bombastic and Hubad), Seafood Platter and more..very yummy food and cozy place. i would surely go back soon. Congratz to Mr. & Mrs. Sandoval and thanks also for accommodating us.
orman09/13/2009 at 8:43 AM
i love the laing, “black” rice (rice na ginisa in squid ink), and the crabs in yummy sauce! sampu kaming kumain… and the bill was just right for a feast fit for a king!
.-= orman´s last blog ..Plaza Heneral Santos Binuksan Na =-.
Tyrone | Millionaire Acts09/13/2009 at 12:37 PM
Wow, the foods look great! And the ambiance is also good!
With the cheap food, I just hope we also have these kinds of restos here at Metro Manila.
.-= Tyrone | Millionaire Acts´s last blog ..How to Write Winning Sales Proposal =-.
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