The Ladder Beach Restaurant now open

The ribbon-cutting ceremony at the opening of the Ladder Beach Restaurant in Ladder Beach held last Wednesday. From left, Department of Public Safety Commissioner Robert Guerrero, Rep. Ivan Blanco, TLBR owner/president Hong Yang Zhu, Rep. Joseph Lee-Pan Guerrero, Rep. L.J. Castro, Rep, Ed Prospt, and TLBR HR and banquet manager Carmen Sablan-He. (Bea Cabrera)

Standing on a 4,000-square-meter property that faces the Pacific Ocean, The Ladder Beach Restaurant held its grand opening last Wednesday signaling the start of one of the best seafood buffet offerings on island. It is located along the coastline of Ladder Beach on the south of Saipan.

“We are primarily a seafood buffet restaurant. We are serving different cuisines that will make use of fresh seafood like shrimps, octopus, mussels, crabs, and scallops from the Philippines, Malaysia, and China prepared by seven chefs… we are also trying to target our local fishermen from Rota, a good source of lobsters,” TLBR administrative and banquet manager Carmen B. Sablan-He said.

“The atmosphere in the restaurant is a mix of fine dining and a family restaurant so that everybody—whether locals and tourists—will feel welcomed every time. We want our customers to feel the peaceful surroundings, to feel at home, enjoy the spacious area inside and outside the restaurant,” she added

The 1,000-square-meter restaurant proper is indeed spacious as one may mistake the structure as a country club. It can accommodate 300 people, the open space surrounding the restaurant adds to the whole package as fresh air flows freely and the ocean waves strike the cliff and shores like a lullaby. At night, the whole place is romantically lit.

TLBR owner and president Hong Yan Zhu, a businesswoman who owns a chain of restaurants in China, said that while vacationing on Saipan two years ago she stumbled upon Ladder Beach and was totally mesmerized.

“I simply fell in love with the place…Saipan is very beautiful…the local people are kind and it is accessible to Chinese tourists and so I thought of bringing our tradition here and at the same time learning traditions of the island, sort of a cultural exchange through this restaurant,” she said.

“Our chefs will prepare food that will make guests experience something new… We will continue to work hard to build a beautiful restaurant and enjoy the life over here as I would like to treat the local people like family,” she added.

According to Sablan-He, they also serve ala-carte menus. “We have ala-carte menus that will start from appetizers, main entrees like prime rib, steak, pasta to name a few and desserts…We will have the usual local favorites, too like the kelaguen, sushi, sashimi… It’s a very well-rounded restaurant that caters to different tastes,” she said.

“We have spaces here at the restaurant that we can convert for conferences and workshops, weddings, birthdays, christenings etc. We can also tailor-fit a buffet menu for your party as you can make your own menu and we can prepare on the buffet line and then price is based on the selection that was chosen per person,” she added

For the month of January, the TLBR is open for seafood dinner buffet on Saturday and Sunday only from 5:30pm to 9pm.

“But come February, we plan to regularize operations as we will open from Monday to Sunday 10am to 10pm serving ala-carte menus and buffets. Regular price is $98 per person for dinner buffet (inclusive of drinks) as we are trying to be competitive with the tour industry,” Sablan-He said.

“Currently, we have an ongoing promo where dinner buffet only costs $79 per person from 5:30pm to 9:30pm, but if you come after 7:30 m then it’s 50-percent off and we will only charge $39 for dinner buffet per person,” she added.

Sablan-He said future plans include putting up bungalows around the restaurant and a bar with a dart board to accommodate happy hour goers and golf players to relax in after a round of golf.

“TLBR wants to be consistent as the history of most restaurants on island heavily rely on tourists… when the tourists [numbers] go up they make money and when the arrivals go down, they lose money…This is local family run business. We want to make the restaurant local friendly so people will keep coming as we would like them to see the restaurant as a part of their home,” she added said.

For reservations, contact Carmen B. Sablan-Heat (670) 285-8928 or VIP manager Chuan He at (670) 285-2845.