Honzen Komodo — Restaurant in East Nusa Tenggara

We recently dined at Hon ZEN located at Ayana Hotel that left quite an impression. The ambience was inviting, providing a serene and authentic atmosphere.The staff all seemed attentive and courteous, enhancing the overall experience. The food, while satisfactory, stood out with its impeccable presentation.

However, there was a slight hiccup with the membership discount. My wife was compelled to sign up as a member after noticing the advert, and since her birthday was two days ago, the app indicated she was eligible for 25% off and gave her a voucher code to redeem. The redeemed voucher was valid for 7 days and had to be used before expiration.

Upon checking with the staff before billing, we were informed that as new members, we were only entitled to 10%. That’s lovely but it wasn't mentioned in the app, which we found a little strange.

The staff also seemed bewildered and unfamiliar with the steps and conditions of how the birthday voucher worked and even asked for my wife’s phone number to verify, which was quite a hassle.

They explained that certain amount of purchases have to be reached first before being eligible. We found this whole situation confusing, the app should not have provided the voucher code at all if it can’t be redeemed by the user, as it may be very misleading.

Despite all this, we will patronize again other outlets...

Before coming/assuming the rating, set your expectations right. Honzen is one of the only Japanese, if not the only Japanese restaurant in Labuan Bajo. The food tastes good, and the service is one of the better ones on the island, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.

Menu is limited in selection but we ordered the chicken karage, tempura, spicy ramen, sashimi, pork don, unagi don and a few others. Both tepan were used with guests who seemed to have an enjoyable time... hard to say without trying.

Presentation of the food was great! Sashimi is reasonably fresh, with both dons being quite flavourful and filling. Spicy ramen can be skipped and the tempura was about average but didnt have any shreded radish for the dipping sauce.

Timing a bit of a rush with mains coming out first then the drinks, appetisers... then the karaage, but all staff seemt to be really busy/all hands on deck.

Despite staff being attentive and helpful/apologetic there seem to be too many staff whom are not well trained. Up to the end, the chicken karage which we requested for multiple times never got to the table till wanted to cancel the chicken from the bill... which the chicken came swiftly after a bit of unrest in the kitchen... Hopefully these issues gets fixed in...

Made, the teppanyaki chef was quite accommodating. The teppanyaki menu was simplistic, but with fresh products and tasted great.

However, a few reasons why only a 4/5.

1. The cocktails drinks were just ok at best.
2. This was our 3rd night staying at Ayana Komodo (Ayana Bali is my absolute favorite resort), and this is the first time, ever at any resort that this happened. My wife made the reservation under her name, with my name as the second traveler, hence both our names are under the reservation. When the bill came, I signed it and handed back to the staff member. She didn’t think my signature was enough and asked for my wife to sign it as well. I asked her why, and she said because my wife made the room reservation. We are at Rinca, Floating Deck package, pool bar, private beach lunch in which I signed all the bill and no issues.

My wife signs her name for reservation made under my name all the time at the other hotels - no problem, because she’s on the...