Natys Restaurant — Restaurant in West Nusa Tenggara

I don’t like to write long reviews but such is needed so as fit in the details of this nightmare.

Two of us arrived at 8.30pm - restaurant had 50/60 guests across 25-ish tables - 3 waiters, one cashier. Was asked for our order within 1/2 mins of being seated, we asked for a couple of extra minutes and weren’t re-approached for another 15. We ordered starters, mains and drinks at the same time. After 20 mins the drinks hadn’t appeared and it was only when the starters arrived I suspected they may have forgotten, so I had to ask again for the drinks. Twice.

Spring roll starters were ok. This is where things nosedive.

I ordered the tenderloin steak medium-rare which arrived with a pulse. Steak had been seared for 30/40 secs max, was bright red throughout and was cooked unevenly. I know steak and like a rare one if it’s the right cut, but this for me was not edible. I also ordered a side of steamed rice which didn’t arrive. Politely reminded them about the rice and asked for the steak to be cooked longer. Steak is supposed to come with a side of chips and sauce. 10 mins later a new steak arrives, smaller than the first and cooked exactly the same way(not cooked at all), side of chips and sauce removed. My rice had appeared during the 10 min wait for the new steak but was now cold. Had to ask for the side of chips and sauce to be added back which resulted in my plate being taken again and returned in another 5 mins. Did my best with the steak but it was raw, spongy and tasteless, texture closer to mushroom than meat - honestly, it made me feel a bit sick. Throughout all of this, they still hadn’t cleared the starter plates, leaving me to do so myself after getting frustrated with shuffling the full and empty plates around trying to find the best position for them all on a tiny table.

It’s now 10.30pm. Appetite spoiled by the numerous givings and takings of my plate over an hour or so, at this point i can’t wait to pay and leave.

I asked to see the manager twice - he / she did not appear, instead sending the overworked waiting staff to do the dirty work. Table of 4 to my right also having problems (not sure what exactly), couple to my left served raw chicken skewers and were asked to pay again after already having paid.

As a softener they offered me a whopping 10% off my bill and some watermelon. 10% for a spoiled, awkward and stressful dining experience. They did agree to wipe the steak off my bill in the end, but that should have been the starting point. Whilst discussing the bill with staff a lady did appear to oversee the discussion - who I think was the manager - but her English wasn’t good so couldn’t speak with her directly.

This place charges 21% mandatory tax and service on top of every bill, and the food is expensive (for Gili T). For these prices you expect at least an average dinner with a cool atmosphere, but with other tables also having a bad experience neither was delivered upon.

Heart goes out to the few waiting staff doing their best to serve way too many guests. They were friendly and understanding, but also exhausted and sweating. This is not a reflection on them, and they’re the reason the service isn’t also a 1. Shame on whoever owns / manages this place, as they clearly would rather pocket as much cash as possible rather than pay for extra staff to provide you with a pleasant dining experience, and allow their existing staff a chance to catch their breath.

I could go on, but won’t. Simply, avoid this place and go to scallywags...

Absolutely disgusted at the service we received tonight. We’ve eaten at Natys many times, both on this and previous trips to Gili T and after what we experienced tonight, we will never eat there again.

From the time we arrived the staff seemed short tempered and unwelcoming, which is unusual, as typically they’re very friendly. This unwelcoming service continued once we were seated and as the waiter took our order. As we wished to order lobster for one of the meals, the other being steak, we enquired about the size and were informed that the lobster would be 500-600g, which we were happy with.

When our bottle of wine arrived, we were informed that there were no more wine glasses and were given hurricane glasses to drink from.

45 minutes later there was no sign of our food and, despite twice trying to get the attention of one of the waitresses who could see me waving and chose to ignore me, I went to the front desk to enquire how long it would be until our food is ready and a waiter informed me that he would find out. (If staff knew there was a long wait on food, we should have been informed upon arrival, we were not the only ones sitting around looking hungry and disgruntled).

30 minutes later and we were still without food. After enquiring again, a waiter came back shortly after with our meals, both of which were overcooked and cold (how long they had been sat at the pass in order to get cold and why they were not in front of us while still hot, I have no idea). The waiter agreed that the meals were unsatisfactory, and took them back to the kitchen to have them re-made.

10-15 minutes go by and the food returns. It was hot this time, but looking worse for wear and as though someone had simply tossed it in a microwave and then back onto the plate. The steak was more than ‘well done’ (we ordered ‘medium rare’)and the lobster was practically non-existent, a hollow body, no claws and the meat in the tail was so dry it clung to the inside of the shell and could only be pulled apart by using your hands. The vegetables tasted sour and gone off, and the salad was dressed with MUSTARD(?!).

We asked to speak with the manager, who recognised that there were problems with the service and the food, but claimed that he could only offer a 15% discount as the government(?!) demands full payment and the owner of the restaurant was on Lombok so could not discuss this.

For this 2 hour ordeal, we paid IDR 1,500,000 and left the restaurant feeling hungry, ignored and deeply disappointed. Will not return and do...

Service crew are possibly racist. Food is better than your average tourist-trapper. If you’re looking for 1k+ review option, go to Jali, EGO, or Coffee & Thyme.

TLDR version: Here’s a few observations that I thought were noteworthy. We were sat by the entrance as tables were full. While waiting, I noticed a couple of tables with colored folks getting pressured to leave, through kindly asking “would you like to order more?” While tables with lighter colored folks were not being bothered at all. Waiter’s first question, are you local/Indonesian? Perhaps an innocent curiosity?

After waiting a couple of tables opened up, we asked to move out of the entry way. But we’re told the seats were for four and only two of us - fair enough. Then two caucasian folks came and asked for the same tables… they were more than happy to seat them. I thought perhaps a poor coincidence?

Not until those same white folks got their food, while me and another Indian family sitting by the entrance were still waiting for our food - we were passively told it was coming. Longer than usual wait for food around the island is pretty normal… But ours and our neighboring table of Indian family had to wait an hour.

Food flavor was good, above the normal average for tourist-trapping island. We got the grilled tuna, shrimp, and seafood nasi goreng. We fed the stray cat they kicked out, it...