Labuan Bajo: Top Picks to Eat.

After seeing only a handful of tourists in the whole of the rest of Flores it was a bit of a shock to be surrounded by Europeans and Australians again in Labuan Bajo. The town has a lot to offer so it's hardly surprising it is busy. So busy we had to change hotels three times during our brief stay. There are a few OK bits of beach on the outskirts of town such as the little strip outside  Bintang Flores Hotel (which has an awesome pool where you can spend the day for £2.50 if you're not a guest. 

We stayed in town for a week, diving twice with Divine diving in Komodo National Park which was utterly spell binding (but more on that in the next post). And eating lots of good food whilst bezzing about on the scooter - not going to be able to do that for much longer - I'm not sure a family of four is allowed on a moped in Australia or Canada!

There are also many good restaurants in town, here's our pick of the best:

Le Pirate: Great restaurant/bar in centre of town serves reasonable priced Western food (burgers, fish and chips, burritos). The staff are great here, its elevated position means is gets a nice breeze, and there is often an amazing live band. Well worth a visit even just for a drink and the band.

Happy Banana - not cheap but Sushi! Real nice Sushi and Bento boxes and edamame peas and all things Japanese. Worth a visit if you are missing your raw fish fix.

Made in Italy - a great looking restaurant with the best pizza in town but you pay for the privilege. They won't let you drink your own water and they charge you 48,000 idr for water - that's £2.50 - which is the same price as a main meal in most other restaurants in Flores.

Mediterraneo - another Italian, cheaper and arguably better pasta dishes although pizza isn't as good. It has comfy bean bags though! And you can drink your own water!

Blue Marlin Dive - restaurant/bar attached to the dive shop. Serves reasonably priced Western fare and has a nice decking overlooking the harbour plus a few toys for keeping the kids entertained.