I arrived in Labuan Bajo straight from Bali, which is basically a vegan theme park, and I had written the place off before I landed.
Flores is small. Labuan Bajo is a harbour town people pass through on the way to see the dragons. I assumed I would be living on plain rice and whatever I could scavenge from a supermarket, and I had made peace with that.
I was wrong, and pleasantly so.
The town, in one paragraph
Labuan Bajo is walkable. Genuinely walkable, not walkable if you happen to like walking. Almost everything worth eating sits on the main strip along the water or on the street directly behind it, and you can cover the lot in twenty minutes on foot.
There are decent supermarkets too, which matters more than it sounds. Boat days start early and the food situation on board is not guaranteed, so being able to stock up the night before is the difference between a good day and a hungry one.
Maison Belmont, for the sorbet
This was the surprise of the trip.
Maison Belmont does artisan ice cream, and a proper run of vegan sorbets rather than the usual single mango option shoved in the corner. The flavours are genuinely odd in the best way. Basil. Spicy chilli. You can mix them, which I would encourage, because a scoop of basil next to something sweet is a better idea than it sounds.
Two things made me like them beyond the ice cream. Everything vegan is clearly labelled, so you are not stood there interrogating a teenager about whether the sorbet has milk in it. And they have vegan whipped cream, which almost nowhere does.
They serve in wooden spoons and wooden pots if you are not having a cone. Small thing, but it is the kind of small thing that tells you a place is paying attention.
Seaesta Komodo, where we ended up twice
Technically a hostel. It does not feel like one.
The restaurant runs vegan burgers, vegan tacos, wraps and a vegan breakfast, which is more choice in one place than I got in most of Greece. There is a pool, an outdoor bar, live bands some nights, and fresh coconuts.
We ate there a couple of evenings, which for me is the real review. I do not go back to places out of politeness.
If you want a drink and something that is definitely going to be vegan without a negotiation, this is the easy answer.
Happy Banana Komodo, for the sushi
Japanese fusion, and a proper vegan section rather than a footnote.
Vegan sushi, big vegan bowls, gyoza, fried rice, wraps. The interior is lovely, all considered decor and a nice atmosphere, and I did not expect to find anything like it in a town this size.
Finding good vegan sushi anywhere is a small miracle. Finding it in a harbour town in Flores felt faintly absurd.
Komodough, for the pastries
The name is Komodo plus dough, and the logo is a croissant folded into the shape of a Komodo dragon, which I appreciated far more than I should have.
Artisan bakery and coffee, with vegan croissants and pastries. The packaging design is genuinely beautiful, to the point where I took photographs of the boxes like a person with no shame.
This is your stock-up stop before a boat day.
Where I stayed
The Loccal Collection Hotel, which came as part of a ten day Bali and Komodo trip.
It is built to look like Santorini, perched up on the hill, all white walls and blue trim. That could have been naff and somehow is not. The views are ridiculous. There is a rooftop pool, and we sat up there with cocktails watching the sun go down over the water, which is not a sentence I get to write often.
The rooms are basic. I want to be straight about that, because the photos online sell a fantasy and the reality is a simple room attached to a spectacular view. I would take that trade every time, but know what you are getting.
Breakfast is a big buffet with very little on it for a vegan. Fruit and juice, essentially. That is fine, and I am not going to complain about fruit, but do not build your morning around it when there is a bakery down the hill.
There were also some of the largest geckos I have ever seen living in and around the hotel. Something about that part of the world really works for lizards.
What I would do differently
I treated Labuan Bajo as a stopover. Somewhere to sleep before the boat out to see the Komodo dragons and then get back on a plane.
That was a mistake. It is a laid back, good looking little town with better food than it has any right to have, and there are other islands within reach that I never got near. If I went again I would give it a couple more days and actually look around.
Do not do what I did and treat it purely as a departure lounge.
