Komodo Lounge Announces Global Expansion, with key markets like Bali, Dubai and Istanbul

Komodo lounge Terrace atmosphere

The Romanian restaurant group opens in Bali in November, with Dubai and Istanbul to follow in the fourth quarter of 2027

BUCHAREST, BUCHAREST, ROMANIA, August 31, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Komodo Lounge, the Asian restaurant and lounge on Calea Floreasca in Bucharest, will open a venue in Bali in November, its first outside Romania, followed by Dubai and Istanbul in the fourth quarter of 2027.

Each will carry the format built in Floreasca: a full kitchen, a bar, and rooms and terraces designed for long evenings rather than fast turnover. The openings take the group from two venues to five.

Bali returns the brand to where much of it originated. Its Floreasca interiors were drawn by a Canggu-based studio: reclaimed Javanese teak, hand-troweled lime plaster, woven rattan ceilings and linen heavy enough to soften the room when the wind moves through.

"When we opened, a long night in Bucharest meant a club or going home," said Bogdan Rosca, founder of Komodo Lounge. "We wanted somewhere you could relax until four in the morning, with nobody asking for the table back. It turned out a lot of people were waiting for that."

The format was built against the prevailing shape of Romanian nightlife, which for years ran through clubs. The Floreasca venue serves until 4 a.m. but is designed for conversation rather than volume: no music loud enough to talk over, candles instead of overhead light, linen instead of laminate, and no turning of tables. Evenings routinely run five hours. Bucharest has since filled with lounge formats making the same argument, and it is that version of a late night the group is exporting.

Komodo Lounge Floreasca, at Calea Floreasca 60, opened as an Asian restaurant with a sushi counter. Sushi is cut to order, and the kitchen runs signature plates of its own: a Komodo Roll of prawn, eel, avocado and mango, Komodo Chicken in miso, coconut and shiitake, and sea bass with yuzu kosho and truffle. The cocktail list is built on banana, yuzu, papaya and matcha. The venue is open daily from noon to 4 a.m., a few minutes from Barbu Vacarescu, Dorobanti and Aviatiei.

Its Floreasca terrace, which the venue describes as the largest in the neighbourhood, seats guests among tropical planting and rattan furniture and serves the full menu and bar list outdoors through the warm season. The terrace is central to the format the group is exporting: all three international venues are being planned around outdoor seating, in cities where the season runs longer than Bucharest's.

Dubai and Istanbul place the group in two established late-night hospitality markets rather than emerging ones, where it will compete on the kitchen and the room. The Bali venue opens in November; the other two follow in the fourth quarter of 2027.

The name is borrowed from Varanus komodoensis, the largest lizard alive, native to the volcanic islands east of Bali. What the group took from it was not size but pace: long stillness, and movement only with intention.

The group also operates an Eastern European brasserie in Bucharest's Old Town, which continues to trade.

Addresses and reservation details for the Bali, Dubai and Istanbul venues will be announced ahead of each opening. Reservations in Floreasca open 30 days in advance at komodolounge.ro, and parties of eight or more are asked to call the venue directly on +40 731 555 558.

About Komodo Lounge

Komodo Lounge is an Asian restaurant and lounge on Calea Floreasca in Bucharest, Romania, serving sushi, grill plates and signature cocktails in rooms and on a terrace built for long, unhurried evenings. Named for the Komodo dragon, the group also runs an Eastern European brasserie in Bucharest's Old Town, and opens in Bali, Dubai and Istanbul. For more information, visit https://komodolounge.ro.

Bogdan Rosca
Komodo Lounge
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