Reservation System for a Small Japanese Restaurant in Bangkok
Which reservation system is best for a small Japanese restaurant in Bangkok depends on who enters the booking. If regulars call or use LINE and you want to see tonight’s bookings on your phone, a simple staff-side book fits best, and Rezabo is built for that; if guests must book online themselves or you want new guests from a platform, choose a service of that kind.
Three questions that decide it
Before comparing monthly prices, answer three questions about how your restaurant runs every day.
- Who enters the booking? With a guest online booking system, the guest picks a date and time on a booking page. With a staff reservation book, guests call or send a LINE message as they do now, and your staff enter the booking into the book.
- Do you need the service to bring you guests? Some services list your restaurant on a dining site and send new diners. A staff reservation book only organizes the bookings your restaurant already receives and does not send new guests.
- How many stores do you run, and which languages do your staff read? If you run one restaurant and always stand next to the paper book, a notebook may be enough. If you run more than one store, or step away from the floor and want to check tonight’s bookings without calling the restaurant, you need a book you can open on your phone. And if a Japanese owner or manager works with Thai floor staff, check whether each device can show the language its user reads.
What a small Japanese restaurant in Bangkok usually needs
We run three restaurants in Bangkok—yakiniku, izakaya and shabu-shabu. In small Japanese restaurants here, the everyday trouble with bookings usually comes from a few specific places:
- Regulars book by phone and LINE. Guests call or message on LINE. When a manager takes a phone call on a note while a floor staff member reads a LINE message for the same time and replies “ได้ค่ะ” (yes, we can) before the note reaches the book, two parties end up on the same table. You also want to know when a regular calls—how many times they have visited, when they came last, and any notes—without relying on one person’s memory.
- A Japanese owner and Thai staff share the same book. When the manager reads Japanese and floor staff read Thai, a single-language screen is hard for someone to use. Being able to set the manager’s phone to Japanese and the floor tablet to Thai lets everyone work from the same book.
- Checking tonight’s bookings on a phone. When you are away from the restaurant or at another store, a paper book can only be read by someone standing next to it. Opening your phone to see tonight’s party count, guest count, and which tables are taken from what time to what time saves calling the restaurant to ask.
If a paper notebook is not causing trouble in these areas, you do not need to rush into software. See whether your restaurant needs reservation software at all.
Three kinds of reservation services
“Reservation software” covers three different jobs. Pick the kind that matches the work you want done.
| Kind of service | What it does | What it is good for |
|---|---|---|
| Staff-side reservation book | Staff enter phone, LINE and walk-in bookings into one shared book | Restaurants where regulars call or message on LINE, and staff want one place to check tables and avoid double bookings |
| Guest online booking | Gives guests a web page or LINE screen to pick a date and time themselves | Restaurants that want to take bookings automatically, including outside opening hours, without staff answering each one |
| Platform that brings guests | Lists your restaurant on a dining site that sends diners (often with referrals or payments) | Restaurants that want new guests to find them through the service, and are ready to pay referral or per-booking fees |
For a closer look at how the first two differ in daily work, read staff reservation book or guest online booking.
Where Rezabo fits and where it does not
Rezabo is a reservation book for restaurant staff. We built it for our own three restaurants in Bangkok, after using a well-known reservation system at two of them.
Rezabo fits when your bookings come by phone and LINE, your staff can enter them, and you want to see tonight’s bookings on your phone:
- One book for phone and LINE. Tables show what time to what time they are taken, and future dates can be entered on the same screen. On the same table, a booking that starts too close to another cannot be entered, and if times overlap, a confirmation screen appears.
- Find regulars by phone number. Entering a phone number suggests matching registered customers. Customer records and notes are shared across restaurants under the same owner.
- Three languages, switched per device. Each device can switch between Japanese, English and Thai.
- Switch stores in one tap. If you run more than one store, the store list shows today’s party count and guest count for each restaurant.
- Flat pricing per restaurant. Rezabo costs 1,900 THB per month per restaurant, or 19,000 THB per year per restaurant paid at once (2 months free), excluding VAT. Three restaurants cost 5,700 THB per month, excluding VAT. Setup fee is 0, referral fee is 0, and there is no extra charge by number of bookings or devices.
Rezabo does not fit if you need any of the following:
- Online booking that guests enter themselves
- A platform that sends you new guests
- Automated confirmations or reminders, including LINE notifications
- Prepayment or deposits
- POS sync
- Data export of bookings or guests
- A waitlist
If you need online booking, referrals or payments, choose an all-in-one service or a service built for that job.
To try it, start with one table on your next shift
You can try it free for one month. No card is needed, and nothing is charged automatically.
FAQ
Can Thai staff and a Japanese owner use Rezabo in different languages at the same time?
Yes. The display language switches between Japanese, English and Thai on each device. The owner’s phone can be in Japanese while the floor tablet is in Thai.
Does Rezabo connect to LINE automatically?
No. Rezabo is not connected to LINE and does not send automatic LINE notifications. Staff read messages that come in on your restaurant’s LINE, enter the booking into Rezabo, and reply to the guest on LINE as they do now.
Will I be charged automatically after the free month?
No. You start without registering a card, so no automatic charge can happen. Before the free month ends, we ask on LINE whether you want to continue. If you continue, you pay by PromptPay or Thai bank transfer, and RQC.Thailand Co.,Ltd. issues receipts and Tax Invoices.
How much does Rezabo cost, and does the price rise with more bookings?
It costs 1,900 THB per month or 19,000 THB per year (paid at once) per restaurant, excluding VAT. Three restaurants cost 5,700 THB per month, excluding VAT. Setup fee and referral fee are 0, and the price does not rise with the number of bookings or devices.