Tasty and Meatless | Restaurant Features

Dining at Indigo Restaurant is an experience in harmony and balance. A long walkway separates an almost spare dining room from a festive outdoor courtyard complete with umbrellas, Chinese lanterns and a gurgling waterfall. The outdoors buzzes with the sounds of diners enjoying themselves in the almost magical space carved out of a Chinatown storefront, while the indoors hums with a Zen-like elegance. Amidst all of this lovely yin and yang, Indigo serves up a lunch buffet that vegetarians will find absolutely glorious.

Like the remainder of the menu, the lunch buffet is designed in accordance with the Chinese principles of balance. Served with gracious abundance on a long table in the dining room, the buffet boasts an extensive and well-considered variety of tastes, textures, and colors, from the freshest rice noodles from Chinatown’s Family Rice Noodle Shop to the crunchy peppered zucchini half-moons. Raw, unadorned vegetables such as mixed greens, tomatoes, and sliced cucumbers precede dairy-free vegetable salads, perfectly cooked and seasoned broccoli and asparagus, and heartier fare such as marinated eggplant, roasted potatoes, and rice pilaf. Condiment tables placed nearby offer exotic vinaigrettes and near perfect black bean and peanut sauces. The Asian Caesar dressing contains mayonnaise, but the mango and balsamic vinaigrettes are light and flavorful compliments to the mixed greens and radish sprouts. An accompanying tureen of saucy oil-slicked hummus flecked with Chinese parsley and served with warm pita bread speaks to the cultural fusion in play here.

Included with the cool buffet is a trio of hot dim sum served at the table, with additional and unlimited servings available by request. It is a completely meatless selection of won tons, spring rolls, and tiny jewels of manapua stuffed with eggplant and sun dried tomatoes. All three are commendable, but the Goat Cheese Won Tons served with a Four Fruit Sauce are a bite-sized bit of heaven. Fresh, hot, and crunchy with contrasting flavors of tangy and sweet, it’s no surprise that these are among Indigo’s most popular items. For a spectacular yin/yang treat, pair the won tons with the melon relish from the buffet table. Zinged with Chinese chili sauce, the relish marries sweet honeydew, cantaloupe, and minced bell pepper.

Enjoy the buffet to the fullest, because, alas, Indigo does not yet serve an egg-free dessert. However, even though it is not listed as a menu item, you may order a fruit plate in lieu of dessert and it will be as fresh and delicious as your other selections.

Indigo’s lunch buffet runs $13.95, and is served Tuesday through Friday from 11:30 AM until 2:00 PM. Reservations are recommended and the most convenient parking garage can be entered from the makai side of Beretania just past the Nuuanu intersection.