Indigo Restaurant

Indigo is a swanky lounge/restaurant on the edge of Chinatown that offers a blend of modern Asian, French and Mediterranean cuisine.  I had dinner and drinks there a few nights ago because Living Social had a deal - if you spent $30, you received $60 worth of food and drinks.  I have been to Indigo before for Happy Hour - $4 martinis - but never had a reason to go for dinner.

Opened in 1994, Indigo has a pretty decent atmosphere for either dinner or post-work drinks.  They're also open for lunch, but I haven't been there for lunch so I don't have an opinion on that.  There is both indoor and outdoor seating, a swanky, but somewhat over-priced menu with several different meats and fish dishes and what they say is a "nationally recognized" wine list. The service is also really good.

For dinner, we ordered a few PuPus (Hawaiian for Appetizers).  We had the Grilled Chive Flat Bread with Balsamic Vinegar and Extra Virgin Olive Oil; Crisp Goat Cheese Won Tons with Four Fruit Sauce; and Lobster Pot Stickers with Thai Ginger Sauce (they were out of their chicken shiitake mushroom pot stickers).  The Chive Flat Bread was okay, but nothing special.  At $3.75, though, it's a decent deal.  The other two appetizers were amazing.  We disagreed about which was better - the won tons or pot stickers.  They could not have been more flavorful and for a lounge/restaurant, the portions were good.  The won tons had a perfectly crispy shell with soft cheese filling.  The pot stickers were not greasy at all and were filled with tender lobster meat and a soft noodle shell.

Pan-Seared Bass

Then for dinner, we got the Toasted Black Mustard Seed and Black Peppercorn Crusted Ahi Steak and Pan Seared Pacific Ocean Bass with Cocoa Bean Curry Sauce.  The Ahi was amazing.  Perfectly cooked with a tremendously flavored, soy-ginger sauce.  The fresh fish was not as good.  In fact, it was pretty bad, and as a result, dreadfully overpriced.  It was chewy, the skin was tough, and it was clearly overcooked.  The sauce was good, but the fish itself wasn't flaky at all.

Ahi Tuna Steak

If you're looking for a good happy hour prior to a nice dinner out, but away from the crowds, wait, and prices of Waikiki, I highly recommend Indigo.  The atmosphere is quiet, there is a nice breeze that blows calmly throughout the restaurant, and the service is terrific.