INDO Restaurant & Lounge--Palo Alto (Indonesian Fusion)

With an Executive Chef from Thailand and a Chef de Cuisine from Indonesia, this restaurant's high-caliber food is heavy with delightful Asian flavors. The international wine list and craft cocktails is also available to help wash everything down. Located at 3295 El Camino Real, this establishment is off the main downtown strip of Palo Alto, so it can be easily missed. But, it's worth the trek for tasty food for happy hour, brunch, lunch or dinner.

Here were some of the things I've enjoyed.

http://www.indorestaurant.com/


Roti Prata. It's impossible for me to see this item on a menu and not order it. Delightfully thin with crispy parts and doughy parts, this sheet-like piece of perfectly pan-cooked dough was served with a nice, savory curry sauce.

INDO sampler. This was a platter of chicken satay, samosas, poh pia, and tuna tartare. Each item was well-prepared. The chicken was moist and savory, the samosas were filled with soft veggies, the poh pia had a delicious mix of shrimp, egg, and chili sauce and the tuna tartare was fresh and tasty with crisp cucumbers.

Kway Teow. A savory stir-fried dish of wide rice noodles, shrimp, fishcake, and bean sprouts with a soy glaze. Very nice.

Gulai Prawns. Three very large fresh-water prawns were cooked until just done and served with a red coconut curry and marble potatoes. The shrimp had that snap that indicates freshness and the curry was well balanced with all the spices.

Lamb Korma. An excellently prepared New Zealand lamb shank. This had a light coriander cumin curry sauce, carrots and potatoes. The lamb was falling off the bone tender and paired well with coconut rice.

Salmon Panggang. This piece of salmon was expertly cooked until just slightly opaque on the inside and nicely seared on the outside. Served with kaffir lime chili sauce and mango salsa, this dish was quite tasty.

Duck Kapitan. It must have been a great night to order this dish because it was absolutely perfect. Two methods of duck preparation were on this plate with a confit and also a seared breast. So succulent and moist without being too greasy and served with a delicious mild kaffir lime curry sauce and fresh greens.

Balado Short Rib. I would say this is a good place to go for superbly cooked meat. As soon as I touched a piece of this rib with my fork, the bone fell out. The spicy sambal glaze was not very spicy, but it was well seasoned and soaked into the potatoes on the bottom of the plate. Finger-linking good.

Mango Mousse. A very nice gelatinous mango dessert. If you are a mango lover, as I am, you will like this. The texture was more like gelatin than mousse; quite thick, but silky smooth and not too sweet.

Chocolate Truffle Cake. Warm chocolate cake that oozed with chocolaty goodness when cut with a fork and served with slowly melting vanilla gelato and a mildly sweet creamy fruity sauce. A great way to end a satisfying meal.

If in the Palo Alto area and in the mood for some Asian flavors and well-prepared meats, be sure to check out INDO. They have a nice semi-outdoor lounge area as well as buffet lunches and special event menus.