Indo: Asian Fusion

So like some of my fellow Unilocaler’s I was walking the street of Liberty Ave on my lunch break with a coworker when we stumbled onto the Asian Fusion place. Intrigued with the lunch buffet we went in to give it a try. Um it was so odd. First I don’t think there was another person in there besides the workers. So we ordered a drink and went to the buffet. I started at the cold one. Let’s see there was some salad stuff but no dressing except what was either sour cream or yogurt. I dabbed my salad with that thinking well maybe this will be ok… NOPE it was gross, took one bite and put the plate to the side. The hot side was even worse! I couldn’t not recognize a single thing I was eating and there were no signs explaining what the food was. to top it off almost everything was swimming in a brown or gray colored gravy. You would have thought me and my coworker were crazy as the plates of food piled up and up on our table as we adventurously kept trying stuff just to hate it and put the plate of food on the table to be collected. So up again and again to try something different but it was all awful. We left still hungry but out of time. My coworker apologized as it was more her idea than mine to go, but we collectively agreed we would never go back. Sad for the people there, they all seemed very nice.

Indo appears to have changed hands. It is now called Liang’s Hunan Chinese Restaurant.

The other reviews are consistent, this place is very odd. The «salad bar» had an assortment of what looked like chex mix, cheerios, and some nasty looking salad. Heading to the hot food, nothing was labeled. The food was OK (maybe 2 stars), but was a little put off by how unsanitary the place looked. Also I had no idea what I was eating!
I needed to get back to a conference so I asked for my tab and the waitress (who was really friendly) told me to pay at the counter. I went there and a larger woman just stared at me and didn’t say anything. She then said «oh, he’s coming». So after 3 minutes awkwardly standing there, the guy comes by sees me standing there and then starts yelling at someone outside. HELLO? I am standing at your counter waiting to be checked out when another employee won’t even get up. My experience seems consistent with those others have had. Wish I had checked trusty Unilocal before going there.

orrifiying thiefs! They charged me 5 times for 1purchase! They never follow their store hours, they open later than what has been said in their website and close earlier than that!
This is how my story starts, I work at downtown and I was done at 3pm! It was 19^th of october friday afternoon around 3:30 pm when I went to this place and it was closed 1 hour earlier than the store hours! I could see people working inside so i knocked the door! The owner who is medium build man in his late 30s or early 40, light skin, hazel color eye (an unusual indian) opened the door and let me in! He seated me and told me to help myself and i went ahead and filled my plate! Nobody asked me what i want to drink for like 20 mins and after 20 minuts when I was half way done with my plate, the dishwasher came and took my drink order! They brought my bread after im already done eating! I was on hurry and went to the cash register to pay! I paid with my debit card, then left but then remebered that i forgot to tip and came back! For my surprise i saw owner putting the tip to my reseet and signing it! I was like oh I just came for that and looked and saw the amount that he put was what wanna give, anyways I left feeling weird about what he just did! Was not that illegal to sign some body’s creditcard reseet like that? Anyways I decided not togo back there anymore!

The entire time I was there I kept thinking, «man I cannot wait to review this place».
Okay, let me set the stage. I was walking on my lunch hour and happened to notice a new restaurant in place of the old Chinese buffet place (that was not good) on Liberty. The sign read, «$ 7.99 lunch buffet». I thought why not try something new?
I could tell the did some general cleaning up of the building from it’s previous tenants. I don’t remember the hardwood being so nice or that the flooring was hardwood at all. It was simply decorated, but still decorated. Was it the best? No, but it worked.
At this moment it’s only a buffet. Now here is where my issues with this place begin. This is not an Asian fusion restaurant. It’s an Indian buffet with a few Chinese items mixed in. If I would have known that after I got in and sat down I probably would have left. I even Googled the word fusion to make sure I understood the meaning. I get that fusion means to blend (specifically cultures in this sense), but if it’s Indian food you’re slinging then just call it that.
The food I did try was decent. It bothered me that the food wasn’t the hottest. There was decent size selection to choose from. I will say their chicken salad was amazing. I never eat anything mayonnaise based at buffets so you know I was struggling for food. Even the Chinese items had an Indian kick to them. This may be for you, but it definitely wasn’t for me.
The servers were pleasant and the one waitress seemed very helpful to people who were obviously confused as to what they encountered. I didn’t like how they don’t give you a bill, but rather, you just walk to the front and pay. Seems kind of like poor business planning to me. I understand at this point you’re only selling one food item, but how do you know what I had to drink? I think for the price it’s worth it if that’s what you’re looking for, but I think this is a once is enough place for me.

This place just opened up in a space that used to be a Chinese buffet. At this time it appears that they are buffet only, and only open for Lunch. The space itself is pleasant, and uncluttered, actually it is borderline elegant. The lunch buffet is quite extensive. We were here on either their 2^nd or 3^rd day open. At this point, I would suggest that this is less Asian Fusion, than mainly just a wide variety of Indian food. That said, the range of items on the buffet is pretty impressive and ranges from a number of vegetarian options to lots of chicken options to lamb and beef. There are also a number of dessert options and a nice little salad bar.
My understanding is that they will –over time– expand the number of non-​Indian Asian items and crossover items. The owner told me that they can make Thai, Chinese, Indian etc.
This is a very nice place and I am sure that they will only get better as they iron out the processes associated with running the restaurant – for instance, their beverage options did not include Mango Lassi, which it would be nice if it did.
In terms of Indian places in downtown, there are at this point several. Some are very good, some are not. India Palace on Sixth St. is great for those closer to the Point or the Stadiums. For those closer to Steel tower and the convention center, there is now a decidedly good Indian option for that end of town.
I look forward to seeing Indo expand its «Asian Fusion» side over time and look forward to seeing things like the «Indian Chinese» food that one can get in places like Edison, NJ or restaurants like Hot Wok in Atlanta (if it is still there, it has been 10 years). I hope that Pittsburgh is ready for it, I certainly am.