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Artists will put
Indochine to test

As condos go up and First Friday keeps rolling along, entrepreneurs are realizing that after more than 20 years of wishful thinking, Downtown Honolulu is well on its way to becoming a true mixed-use neighborhood.

Sure, the vestiges of its sleazy past remain, evidenced by the shadowy figures lurking about at night, but these days they're outnumbered by artistes, making it the formers' turn to cry, "There goes the neighborhood."

A flurry of renovations on Hotel Street, across from Mini Garden, has given way to the art/film house Cinema Paradise. Of course restaurants will have to accommodate the trendy set, because what's available just isn't sufficient.

One of the newest inhabitants is Indochine Cafe, where nights of woodworking, painting and tiling have transformed a barren space into ... to tell you the truth, I don't know. It may be a bar that dreams of being a restaurant or a restaurant that becomes a bar because it's what the street demands.

Staffers there talk about adding cuisines, bringing in different chefs, but it's a little late to be having that discussion. The time to plan is before construction begins, not when the doors are already open.

For now, Indochine looks like it wants to be a bar, with a formidable facade and vibe that has more in common with the old Chinatown than the new. Maybe they didn't get the memo.

And yet, it's obvious the owners put a lot of work into the place. The room is done up in exotic dark orange and primary blues and reds, with bar-style booths for a feeling of privacy. There is even an evocative Indochine mural in progress.

But there are also four television sets geared toward late-night karaoke, but they blare at all times so that my dinner there was punctuated by grunts from an AMC showing of "Rocky II," not a particularly appetizing film.

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STAR-BULLETIN Indochine Cafe, at 42 N. Hotel St., may find itself in the right place at the right time, the right place at the wrong time, or wrong place at the wrong time ... only time will tell.

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THE MENU, so far, features a limited number of Vietnamese specialties, starting with spring rolls ($4.95) and, keeping with the season, summer rolls ($4.95) filled with rice vermicelli, chives and three shrimps, just like Ba-Le's. The summer rolls are premade, so the ends can be chewy.

It wouldn't be far-fetched to assume a restaurant named Indochine would serve clams steamed in white wine with butter in the French style, but there's not a trace of wine in the watery broth. Served with garlic bread ($9.95), the clams still make a decent pupu.

If you're a phó fan, the closest dish is the noodle soup with shrimp, crab and char siu ($6.95). If you're undecided over choosing between thin noodles or thick udon ($6.95), the pork in the udon is pig's feet. That might sway you. I didn't find any crab in the soup that also comes with fewer greens -- bean sprouts, more chives and chili peppers -- than available at comparable restaurants.

The dish most likely to have diners coming back for more isn't Vietnamese but Korean. The kalbi ($8.95) here is cut thick and arrives on a sizzling platter as a satisfying main course or to share pupu style. It may be one of the best on Oahu, and there's a lot of kalbi served up here.

We didn't stick around to see if dessert was available, but ice coffees ($3.75) sipped earlier were a perfect touch.

So if you find yourself strolling down Hotel Street one night and it looks a little murky inside Indochine, it doesn't hurt to peek inside. If you look harmless enough, maybe they'll let you in.

Indochine Cafe 42 N. Hotel St. / 534-0222 Food Service Ambience Value Hours: Not set Cost: About $20 to $25 for two without drinks