One is the tastiest number

In the fickle business of independent restaurants, especially international eateries somewhat unfamiliar to locals, the going can be rough. If you’re a struggling restaurant owner, you have some difficult decisions to make. You can change your concept and make the food more palatable to American diners.

The tasty mango chicken ($3.95) is made with fresh mango, white meat chicken and a homemade mango sauce.

But that risks undermining all that makes your restaurant unique. You can reduce the hours, hoping to cut back on costs. You can limit offerings or add more trendy dishes. But no gimmick or special can make up for the inconsistency that’s bound to drive customers away.

Fans of Asia One who knew it in the early days may have been puzzled over the last year or so as it changed its concept and menu in a somewhat haphazard fashion. Presumably to deal with slow business, the owners scaled back the number of Southeast Asian specialties, limiting the menu to more widely-known standards. Eventually, they even added sushi. While the sushi was fresh and reasonably priced, it was something diners could get at so many other Asian eateries around town. In compromising, Asia One lost its edge — along with a lot of loyal customers.

But now, under new management, the restaurant has returned to something much closer to its original mission. The owners have even gone so far as to recruit a Malaysian staff member from Chicago. At its base, Asia One is a Malaysian restaurant, drawing on the great cultural diversity of this Pacific island nation. But, just as Malaysia has been influenced through its history by the cultures surrounding it, the menu offers everything from Vietnamese spring rolls to Thai soups, curries and Chinese dishes like teriyaki and fried rice.

For a strip-mall Asian eatery, décor is elegantly understated. Bamboo shades shroud the view of an adjacent tire store and a few tasteful wall hangings add a little color and authenticity. A soundtrack of light jazz generally plays louder than it might, but the absence of a TV above the bar means diners can actually focus on their dinner companions and the food.

On two separate visits, almost every dish was fresh, flavorful and hearty. Appetizers are especially tasty. Hakka tofu ($4.25) combines rich fried tofu around a pork and shrimp filling with a soy paper roll and sweet, crispy fried eggplant. Soups include chicken coconut ($3.95), a bit like Thai tom kah soup but more richly spiced and less sweet, and a very tasty, spicy version of tom yum soup ($3.95) with fish meatballs and shrimp.

Buddha soup ($2.95) is a soothingly mild broth with gorgeous hunks of cauliflower, broccoli, carrot and mushroom, and a subtle hint of cilantro.
Entrées range from chicken and beef curries to utterly light but delicious noodle dishes to seafood and a diverse list of vegetarian offerings. Our gregarious Malaysian waitress suggested a couple of dishes she said were the most authentic from her country. Rendang beef ($9.25) is a stew of braised beef shank with a very thick “dry” curry sauce. The beef is tender and picks up a lot of flavor from coconut and curry — made fresh and mixed by the chef himself. Chow Kwae Teow ($8.95) is a surprisingly scrumptious stir fry of whisper-thin rice noodles with shrimp, bean sprouts and egg. It’s a bit like pad Thai but not as heavy.

After a few weeks with a renovated menu, the owners have begun serving a buffet from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. While some offerings can run out on occasion, this means that very little of the food languishes in chafing dishes before you get to it. And at $5.75, it’s one of the best lunch values in town.

During a recent lunch visit, the buffet offered a nicely eclectic sampling of Pacific island dishes, most available on the dinner menu as well. Vietnamese spring rolls were a little heavy, but filled with plenty of pork, and Ruby wings will be familiar to those who used to eat them at Chinese Ruby on Keystone Avenue. Mango chicken pitted crunchy bits of chicken against some crisp veggies and sweet hunks of mango. Hot chili shrimp weren’t quite as volatile as they sounded but were perfectly cooked. A pork dish with curry was a nice way to try the drier style of Malaysian curry.

Returning to its roots was a smart move. No longer is Asia One just any old strip-mall Asian restaurant. It’s one of only a few Malaysian restaurants in the country. The Friends of Malaysia Web site lists just under 40 Malaysian restaurants in the U.S., with only one other Malaysian restaurant, Chicago’s Penang, in the Midwest. So, as cultural treasures go, this is one that Indy should hang onto. As if you needed another reason to brag about your city, tell your friends in Cincinnati or St. Louis that we have an honest-to-goodness Malaysian restaurant here — and a very good one at that.