Restaurants & Dining
Indo: Light Ingredients With Rich Flavors
By Becky Billingsley
A husband and wife team created the two Indo Thai Sushi Hibachi restaurants in Myrtle Beach and Pawleys Island, but nowadays it’s woman power handling their daily operation.
Laura and Heri Heriyadi arrived separately in the United States from Indonesia in 1988 and first settled in California, then both ended up in Florida, which is where they met. Laura has a degree in computer science and Heri is a degreed mechanical engineer, but they both evolved into restaurant work.
After a dozen years working in other people’s restaurants, they launched the first Indo in 2009 at the north end of Myrtle Beach across the street from the Dixie Stampede. Laura recently opened the second Indo in Pawleys Island.
Laura goes to the Myrtle Beach location every morning to make all her sauces, then heads to Pawleys Island about noon, where she stays and cooks until 8 p.m. before heading back to Myrtle Beach.
When at either restaurant, Laura makes it a point to visit the dining rooms to greet guests.
Both Indos are filled with light and have tasteful decors with muted colors. The Myrtle Beach location is about twice as big as the Pawleys Island restaurant, but both have roomy sushi bars and plenty of dining room seats. The Pawleys Island location also has a shady, tropical-feeling al fresco dining area.
As for the food, Laura takes her sauces seriously.
“The sauces are very important,” she says. “I’m not comfortable letting anyone else do it yet. Thai food is all about fresh ingredients, and you have to pay attention.”
The Indo staff stays full-throttle busy preparing sushi (they have two pages of choices) as fast as their nimble fingers will move.
There are common rolls most sushi lovers will recognize such as Crunch Roll, Rainbow Roll, Spicy Tuna Roll and of course the ever-popular California Roll.
Other more exotic sushi choices include the Hawaiian Roll with salmon, pineapple, asparagus and cream cheese cooked tempura-style and served with coconut flakes and coconut pineapple sauce; the half inside-out Viking Roll with crab, salmon, cream cheese, avocado, eel and fish roe; and the Special Myrtle Beach Roll with tuna, dolphin, salmon, cream cheese, crab, masago and avocado.
Sashimi is also served, including single pieces, an 18-piece sashimi dinner, sashimi/sushi combos and the Jumbo Boat with three rolls, 30 sashimi, 20 sushi, Tuna Tartare and two appetizers.
A special lunch menu is available with $8-$11 choices that include a salad and spring roll, but the regular menu is also available all day. Both the Thai and Japanese choices are extensive, with dozens of dishes in each category.
In addition to sushi the Japanese menu includes hibachi meals featuring steak, chicken and several different seafoods served with clear soup, fried rice and vegetables.
But it’s the Thai menu that shines at Indo, and it starts with appetizers such as Tong Yod where a crab/curry/cream cheese blend is inside crispy wonton purses; and Golden Winter Shrimp where a whole large shrimp is surrounded by a tasty minced vegetable and herb blend, wrapped in a wonton skin and deep-fried.
Both appetizers are served with Laura’s fresh dipping sauces, and one that’s locally famous is her peanut sauce. A few other sauce choices include Fresh Basil, Fresh Ginger and Garlic, and it is worth return trips to try them all. You can also pick from the sauces to build an entree to your liking.
Thai entrees of course include Pad Thai and several Thai curry dishes like Masaman Curry with herbs, tamarind, sweet potatoes, onion and roasted peanuts.
Indo Specialties are extremely interesting, such as Chicken Volcano with chili garlic sauce; Sizzling Duck; Crispy Golden Crab featuring soft shell crabs; and Salmon La Bamba that includes salmon, sea scallops, bacon, vegetables and basil sauce.
Indo is at 980 82nd Parkway in Myrtle Beach, 692-7000, and hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. At 47 Da Gullah Way in Pawleys Island, 314-3543, hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 4-10 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
