Martini Madness at Indigo and Mei Sum

Indigo has been Kea's and my favorite pau hana spot for several years now. We remember when the draw was $2.75 martinis. Now they're up to $4, but still a pretty good deal. This place used to be totally packed too--it was impossible to get a table or even some counter space to rest your drink. Nowadays, I guess all the kids go to Bar 35.

Bar 35 does have good pizza and a nice selection of beer, but I prefer Indigo. I guess it means I am old. Or I prefer martinis to beer. Or it might have something to do with the ambiance. The "Orient chic" decor of Indigo is pretty gross, but I think I like the way the space is set up better. More versatile seating for different sized groups I think.

Anyway, Indigo now has it's lack of crowds going for it too. We were there on a Friday and it was empty. I was worried that they no longer had Martini Madness, but they do. This means that the free buffet they put out lasts longer. It's not great--mostly salads and other veggie items, but free food is awesome no matter what it is. We also ordered fries--and while the Sriracha ketchup was not as good as in the past, the serving of fries seemed bigger. The fries were also really good--looked and tasted like McDonald's fries.

Here's the run-down on the martinis we had:

• Lychee: Seemed sweeter than in the past. I didn't like it as much as I used to.
• Strawberry Lychee: Our friend Will claimed it tasted the same as the Lychee but this was after he'd had a few.
  
• Lemon Drop: My drink of choice that night.
• Blueberry: Tasted like sour blueberry candy. I would've ordered this if I drank more.
• Razzmatazz: Sour. Others liked it, but I was not a fan.
• Chocolate: Strong. Drink of choice for a few in the group.
• Woo woo: James ordered this twice so I guess it was good.
• En Fuego: Too salty.
  
• Vodka: Kea likes these but mostly orders them for the olives. (I only like the olives.)
• Tony Soprano: Will said it was good, but again, he'd had a few.
• Tropical Splendor: Tastes like juice. This is an old favorite of mine.

One of the reasons we like going to Indigo is so we can walk over to Mei Sum after, eat, and sober up. (This is Kea's favorite part actually.) Although dim sum is supposed to be for breakfast or lunch, Mei Sum serves it all day. My favorite dim sum were the shrimp and chive dumpling and the bean curd roll. I usually like the spinach and scallop dumpling but it was too fishy this time. The chicken and vegetable cake noodle was satisfying, but the chicken didn't look so appetizing--maybe we'll try it with beef next time. Others had the jellyfish--and liked it a lot.