The space that was Bali Indonesia Restaurant has a new name: Kapiolani Asian Cuisine. With the new sign almost identical to the old one (the same white-on-red) and the two becak — Indonesia's version of the rickshaw — still outside, I hardly noticed the change in October.

Asian? The word is loaded with multiple meanings, depending on whom you ask. Assorted Eastern delights flashed in my imaginary View-Master — Korean bi bim bap, click, Indian samosas, click, fusion combinations, click.

It turns out Kapiolani Asian's interpretation of the word means Chinese and Indonesian food. The new owners kept the buffet-only format (lunch is $6.95; dinner is $8.95; $2 less for kids) and some Bali Indonesia dishes on the menu, to keep the old restaurant's customers and contend with well-established Fook Yuen's Chinese lunch spread for just a dollar more, across the street.

Indonesian cuisine continues to be largely unexplored in Honolulu. To my knowledge, Bali Indonesia was the only eatery on the island offering strictly Indonesian fare. Ward Centre's E&O Trading Co. works two traditional favorites — corn fritters (perkedel jagung) and fried rice (nasi goreng) — into its pan-Asian menu, but Kapiolani Asian has a few more choices and makes a half-hearted attempt to fill the gap left by its predecessor (the present cook spent almost two months learning the former cook's recipes).

The Southeast Asian dishes form half of the eatery's L-shaped buffet, and Chinese standards such as beef broccoli and stir-fried vegetables complete the lineup. The restaurant lays out about 16 choices on two hot tables, accompanied by fluffy jasmine rice and a hot soup of the day. Condiments — kim chee or sambal — can help liven up plates.

And you just might need them if you expect intense Spice Islands flavor. At Kapiolani Asian, a mild, American influence dilutes the strength of both cuisines.

In the Indonesian fare, the vibrancy of homemade spice pastes, called bumbu, composed of such ingredients as fresh chiles, lemongrass, coriander seeds and galangal, often used in Indonesian cooking, is missing. As one Indonesian who stopped going to the restaurant after the switch told me, "(The Indonesian food) tastes like it's from spice packets."

But unless you have friends from those other islands, where else can you sample Indonesian staples, even if they're an approximation? And for the price, Kapiolani Asian's all-you-can-eat concept is a bargain. The place combines fast-food convenience with a bit of homemade freshness — Mr. Panda eggroll in a batik sarong.

Although beef rendang is slow cooked in coconut milk with candlenut, kaffir lime leaves, ginger and other spices, the dish lacked the ingredients' bright flavors. But I still enjoyed its thin yet rich brown gravy and tender chunks of meat spooned over rice. Kari ayam, a mild chicken coconut curry tinged turmeric yellow and dotted with potatoes and carrots, was alright if you don't mind some skin and bones.

I couldn't taste much sweet corn in the doughy corn fritters. Deep-fried lumpia, skimpily filled with bean sprouts and carrot shreds, were saved by a watery peanut dipping sauce that was a nice alternative to the usual sweet-and-sour.

The Chinese dishes receive chop-suey treatment. Variations of a mostly shoyu-based sauce coat many of the options. Today's orange chicken resembles General Tso's chicken tomorrow.

The only dessert, es teler, is a fruit cocktail-like beverage. Scoop past large ice cubes to the bottom of the bowl, and the pink punch yields bits of fruit gelatin, canned jackfruit and coconut meat in coconut milk for a refreshing, cold soup.

Vigilant staff are quick to greet you, bring you a beverage, remove plates from your table and replenish the hot tables' dishes. They also open doors for elderly regulars and take time to check tables to ask if anything is needed.

The small place is clean to the point of feeling like eating at Grandma's. You know, the one with plastic covering her couches — except at Kapiolani Asian, the plastic covers white vinyl crocheted tablecloths. A blue and white porcelain vase perched in a corner and a few Indonesian-inspired cloth paintings on the faint rose and lemon walls do little to detract from the sterile living-room atmosphere. And it's quiet, except for Muzak, the kind I don't even hear at my dentist's office anymore. It was great for playing Name That Tune.

Although Kapiolani Asian Cuisine has inherited a foreign legacy — and much of the hardware — from Bali Indonesia, the restaurant's effort at an inconspicuous takeover hasn't been invisible. Only time will tell whether its decision to carry on under an assumed identity rather than boldly declaring independence will pay off.

Reach Helen Wu at hwu@honoluluadvertiser.com.