Top Island

After a long hot day in the mountains, some friends invited me to Top Island for dinner and I was grateful for both their generosity and their choice for Chinese food. I am very picky about French food, but I am borderline OCD when it comes to Chinese food. Having been sorely disappointed by nearly every place I've eaten since my return to Los Angeles last year, I was not even hopeful that this place could be decent, much less good. I was glad to have been pleasantly surprised.

Top Island is slightly upscale and the place setting on the table reflected that with a chopstick rest and better quality plates and bowls.

Complimentary boiled peanuts were set down as soon as we were seated.

Since Tilapia was the only whole fish done in any style, we chose the cod filet with ginger and peas. It was perfectly done, with tender moist filets in a light savory sauté.

One of my friends loves clams with black bean sauce and she literally licked her clam shells clean :) It was a relief for me to taste not just one, but two dishes at a Chinese restaurant that were good enough to make me want to order them again.

Squab/pigeon was offered and although my friends were impressed by the gratis plate, I warned them that it may just be leftovers, and unfortunately, it did turn out that some of the pieces were gamey and tough.

We ordered a side of garlic greens which were flavorful, but had several tough fibrous stems.

Complimentary red bean soup was offered for dessert and after one spoonful, my friends declared it burnt and left the rest. Another offered plate were these pineapple buns which my friends loved, but since I'm not a fan of Chinese sweets, I declined, so they took mine to go in a doggie bag.

Overall, there were enough good dishes that I would go back. I would warn everyone that sometimes food is given away because it can't be sold; the adage that if it's too good to be true, it usually is, may apply.