Top Taste Chinese Restaurant in Woden replaced Noble Palace some time last year. I don’t even know what happened to Noble Palace or why it shut down. Lots of new red signage was displayed outside for the new Top Taste. A work colleague and I headed there to try out some yumcha for lunch. After being seated, or waitress immediately asked if we wanted Chinese tea or other drinks. After ordering tea, it was promptly provided. I always order the glutinous sticky rice wrapped in leaves. This version ($6.60) had chicken inside with a good portion of filling to rice ratio. Not bad.
The prawn combination dumplings ($6.60) came out steaming. I thought these were your average prawn dumplings with coriander (didn’t think it was much of a combination?) but I did gobble it down quickly.
The combination dumplings ($4.60) tasted sensational. The fried outer layer was crispy, providing a lovely crispy sound when sinking your teeth into it. While at the same time, the dumpling skin was thick with softness on the inside. The filling consisted of small bits of pork and a delicious gravy. Sounds simple but sometimes the simple things in life are the best. I found there were perfect portions of filling and thick dumpling skin. There’s a beautiful balance of sweet and savoury – the thick dumpling layer has a slightly sweet taste to it which contrasts against the savoury pork filling. A small parcel of delicious. Even my work colleague was impressed and asked if we could order a second serve which I happily concurred.
The inside of the combination dumpling – crispy outer layer, and thick soft inner layer
The steamed rice flour rolls with BBQ pork ($5.60) were decent but I didn’t think it had much filling inside.
The deep fried squid ($7.80) was disappointing. The batter was very thick and doughy, and just not pleasant to chew on. I ended up scraping the batter off and eating the squid on its own.
The menu is very easy to read with pictures of items split into small ($4.60), medium ($5.60), large ($6.60) and special dishes ($7.80). There’s also a selection of Chef’s Choice items on the other side such as lobster in hot rock salt.
Trolleys weave around tables enticing diners to order more. It was rather quiet inside since it was a weekday, making me miss the hustle and bustle of a busy Yumcha session. However, it did mean we received our food quickly. Service is good in a blunt no-nonsense kind of way – do you want anything to drink? What do you want to order? Do you want anything else from the trolleys? Here’s the bill. Great on a work day when you have a limited lunch period.
The signs outside of the restaurant state you get 20% off your order of $60+ when you dine in. I’m not sure how long the promotion is on for, but it’s a pretty good deal.
I think yumcha at The Scholar is still my favourite in Canberra, but Top Taste is quick and easy, and located south-side.
Foodgasm 6.5/10
