Opened: November 2024
Tastefully decorated and staffed with friendly servers, this strip mall pan-Asian spot in East Mesa is worth the drive for well-executed favorites such as hot pot, Korean barbecue and Chinese dumplings. For starters: thin scallion pancakes, panfried to a crisp and sided with soy-based sauce ($6.50). There’s also panfried beef bao, each browned top strewn with black sesame seeds, while their soft, beefy interiors are perfumed with five spice ($8.95). Be warned: Hot pot demands some serious decision-making – size (there’s a mini for one, which easily feeds two, $17.95); soup base (lemongrass-scented Tom Yum Spicy is outstanding); a selection of three extra ingredients (maybe dumplings, sausages or various fish cakes); a protein (beef, lamb, seafood); and starch (various types of rice and noodles, including udon). Served bubbling hot atop a burner, the bowl brims with veggies such as turnips, mushrooms and bok choy. What a delicious bargain! Korean barbecue also comes with a dozen dizzying options, one of them being grilled pork belly, seasoned with lemongrass for a Vietnamese vibe ($17.95). And for nostalgia’s sake, crunchy orange chicken, bathed in a honeyed sauce that puts Panda Express to shame ($14.95). Top One indeed!
Wild Card: Consider pillowy, faintly floral pandan bao for dessert ($7.50).
1914 S. Power Rd., Mesa, 480-207-7250, toponeaz.com
