by MARK SLUTSKY

An unusual new culinary hotspot has sprung up on the patch of Jean-Talon between the train tracks around Parc and the stretch of Little Italy on St-Laurent. Its proximity to the train-switching yards and subsequent industrial outlay has always made this strip a bit of a dead zone—it’s always under-lit at night and even during the day it feels a bit shadowy.

Things did start to happen there, however, with the opening of venue le Local, which coincided with the arrival of some interesting restaurants. There are a few Vietnamese places, Pakistani diner Tabaq (reviewed in these pages some months ago) and the charming little hole-in-the-wall Top Tropical.

The food of West Africa, specifically Burkina Faso, with its grills and sauces, is the focus at Top Tropical. The place is basically a barbecue joint—barbecue in the sense of lots of grilled meats, not smokin’ American South. It’s simple, abundant, inexpensive and tasty and served (if you’re eating in) on plastic plates with similarly disposable forks and knives.

Top Tropical is a tiny place, and most of its trade seems to come from delivery and take-out orders, although there are a couple of tables if you want to eat in. A shelf along one wall holds bottles of the house sauces, which are part of the restaurant’s claim to fame—the sign out front advertises the joint as “Top Tropical Hot Sauce” and they’re prominently featured in the advertising. There are a few different varieties. The Naaba is a sweet-smelling elixir, with a dark, cinnamon-like aroma. The flavour, however, is less sugary than you might be led to expect, salty and redolent of rosemary, garlic and vinegar. The more viscous hot sauce is a super spicy pepper concoction that goes particularly well with chicken. It’s definitely worth taking a bottle with you when you leave (all sauces are in the $4–$5 range).

Top Tropical’s menu is small enough to fit on a business card, as it literally does. Without a doubt my favourite dish is the charcoal-grilled chicken ($12, but the plate is big enough to serve several). Savoury and juicy, the chicken—and it’s pretty much a whole bird—is tasty with or without the hot sauce, and the Naaba is a good combination as well.

On a recent visit, myself and my pals also ordered up plates of goat and mutton (also $12, also huge), which were so similar in look and flavour that we promptly lost track of which was which. I ultimately decided that the moister, more tender meat was the mutton, and the blacker, drier stuff was the goat. Both were decent, if a little chewy, and both really paled in comparison to the chicken. A good serving of sauce and a little work with the canines definitely helped, but I know what I’ll be ordering next time I visit. I did like the big yellow coils of onion they were served with, though.

We also went for a rice dish ($5) that was basically a heaping plate of white rice with a sort of tomato-beef stew ladled on top. Now this was quite good—the meat was tender and the dish had a warm, homemade-stew feel. It’s pretty much comfort food, and definitely the easiest dish to eat solo. You actually get rice and vegetables, as opposed to an intimidatingly large pile of grilled meat. The only other veggie we saw was on the complimentary plate of grilled plantains, which were absolutely delicious and very abundant. They were also chopped up into little bite-sized plantain nuggets, which made poppin’ them all too easy. I think I probably ate at least three whole plantains in that one sitting. But I never regretted it!

As a sit-down place Top Tropical’s atmosphere leaves a little to be desired, but for delivery (which they do for free) or takeout, it’s definitely worth a try, especially if you’re a poultry fan.

TIPS? QUESTIONS? COMPLIMENTS TO THE CHEF? E-mail eattothebeat@gmail.com

Top Tropical
ADDRESS: 133 Jean-Talon W.
PHONE: 807-6958
HOURS: Tue 2–10 p.m.; Wed–Thu noon–10 p.m.;
Fri–Sat noon–midnight; Sun 11 a.m.–10 p.m.
BEST FEATURES: The sumptuous barbecue chicken and homemade
sauces (also available for purchase)
ALCOHOL: No
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes
VEGETARIAN FRIENDLY: Not unless you really like plantains
CREDIT CARDS: Interac
NO-SMOKING SECTION: Yes
PRICE: $5–$12 per person, before tax and tip
RATING: ** and a 1/2 out of ****