DARDA SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

My favorite: sesame bread. Honey walnut shrimpCrowed during weekends. 1 h ahead make a call to get taking out

The fried rice here is excellent!The place is gigantic and it fills up fast for lunch every day of the week.They move people in and out of here very quickly so if you're wanting a laid back dining experience, chatting it up with friends, lingering a bit after you have eaten...go somewhere else. :)They do not like linger-ers.On the plus side of moving things along quickly, the food is served in record speed.Some of my favorite Chinese dished (szechuan beef, General's chicken and other deep fried foods) are not offered here.I usually get the chicken and veggies and request it very spicy.It is delicious.

My mom comes here at LEAST once a week, so my review may be a little bias due to the special treatment from the owner. Not sure why everyone is hating with the three star reviews but the food here is always hot, fresh, and comes out really quickly.**They will only seat you if your entire party is there!

TLDR: this restraunt had it's highs and lows. Definitely would suggest following hte reviews for the green onion pancakes. Would advise getting a beef noodle soup and skipping the fried rice.Beef noodle soup - 4/5. Broth here is absolutely amazing! Clear, transulcent broth, refreshing in flavor, without any remnants of blood from cooking (true to the halal style). Noodles were alright, on the overcooked side. Beef was tendor and well flavored.Green onion sesame pancake - 4/5. This is quite a large dish - expected one pancake cut into fourhts, but got 2 large thick pancakes! Flavorful with green onions, without being overly salty. Definitely would have this again.Spicy eggplant - 3/5. Despite the glossy exterior of the eggplants, the spice was rather mild and did not taste very oily. Definitely cooked to a good point where the eggplant retained it's shape and hold, without turning into a mush upon contact.Honey walnut shrimp - 3/5. Standard style, seemed like they (thankfully) didn't use as much mayo as other restaurants. Plenty of walnuts and shrimp on this dish!Lamb homemade noodles - 2/5. Very light (despite the glossy sheen), but lacking in distinct flavors. The lamb and noodles all blended together into one homogenous taste.Fried rice - 2/5. Not much to say here. Quite different than the style of fried rice I am familiar, with many bite size pieces of veggies, meat and egg. Definitely a lot more "plain"

Darda is always busy, especially during lunchtime. If you decide to drop in midday, my recommendation is to either go a little early or a little late. The food there is pretty good (note: Darda is a halal restaurant, no pork). I always get the following dishes when I am there:- Chao Ma Mian (spicy noodle soup with shrimp, squid, beef, and assorted vegetables, you can choose either regular noodle or knife-shaved noodle)- Stir Fried Beef with Leek- Kung Pao Shrimp- Green Onion Sesame Bread (MUST GET!!)I can always count on getting a good meal at Darda. Price is reasonable and I have always gotten good service there. Go ahead, give it a shot!

Tasty dao xiao mien (knife shaved noodles) - ordered the lamb and beef, both were delicious. Onion pancake was a letdown - skip this - should've probably ordered the sesame bread (da bing).

Darda is one of the few restaurants in the Bay serving Islamic Chinese cuisine. Fortunately, that lack of competition hasn't affected the quality of either the food or the service, both of which are great.The greatest item that Islamic Chinese restaurants serve are the sesame and scallion bread - a large round of delicious and soft layers of pan fried scallion and oil bread with a fantastic crisp crust coated with white sesame seeds - then cut into wedges. They offer the bread in both thin (approx 1/2 inch) and thick (1 inch) varieties. I personally prefer the thick version, but the thinner variety takes less time for the kitchen to prepare and is naturally more crispy. Order this first!You'll also find a variety of the standard "Chinese food in America" dishes - egg rolls, fried rices, beef and broccolis - prepared pork free with halal meat. Please don't waste your time.So few Chinese restaurants do lamb as well as Islamic Chinese restaurants, I take full advantage. I love the Pickled Cabbage and Lamb Soup - a delicious sour broth served with a bit of rice vermicelli mixed in. If you're in a less brothy mood, the Pickled Cabbage and Lamb Hot Pot is similarly delicious stew. The Hunan Spicy Lamb is a simple stir fry of lamb with peppers and onions with a very nice kick. If you are in a Mu Shu mood... get the Mu Shu Beef with the egg topping - the whole thing is topped with a thin layer of scrambled egg. And always be sure to ask what fish is in season and available for a pan fry.If you are in the mood for a chow mein, fortunately they do it with the knife-cut preparation, where the noodles are cut in a very rustic way with varying lengths, widths and thicknesses.The service here is surprisingly good for a Chinese restaurant - waitresses have always been very friendly. The decor inside is spartan and a bit worn. Prices are reasonable. The food is fantastic so be sure to get here early because the wait can get very long. Plus, the parking lot at this shopping center is always packed anyway. Just be prepared to bring a lot of patience to dinner. It will all be worth it.

One of the best Chinese food I have had in years! Went with a group and we had the chance to taste quite a few dishes! No complaints and extremely satisfied...

Normally I am not a fan of chinese food but my boss loves this place and always makes us eat team dinners here. All the food is really good and they have this bread with green onions inside it that is tasty as a replacement for rice. The service is FAST and the food comes out QUICK. Overall good place to eat.

Zoo-like atmosphere during peak times, but the sour cabbage lamb soup and the *thin* sesame seed and the green onion bread (the thick one is just too filling to eat anything else) are the things to get here. On the night we dropped in, someone went a little crazy with the vinegar cuz the soup was a little too much on the sour side. The pancake was a hit, as usual, fresh/hot/sesame/green onions/crispy flavor goodness. Everything else--cashew chicken (small bits of chicken), short ribs (aack - too chewy!) and lamb noodles (saucy wierd)--was just ok.

Pretty good. I have also eaten at their Newark location, and the one in Milpitas is way more popular. We had to wait quite a while for a table for two during lunch time. The food was great! The service was just okay, but I'm sure that it was because we came during the most hectic time of the day. I would recommend trying to arrive before noon if you are trying to eat lunch here on a work day.

Pretty popular lunch spot in the 99 Ranch Asian strip-mall. I arrived at 11:45 and easily got a table. When I left at 12:30 there was a line of several parties waiting.Eats: Lamb with sour cabbage noodle soup ($7.25?) + $1 for the handmade / knife cut noodles (Dao Xiao Mian).Large serving for the price. My bowl came out within minutes and was almost overflowing the large bowl it came in (http://www.yelp.com/biz_…)The lamb was tender and had a smokiness to the flavor so appeared to be stir-fried with the cabbage and then put into the soup. Broth was thick and flavorful. I loved the contrast of the sour cabbage flavor with the savoriness of the broth and lamb.The knife shaved noodles were inconsistent in thickness with the thickest ones about 1/4" thick (http://www.yelp.com/biz_…) and not fully cooked through. The made an adventure of finding the thinner noodles to eat. These had good chew and texture.I had plenty of leftovers so the plus side of the undercooked thick noodles is that they rehydrated further and held up better than typical noodle soup leftovers the next day!

The first Chinese Islamic Halal restaurant (that I can remember) in the Bay Area still draws crowds. I hadn't been there in a few years and am happy to report it as an oldie but goody. The menu has typical Chinese dishes (soups, seafood, beef, lamb, poultry, warm pot, vegetables, noodles) minus the pork. On weekends, they have a brunch menu with soy milk, Chinese donuts, etc. During the week they have lunch specials. Though it's called a seafood restaurant, I never thought of seafood as one of their specialties. They're known for their sesame bread. They also have handmade noodles.* Green onion pancake http://www.yelp.com/biz_…: huge but possibly the thinnest version I've ever seen, not much green onion but good flavor, seems perfect for wrapping stuff in almost like a tortilla, not too greasy, light in color (usually the color is more golden and the exterior crispier), personally found it too thin on its own* Cold beef http://www.yelp.com/biz_…: Slices of marinated beef cold cuts drizzled with sesame oil, topped with scallions, not as flavorful as some other places, goes well with the green onion pancake* Beef dumplings http://www.yelp.com/biz_…: homemade thick wrapper, very juicy (surprisingly so for ground beef), nicely seasoned, delicious* Soy milk: thick, fresh and hot; you can ask for it sweet, savory or plain.Portions are generous, prices reasonable, and the restaurant is spacious enough for large parties and banquets. If you like lamb and Chinese food, you should check it out.

I went here with a bunch of computer science people I knew from college as a mini-reunion sort of thing. We ordered 8 dishes and shared them family style. The food was good, for the most part.The few complaints I have are as follows:1. I ordered the hunan lamb (I've had a really good one before) and the waitress told me that the cumin lamb is better and basically ordered for me. It would be ok to just tell me that their hunan lamb isn't very good, but I for one am sensitive to cumin, and found the dish to be overpowering. I'd prefer to order something that I want, unless I ask the server to tell me his/her favorite(s).2. It took forever for us to get water. It took our server at least 4 reminders before she actually brought us the water.3. Our bill was being paid for partly in cash, and after we confirmed with her how much cash we gave her, she shorted us on the actual receipt. $73 of our bill was paid for in cash, and she confirmed we gave her that much money, but looking on the credit card bill, she only took $63 off. When we asked her what happened, she got angry and started yelling at us that we only gave her $63. It's very rude to yell at a customer, let alone an entire group of patrons that spent a large amount of money at their restaurant.The food was decent, but the service was pretty rude.

This review comes 5 years late :) I was introduced to this place by a friend and it's been a favorite since. Warning: Don't expect any kinda service ethics here. Be happy with what you get and you'll be fine :)Some background, it's a muslim-chinese owned place and serves the regular chinese food that you would expect. This place serves one of the best sesame-leek breads, something I would love to carry back home. I normally order their lunch specials, since they are perfectly sized and priced.

Like all Chinese restaurants- you have to know how to order your food!I absolutely hate it when people put down a Chinese place for "poor food" when it's most likely because they didn't order right, k?Don't go for your Panda-Express favorites here.Order all or some of these items at Darda and I'm almost 100% sure that you'll walk away with a pleasurable dining experience:Thick Green Onion Sesame Pancake (Da Bing)Lamb (or Seafood) Thick Dough-Sliced Fried NoodlesShuang Dong Yu Pian (fish)Lamb with Green OnionsChao Ma Mian (champohng)Lamb with Picked Veggies and Vermicelli SoupFried PotstickersDarda is definitely our family's favorite go-to restaurant in the Bay Area!Biggest plus? Food comes out FAST. Today, our first entree came out less than ten minutes after we ordered and it was top-quality too!It has gotten quite popular over the years, which might explain the "rushed service". But, in reality, the waitresses will always be there when you call for them. In fact, when a busboy forgot to serve our tea today, a waitress scolded him for forgetting our table."Overcrowded and loud"?I mean, sitting around a table, eating delicious food with people you love and shouting above the hustle and bustle in a crowded restaurant? What, did you really expect the same service you'd get at a Western place? Shame on you.You can't find a more home-y or traditional/cultural Chinese experience than Darda's!

I've been here for lunch and it's always crowded. The second time we came, it's so crowded that we got seated in a corner with a small table not enough to fit our plates! It was difficult moving the dishes back and forth making sure they don't fall. Now that's the last thing I want to worry about when I'm eating.But when a place is crowded, food must be GOOD right?? Not necessarily, just mediocre. I ordered beef chow fun, and it was way too salty that I couldn't stop drinking water. My friend's food was better, she ordered mongolian with rice.Service was better than the food. For a crowded place, they managed to be very friendly and attentive. The wait for food wasn't that bad either. Our waitress was nice enough to refill our waters almost immediately after we empty our cups. Might come back here again and try other dishes, but I know I can find better chow fun elsewhere.

Darda is hella good, ate here on 5/27Ordered:Sesame Green Onion BreadLamb with Green OnionsLamb with Chinese cabbage soup3 flavor hand cut noodlesI had zero complaints about the food, we strolled in at around 5pm and got seated immediately, towards the end of dinner there was a pretty long wait to be seated. It's totally worth the drive from San Francisco, just make sure you get there early.

This is a low cost, authentic, roomy, fast paced joint.Service is friendly. It is in a Chinese-frequented mall on 237, so lot of authentic restaurants and stores in the mall.I have gone to Darda for many years - they are always good, unique and memorable.We got the thin sesame bread, kung pao chicken, homemade lo mein and pepper fish, tsing tao. Everything came in huge portions and the bill was under $40.No change in plans - will go there again when in the area, recommended.

OM NOM NOM... is seriously the noise I make whenever I'm stuffing my face at Darda. =) Something about this halal Muslim-Chinese restaurant encourages excess. Everything-- from the pillowy rounds of sesame-studded green onion bread, to the huge steaming bowls of chili-fragrant beef noodle soup, to the crowded chatter of a hundred diners-- makes you feel like you're surrounded by this cornucopian abundance of food and warmth, and that you have some pressing obligation to your Asian peasant ancestors to chow down like a glutton.No... ? That's not what it feels like at all? Oh, I guess it's just me & my tummy then. =/I used to dread Darda because my parents insisted on eating dinner there 1-2x a week for my Entire. Fucking. Childhood. Now that I've flown the coop and experienced how terrible Chinese food can be outside the Silicon Valley, I've come to appreciate and miss this place.... Especially the noodles. The noodles here are hand-pulled and knife-shaven to the thickness or thinness of your specification. They're chewy, hearty and perfectly toothsome when slopped into a bowl of beef & tendon soup. The knife-shaven curried seafood noodles come tangled with rosy shrimp, mung beans and thick cuts of scallions, and the Cong Bau Yang Rou (Lamb with spring onions) is a certifiable mouthgasm when eaten over rice. The Suan Cai Yang Rou Tang (Lamb soup with pickled cabbage & vermicelli) is an acquired, but wonderful taste- each spoonful yields a mouthful of salty, savory & tangy mellowness.Everything is abundantly flavorful... so much so that many dishes are aggressively overseasoned. Some days, I wonder if the beef noodle soup is really "soup" or just anise-flavored soy sauce. The dry-fried string beans leave a thick film of grease on your mouth, and the fried noodle dishes could use an oil blotter. Tell your waiter beforehand "less salt & less oil" so that the chefs can prepare your food accordingly. I wager they listen about 20% of the time (because the food is mostly pre-cooked) --and generally only when you have a demanding Asian mama with you-- but it's still worth a shot. :)In any case, the food is, overall, good and cheap (so cheap!), and honestly, it's hard to complain when your mouth is full.Bottom Line: Heartburn... so worth it.