Darda Seafood Restaurant
296 Barber Ct
Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 433-5199
Categories: Chinese, Seafood, Halal
3 star rating
Muslim Chinese- Halal menu. On the long drive north from Monterey, this is the perfect stop for sustinance. The place seats ~150 people so it's large and busy ~8:30pm- we were seated within minutes of arriving- ahead of chinese speaking folks who tried to cut in front. The misleading name steers one incorrectly away from the heart of the restaurant. Their specialties are the beef and lamb, and the chewy handmade noodles and green onion sesame flat cakes.
We ordered
Yang Rou Pao Muo (pillowy clouds of goodness) soup- with beef broth. Good deep flavor but the shredded bits of dough were cut square with a knife, leaden, tough and slimy- quite different from what i expected (recalling our guide in Xianwho insisted our crumbs be smaller "else" she warned "it will be tough". There it was sublime- we pulled apart these little round hard cakes into little shredded pellets that fluffedinto succulent morsels bursting with juicy broth). The waitress made sure that I knew what I was ordering for this dish- so I think she knew that we would be disappointed.
Sesame flat bread crunchy outside soft middle stuffed with tasty green oniony goodness. Alittle dry but good with the broth.
Handcut chunky noodles with lamb stir fry. Cumin crusted meat tasty and succulent but noodles were more than a little chewy (in stark contrast to the lite and tender noodles in Xian).
Eggplant was spicy and juicy but ordinary. I think I would pick a more regional specialty next time.
Service was frenetic but aware. Took our order- gave advice on the size of the meal we were ordering. "too much, too much for 2 people" but I wanted to sample each specialty item. Food came out quickly.
Amazingly Xian had better chi of wheat but the flavors were very complex, distinct and quite authentic. A good option for people wanting kosher chinese.