Darda--Newark (Chinese Muslim cuisine)

Living more than 20 miles from Oakland Chinatown, good Chinese food is not necessarily at my fingertips. Since I am Chinese, I'm a bit snooty about what kind of Chinese food I want to eat. There are many Chinese food joints in the Fremont area, but not all are created equal. It also makes me sad to realize so many people still don't know what real Chinese food is. It doesn't help that Chinese fast food is so popular and everywhere. But Panda Express is not Chinese food. Orange chicken is not Chinese food.

If you are interested in eating real Chinese food, a good rule of thumb is, if you can't pronounce the name of the restaurant, and there are only Chinese people eating in it, then that's probably real Chinese food they are serving. If you don't know what to order, there is no shame in looking around and pointing to other people's dishes. Here is one gem of a place with some super delicious and authentic Chinese food. But if you are not that adventurous, they have Orange chicken as well.

Darda, located at 34755 Ardenwood Blvd in Newark, is a Muslim Chinese restaurant. One might raise an eyebrow at the mention of Muslim Chinese. Basically, many people from Northern China, near Mongolia, are Muslim. The main difference in the food, is they don't eat pork and their specialty is hand-made noodles. Yum.

During this particular visit, we started off with the Sesame Bread with Green Onion (thin). A thicker version is available as well and is equally scrumptious. The one thing I love about this bread is it's a bit crisp on the outside and soft and chewy and the inside. The cooked green onion gives it a nice savory sweetness and the toasted sesame seeds give it a nutty aroma.

Since hand-made noodles are their specialty, I had to try it. I'm also a noodle lover (I think I've mentioned that in previous posts). Below is their Ox Tail Noodle Soup. The noodles are hand cut so they're not equal in size. Some are thicker than others, which gives you a lot of variety in textures. Some strands can be softer than others, but all is wonderful. The ox tails were tender, and the broth was beefy and satisfying.

For the more adventurous types, the Beef & Ox-tendon with Brown Sauce is a great choice. I love tendon (cartilage). It has a chewy, gelatin-like texture that I find very pleasing. It also tastes like whatever sauce you cook it in so it's very versatile. This dish is one of my favorites anywhere as far as tendon goes. The tendon didn't have any hard bits in it and the beef was very tender.

For veggie lovers, the sauteed Snow Pea shoots is excellent. This particular dish was ordered off the menu (yes, you can do that at real Chinese restaurants). We just asked what fresh vegetables they had that day and this was what they offered. These shoots were lightly cooked with garlic. Still crunchy but also tender, this was one of those really simple but really wonderful dishes.

Pictured below is a partially eaten portion of the Hot Spicy Fish. This is probably one of the most well-prepared fish dishes I've ever had. There is some work involved to get to the fish but it's worth it. The dish comes to the table covered with chili peppers and chili oil. You have to use a ladle to scoop off the peppers and the chili oil. Then what's left is perfectly tender and seasoned fish with an amazing broth. Yes, it is spicy, but the heat does not overpower the flavor. A great way to enjoy the broth is to dip your Sesame Green Onion Bread into the broth or mix it into some steamed rice.

So if you're around the Newark area and you want to try something wonderful, that also happens to be Chinese, feel free to stop by Darda.