Darda Seafood Restaurant

296 Barber Ct

Milpitas, CA 95035-7915

(408) 433-5199

One of the more popular restaurant in the Ranch 99 shopping plaza in Milpitas is Darda Seafood restaurant. Come any night at dinner time and the place is always packed. There is usually a line and you'll probably have to wait for your number to be called.

We were aching for some Chinese food, but we wanted to try something different. So we decided to try out the restaurant that is so popular. I would say Darda's cuisine is more of Taiwanese. The difference is that Taiwanese tend to like the sauces a bit spicy and saltier than typical Chinese dishes. I thought it was a nice change of pace from the usual Chinese food we order.

We order the jellyfish to compared it to what we usually taste at Dim Sum. The jellyfish was decent the marinade they use was made with more sesame oil. This made the dish more fragrant than tradition jellyfish. It was also a bit more salty as well.

Next we order the walnut shrimp. Traditionally one of my wife's' favorite dish. Darda's version was a bit different. The mayonnaise was more tangy than what we were used to. The walnuts also were not as crispy as well. Overall, my wife did enjoy it. She said it was a nice change of pace.

We ordered some spicy dried garlic spare ribs. It was more like beef chops than ribs. The garlic was nice, but it was a bit too spicy for some of my other family members. I thought it wasn't bad, but do get a hot if you eat too much of it.

Next came our seafood clay pot. I originally wanted to order the braised lamp clay pot, but the waitress talked me out of it. I was a bit disappointed when it came out. It really tasted like other clay pots I tried. It wasn't anything special. I think it wouldn't been better served if we had ordered the lamb.

The last dish was pretty good. It was duck with green onions. The onion was mild in flavor and not overpowering. The duck and onions were cut into strips which made it easier to grab and eat.

The service was typical Chinese fair. You'll get service only if you can track it down. Having a busy restaurant means that service will suffer. All popular Chinese restaurants will be like this.

Overall: A nice change of pace from the typical Chinese fair.

Food: 3 stars

Service: 2 stars

Price: Above Average for Chinese food.

Overall: 3 stars.