One of my go to Chinese restaurants in Berkeley, Da Lian has a good selection for their lunch specials. I used to come to this location in my youth when it was Yangtze River but that has since been closed down for many years. I tend to order the Sichuan Chicken and get it to go which means that it comes with the small salad but not the soup. The Sichuan Chicken is cooked well; not fried with too much batter. The sauce is not overly done with corn starch like other places. It definitely has a slight spicy kick after awhile. The portion is pretty big given it is a lunch special and I generally am more than full if I finish it all. This is a good place to go if you aren't in a hurry. Although staff is always moving around, it does take awhile for food to come out. Also be aware that it is street parking. So though it is on busy Shattuck there is normally parking on Shattuck or Virginia. Definitely come and check this place out if you have time. I haven't tried their handmade noodles yet but have heard good things about it. Maybe next time! read more

See all

This restaurant has northern Chinese food and is located in gourmet ghetto. Fish and the stir fry was delicious, hunting for more Chinese food to try read more

See all

I've pass by this place every time I go to work and am glad I finally tried it. I felt bad for coming in the hour right before closing but the workers did not rush us to leave in any way. The tofu was very hot when it came out, freshly cooked, so just be careful even after blowing it. The chicken was interesting, not like the salted pepper wings I'm used to from home. But the crunch and jalapeños were nice. The noodles were delicious!! I'd come again just for those, but I do want to try more on the menu in general. read more

See all

I'm so disappointed before coved-19 food was good. Waisted my money! Ordered a lot of our favorite food for my family... green beans Was not fresh at all,honey walnut shrimp had a fishy smell and soggy undercooked and the veggies in chow main was soggy couldn't eat it.... wow the orange chicken Smelled sour and even the fortune cookies are stale........... sooooooo disappointed ! Waist of money And food. I want my money back read more

Dalian - Soggy green beans - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

Nice place, good food. I especially like the week day lunch specials as I am a single person.

To go order. The sweet lady holding down the fort told me that any of the noodle dishes can be made vegetarian. Got the garlic noodles with pork brisket, but made with tofu instead, based on her recommendation. Menu (and she) said it's spicy but it wasn't. Liked the fried garlic on top, noodles were fine, tofu was juicy and flavorful, steamed spinach was just that. I really wished there were more spice to the dish. You could get this for the spice adverse without problem. Maybe it's actually spicy if you get it with pork? I ate within 5 minutes of getting the order so it was still really hot, the noodles were already quite soft so I would recommend eating at the restaurant to get the best texture. It was ok but not something I would drive to eat. If I was already parked in the neighborhood, I might try again. read more

Dalian - Vegetarian - noodles with fried garlic, stewed tofu and steamed spinach - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

This is not an impressive place. Having grown up with Northern Chinese cooking myself, I was excited to try the "Zhajiangmian" which is a classic Beijing noodle dish. It's traditionally a ground pork + fermented bean paste based sauce on top of hand-pulled noodles, finished with julienned cucumbers for texture and freshness. However, this dish at Da Lian was so Americanized, and to me tasted like regular lo mein. It was oilier and sweeter than usual. I'm guessing a little bit of oyster sauce and hoisin sauce were used (which actually is a Southern Chinese version of Zhajiangmian), but I didn't taste any of the classic bean paste in here at all. Disappointing! 2/5 The "Yu Xiang Rou Si" (shredded pork with garlic sauce) was more authentic. This dish should be a rather sour, tangy dish with crunchy chestnuts and thinly sliced bamboo and green pepper, and shouldn't be too sweet. This dish delivered an above-average impression. 3/5 I'll add some extra Yelp points for the inexpensive bottle of Mondavi Reserve Cabernet ($22!). We spent around $40 each including tip. All in all, I will not be taking my parents here as I know what they'll say (dishes are overpriced, and too heavily doused in strong sweet sauces with little authentic flavor.) read more

I was craving honey walnut shrimp and found this place. Inside is well decorated and it looks clean. Every staff member wore masks. It was $20.89 for the honey walnut shrimp, but they give you a huge portion enough for 2, the shrimp itself are big, it was made to order, and it was delicious. Rice is an extra cost. This definitely satisfied my craving & I'll be back to try their noodles. read more

See all

Excellent Mother's Day lunch. We ordered Salt and Pepper Eggplant which was amazing, and the other dishes were great too. Nice service and interior. Spacious and airy. There are also 2 small outdoor tables but we sat inside. read more

Is it mind blowing? Nah. Is it pretty good Chinese food? Yes! I particularly enjoyed the spinach dumplings, which true to their name were chock full of spinach. The skin was super thin, and they were steamed nicely. One thing is you need to ask for the soup and salad if you get the lunch special; we waited until my friend was almost done and they never came to drop them off, until we asked for them specifically. read more

Dalian - Garlic noodles, eggplant chicken, spinach dumplings - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

See all

Have eaten here a at least a dozen times. Food has always been very good, especially the home made noodles and broth. The clam noodle soup dish is amazing. This is a solid well prepared menu where the main chef knows their craft and so far has never disappointed. The service is polite and timely. This is our go to place for great northern style Chinese comfort food. read more

One of my favorite Chinese places. The fish filet, eggplant chicken, green beans and pork are all ah-mazing. A good mid priced Chinese place without the compromise, I am a regular read more

Some Menu Items are Quite Good But I've gotta admit I was disappointed in others. Da Lian came highly recommended for northern chinese food. But if you want a spicy chinese dish you better tell them you want it spicier. None of our choices marked as "spicy" were spicy. The recommendation for this restaurant came from sit-down diners and we got takeout so maybe that's a difference. We ordered - Spicy: Fire Glazed Tofu, General's Chicken, Beef with Cumin. Not Spicy: Zhangcha Tea Smoked Duck, Farm Fresh Threesome, Vegetarian Pot Stickers, Vegetarian Egg Rolls. Overall assessment from multiple diners: 3 Stars, too many disappointments. Best was Vegetarian Egg Rolls (correctly made, not oily, nice undertones of unk spices), Beef with Cumin (meat good quality and flavor good, although not spicy), General's Chicken (also not spicy but good flavor), Farm Fresh Threesome (good flavor sauce and correctly cooked veggies). Boos went to Fire Glazed Tofu - tofu itself was good and the sauce was very tasty (not spicy) but it had a breading-like coating that was way too thick. Vegetarian Pot Stickers - a thicker than usual dough wrap, hardly any filling, soggy finish, not like usual pot stickers. Zhangcha Tea Smoked Duck - almost inedible, jerky-like, no real taste - do not get your chinese duck from Da Lian, it was hard-to-believe bad - the cook should not have released this duck from the kitchen. Boo! Like every restaurant there some good and some iffy on the menu. For the management there was one good plus (but doesn't raise me above 3 stars). They comped us all sesame balls for dessert. Quite Good! read more

I recently checked out Da Lian for lunch on a Friday. I haven't been to Da Lian in about 4 years and it looks like they've updated the decor inside. I was pleasantly surprised that the quality of the food remains high. I got the Szuchan prawns with chow fun. The noodles were especially good because they are made in-house. The salad, soup and green tea are also tasty additions to the lunch special. I highly recommend you check out this traditional Chinese place in Berkeley! The service is also attentive and friendly. read more

Had a bad experience with their food. The fried rice and chow mein were okay, but the Orange chicken tasted like some type of residual cleaner. I had avoided this place in the past bc of previous reviews I've seen, but decided to try it out as it was one of the few Chinese spots open later. Definitely won't be eating here in the future, but at least the server took the chicken entree off of our bill. We were the only ones in the restaurant, which is pretty large, but it seemed like when we were looking for her or asked for straws 3x, the server was nowhere to be found or kept forgetting our straws. The bathrooms were kind of dingy too. read more

I love the sizzling rice soup. No scrimping on ingredients, tasty shrimp, big chunks of chicken and then some greens and veggies. I am a sizzling rice fanatic and having tasted some from most places in Albany and Berkeley and some places in San Francisco, this place is on top. Of course there are other things to order, and they make their own noodles, and have been pleased with other dishes. However, I usually order the largest sizzling rice and then some of their shrimp potstickers. Very nice owners as well. read more

Great food! Great service! We had the prawn and chive dumplings it was soupy and delicious inside! The lamb noodle soup had sour pickled cabbage the broth was delicious but the lamb had an old smell so I am leaving them a 4 star instead of 5 stars! read more

I always recommend the noodle soups to anyone looking for a nice Chinese restaurant in the Berkeley area. Their noodles are made in house and always have a nice bounciness and texture to them. I've also tried all the different broths - the spicy beef noodle soup and pickled lamb are my definite go-tos. Da Lian has a nice balance between traditional dishes and more Americanized dishes - all delicious read more

Dalian is one of the staples of Chinese food in Berkeley. Food is good and always reliable in its quality. I specifically love their shrimp and Mongolian beef, which I've been ordering since 2008. Would definitely recommend giving this place a try at least once. read more

We have a few Chinese places we love in the area, so I was skeptical about trying a new one, but was completely won over. The potstickers were absolutely delicious, and I strongly recommend the jade chicken with broccoli. Love the way they do the vegetables, and the chicken was so tender it just melted in your mouth. If you haven't tried Da Lian and you love Chinese, you should absolutely check it out. Very satisfied! read more

Great time and delicious food. Been going for years and never had any issues whenever ordered takeout or dined in. Here's to many more great dinners. read more

I've gone back several times since my initial review on Chinese New Year for the year. They comped a meal they made a mistake on (Smoked pork with leeks, cabbage and mushrooms). They were really gracious and apologetic about it and knew I'd been coming there for some time. I've returned at least three times since and have been quite happy with the food I've ordered. I love the clams with egg broth and noodles! Also, the smoked pork. Braised tofu with vegetables is also very tasty. They introduced me to another veggie dish, Jade Garden, I think it was called. I was surprised at the flavor and will have to order it again. Quite pleased with this gem of a place. read more

Ok, so generally, this place seems alright. There are, however, two reasons why it's getting a one-star rating. The food I received and the fact that it kind of seems to be pretending to be an authentic Chinese restaurant. We came here for lunch after seeing the line at Cheese Board and deciding not to wait out the line. Since we were also in a bit of a time crunch, each of us got a lunch special, which purports to come with soup and salad. The salad was a Western-style mishmash of lettuce, tomato, carrot, etc. We did not get soup, unless by soup they meant the liquid at the bottom of the salad that made everything soggy and less flavorful. For entrees, I had the sweet and sour chicken. I'd never tried it at any other place, but it seemed very much oversauced to me. The other people with me, who have tried it before, concurred upon trying it themselves. Other dishes ordered included broccoli beef (tasted exactly Panda Express), noodles with clams, and zha jiang noodles. As another sign of their inauthenticity, the standard utensil option is a fork and knife, though chopsticks are available on request. It's in a good location and seems to get a lot of customers, so perhaps we just missed something. Might be back, but not sure about it. read more

Great food! Excellent service! Comfortable setting and good for carry out as well. Can accommodate groups of 12 or so easily.

I love this restaurant! They provide fantastic food, they have a rich menu, The chef in that place is a professional, I love very much trying all their dishes. The dishes are always fresh and tasty, the service towards the clients is nice.I tried the Zhajiang hand pull noodles and preserved vegetables Lamb hand pull oodles. I would definitely recommend the Lamb noodles. The Zhajiang noodles were a bit disappointing it didn't have enough soybean paste and the pork were not chopped thin enough. read more

See all

Da Lian is off-the-radar but serves delicious and unusually authentic dishes. Their salt and pepper prawns are the most delicious you will find anywhere. Having left the Bay Area, I make a special trip here when I can to have a meal. read more

All I need to say is... Sizzling rice soup cures tummy aches I love you read more

See all

Food was bland, not at all spicy (even though the menu said spicy for all dishes we ordered), and seemed very americanized. The dishes we ordered, one chicken dish and one beef dish, were not very large portions and were very skimpy on meat. The beef dish was breaded and about 90% bread, never had breaded szechwan beef before this... The chicken dish was rubbery and the rice fell apart so much that eating it with chopsticks was near impossible. They were very COVID conscious which is fine but they stuffed all the customers into a very crowded corner and left 3/4 of the restaurant open. Nobody ever came to ask how the food was, again this is fine but had to wave them down for the check after waiting for someone to come by. read more

It's certainly one of the better Chinese restaurants I've been to in Berkeley (although there isn't much competition) but I think it's still not as good as Oakland's Chinatown, which isn't far away. I tried the sesame onion pancake/bread (芝麻大饼) and 'farm fresh threesome delight' (地三鲜). Both are simple dishes that honestly you can make at home relatively easily but sometimes it's nice to be lazy. The sesame onion pancake is the thick style. I wish there was more green onion - most places tend to skimp on this and this place was no different. It wasn't overly oily though which was good. I felt like the 'threesome delight' was too sweet and wasn't a good mix of the three vegetables - eggplant, pepper, and potato. It was probably 70% potato, which is obviously the cheapest element of this already basic dish and I also thought it was too sweet and not really "fragrant". This place is also on the pricier side for Chinese restaurants. Long Life Vegi House, which is not that far away is much better value - although I do think the food here is better. Overall, if I was craving Chinese food and had to stay in Berkeley I would probably go here but I would be hesitant to recommend this to people looking for really great Chinese food. read more

Very good Chinese lunch destination for me, Hong Kong crispy noodle is my favorite. The hot and sour soup is VERY Spicy aNd good, nice lil salad to start and a fresh won ton to boot... read more

Disclaimer: I've only ever tried their noodle soups, but why would you ever get anything else? Perfect for a cold day, or just any day, really. Homey, generous portions, mmmmmm. My favorite is the clam noodles. So light. So warm. So much clam. read more

Dalian - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

See all

I was really excited to come here for dinner after reading the reviews. I was let down a bit from the flavors. 1) Lamb and pickled cabbage noodle soup - This was actually a 5 star dish. It was very flavorful. The only downside was that it was extremely greasy/oily. 2) Chicken fried rice - This was very bland. Completely lacked flavor. And of course, I didn't have any soy sauce. 3) Sichuan chicken - This was middle of the road. Better than the rice, not as good as the lamb. read more

Dalian - Chicken fried rice (lacked flavor) - Chinese Near Me - Berkeley, California

See all

I would not recommend this place to anyone. The service here was not good at all tonight and the place was not even busy. They seemed very friendly at first, but slacked on getting you things that you need for your meal. We spent $80 on dinner for four of us which is not too bad, and as we are walking out she wants to run to the table to see why the tip amount was and talk shit to her coworker about the amount I left them based off the service they provided. So I'd advise stay away and find another spot to eat. read more

We frequent this restaurant! Really yummy dishes. I like the kung pao fish - good veggie ratio. My partner loves the noodle soups, though suggests they provide soy sauce and vinegar when served so it can be adjusted to taste. Great portion sizes. Friendly service. I also like that they serve complimentary tea when you're seated. Menu is pretty standard with Chinese restaurants in the area, though they might consider adding some photos for the Chinese dishes that have names which aren't so obvious. read more

Horrible Yelp sucks I'm pretty sure they have paid money for promotions. Service is horrible. Food is really bad. Don't come. I'm not going to waste my time writing about how they can improve Just can't believe their rating! read more

My friend kept badgering me to come here because it was supposedly (by many international Chinese folks' opinions) the best Chinese food in Berkeley! So this past week I had the opportunity to go with a big group, and we all really enjoyed it! There were 8 of us, so we made a reservation. But on 8pm on a Thursday, there weren't many people in the restaurant, especially since it's a bit farther from campus and considering it was dead week for UC Berkeley students. However, the food was PHENOMENAL: Green Onion Lamb: 5/5, so tender and rich with oniony flavors (lamb goes soooo good with onion in Chinese dishes) Da Lu noodles: 5/5, the clams added such a great creaminess to the clear broth and tender noodles Zha Jiang Noodles: 4/5, I didn't enjoy the flavor of the sauce too much but the quality was sooo good Crispy Chicken with Walnuts: 3/5, the chicken was a bit dry after the batter and fry MaPo Tofu: 4.5/5, it wasn't nearly as spicy as normal mapo tofu, but still great nonetheless Vegetable Garden: 5/5, a standard Chinese vegetable dish Chicken fried rice: 4.5/5, a standard fried rice Kung also Fish: 4.5/5, for some reason this barely resembled kung pao, more of a lightly fried fish really, but the flavors were still so savory and amazing! Overall the FOOD: flavors were terrific even if they didn't quite align with the descriptions at times, and a really worthwhile experience to have come here. You have got to try the noodles too; they are handmade! SERVICE was great, especially since there were so few people in the restaurant. Food came super fast, and we shared family style. AMBIANCE was really nice, felt super warm (not temperature but mood/welcoming) and would be a great spot for a romantic meal! Can't wait to come back!! read more

There is finally a challenger to Great China, which has dominated the Chinese restaurant scene in Berkeley since forever. Everything we tasted here was very good, and the prices are significantly less than Great China. Among the appetizers, we had the chicken lettuce rolls ($10 @ Dalian), which are essentially the same as chicken lettuce cups ($19 @ Great China). Salt and Pepper Prawns are $16 at Dalian, $25 at Great China. Dalian's tea smoked duck with crispy skin, served with pancakes and plum sauce, at $20, is essentially the same as Great China's Peking Duck for $50. Perhaps the portions are slightly smaller at DaLian, but the food was very good. Aside from better prices, DaLian has home made noodles, a delicacy I haven't seen at Great China. I recommend the ZheJiang noodles. Yummy! read more

I like this place and first heard about it on Check Please Bay Area. Oddly enough, the dish the woman was raving about, the soup, wasn't my favorite. It was OK, a bit sour, and not to my taste. But my husband's dish was the bomb. He got the cabbage, stir fried with smoked pork. It was quite good and gluten free. I really liked it. They have some other dishes that I like. I like that everything isn't bathed in soy sauce which means that a gluten free girl, like myself, can find something to dig into. The people who work there are quite knowledgeable about the addition of wheat to items. This is a place that I look forward to visiting. read more

Our family's favorite COVID takeout place! This restaurant has the most consistently good takeout, unlike many good restaurants whose food has gone downhill lately. The portions are generous too. They have very authentic northern Chinese food, but also some Americanized Chinese food on the menu. The sesame green onion pancakes are a must. Crunchy and fragrant with sesame. Prawns with honey glazed walnuts are my husband's favorite. The hot and sour soup is comforting and pleasantly peppery. The mushu is good, but the order doesn't come with many pancakes so I highly recommend ordering extra pancakes. The dry sautéed green beans are crispy and fresh, with lots of garlic. The tea smoked duck had nice, crispy skin, and was yummy. I call in my orders and the wait is usually about 30 minutes during the week and slightly longer on the weekends. They have a table set up at the entrance so you don't need to enter the restaurant to pick up. They were featured on Check Please Bay Area, years ago. You can see the video on the restaurant's webpage. read more

Ordered the chicken mu shu and green beans. The mushu is not very traditional. It was a stir fry of cabbage, chicken, and eggs. There werent any mushrooms, bamboo, etc. things that are traditionally in mushu stir fry. It still tasted alright. The green beans were good. However, i think it was both too sweet and too salty at the same time. If the dressings were held back a bit, i think it wouldve tasted much better. I could only eat it because i paired it with rice, which eased the saltiness and sweetness. read more