Ark Chinese Restaurant

I have been going to Ark for quite some time and really enjoy their food (especially their black bean noodles), however I am now concerned since I found a small shard of glass in the sole/​fish dish I ordered last night to-​go.

Being so close to Oakland Chinatown, there are still times when I want to stay on the island. Though there are great Chinese restaurants on Webster Street, Park Street seems to be lacking in this area. Thankfully though The Ark comes through with their hand pulled noodles, their juicy Xiao Long Bao (XLB) and their braised egg tofu. This is my go to Chinese spot when I have visiting friends who want to go check out downtown Alameda.
If you come during the daytime, you can often see one of the chefs hand pulling noodles. Often times the chef will give kids a bit of the dough to play with. The XLB is juicy, though one or two had been broken so the soup had run out. However, it’s steamed very nicely and wasn’t stuck to the steamer basket. The braised egg tofu is probably my favorite dish of all. It’s extremely flavorful and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes tofu!
The restaurant itself is clean, but small. Come early to secure a table, especially if you have a large party. They do have a restroom in the restaurant and their fish tank was extremely clean (which is often times rare in restaurants).

I ordered take out from this place when I first moved here (1.5 years ago) and wasn’t that impressed. But I’m glad I gave them another shot.
Great chow mein (noodles were awesome). Some of the best mongolian beef I’ve had since trying many restaurants in Alameda & Oakland… nice and spicy and not too many onions like some places where the dish is mostly onions. Fried rice was pretty good — the bbq pork in it was great — not fatty. String bean chicken was really flavorful — seemed like it was a garlic sauce and the chicken was white meat.
Bummed they were out of the thicker noodles for the chow mein. I hope to try those next time.
I’ll be back! :)

Change of ownership made this place not as what it used to be. Bad food. I won’t be going no more.

Get their hand pulled noodles. You’re doing yourself justice for it and that justice is pleasing to the taste.
Ark Chinese Restaurant located in the busy Park St of Alameda is a wonderful Chinese restaurant with the novelty of hand pulled noodles. The restaurant is busy and very small so don’t be surprised with having to wait for a dinner table.
I’ve been here a couple times and the general rule of thumb for me is to get the stuff that sounds the most Chinese. I feel that nearly half the items on the menu are for people who don’t enjoy eating authentic Chinese food. Those are a waste of your time and taste just around average. The more Chinese dishes are towards the excellent end of quality.
This restaurant has some little touches here and there that make it a wonderful experience to dine at. Every now and then a chef will come out to fling some dough into the air, forming strings of noodles with it. It’s fun to watch and see how your noodles are being made. The complimentary fruit they give at the end are presented very nicely. The orange and apple peels are cut in such a way so that the fruit resemble little bunnies.

SO GOOD.
Very fresh and flavorful. Good portions and prices. About $ 10– $ 15 a person
I recommend the pork dumplings and general’s chicken.
Food looks fancy AND taste great.
This is my favorite restaurant in Alameda!

When craving Chinese food ARK is the place to go. You can order to-​go or dine in.
If ordering soup, dine in. I always love soup in their large bowls. My usual soup order is Beef Stew Noodle soup for 6.99 (med bowl) It’s packed with flavor & the noodles are house made!
Parking sucks though, anywhere on park street is fine. Enjoy the walk, you’ll need it after you get super full from all the good Chinese comfort goodness.
Oh and the bathroom is sorta creepy & dirty.

We love it here, the chicken and noodle soup is a great winter dish. The spring rolls and dumplings are really yummy and we havent had a bad main dish either.
Staff are very friendly and service is fast and its cheap!

Great food… nice conscientious staff… décor could use some help.
The noodle dishes are all great.

This place is just okay for me. I’ve been here only twice but it seems a little overrated. I had the xiao loong bao, chicken with string beans and congee with prawns. When I eat there things are good but when I get takeout the seem to give me a small portion. I also had the yang chow fried rice which was the best thing I ate last night. The chicken in the string beans tasted like fake chicken. I don’t know how else to describe it. The xiao loong baos were delightful but I should’ve eaten them hot. The congee was for my friend and her daughter and I can only assume it was good. So yeah I like this place but it just seems like the only other competition is the hong kong seafood place which only has one server. So I’l probably be back but I won’t go out of my way to go there.

A small restaurant with delicious food. I came here after a group hike with my friends in Marin County. It was on New Year’s Day and not many restaurants in the area were open but we knew that Asian restaurants would be open. We were cold and were craving something that would warm us up… and of course, xiao long baos would do the job. My friend looked this place on Unilocal and it was on the way home so we decided to give it a shot.
What we ordered:
3 orders of xiao long baos/​soup dumplings — the soup dumplings were good but i’ve had better. I still enjoyed it. The meat wasn’t as tender as I would like for it to be but it was still flavorful. The dumplings were also very moist, they were not drying. There is a good amount of broth in the dumplings.
1 order of the pan fried dumplings — I really enjoyed the pan fried dumplings. They were like the soup dumplings but pan fried. It was crispy on the outside but when I bite into the dumplings, some broth came out which I loveeeed. Pan Fried with soup broth on the inside? Yessss.
1 order of the szechuan chicken — This was quite good but nothing spectacular. It was just stir fry chicken vegetables.
1 order of braised egg tofu — This was gooooood. The tofu was so soft, silky, and creamy that it practically melts in your mouth. I also love how it was very saucey. I would put the tofu and the sauce over rice. It’s simple yet so delicious.
I would definitely come back here if I’m in the area.

Change of ownership recently. The food is the same as before, and very tasty. We stop in on almost every visit to Alameda.

This is one of the best kept secrets of Alameda.
Super good hand pulled noodles. XLB and other types of dumplings are so good.
The cons? Small restaurant so it’s always packed. Service? don’t expect a good one. I like how the kid delivered out food and spilled half of the sauce while putting the dish down on the table. Didn’t apologize or attempt to clean up the spill. It’s okay, we just covered the spill with a bowl.
Will I go back? Possibly… if i’m ever in the area. However I would not go out of my way again. There are other great XLB places around the bay.

WHOA, I’ve never reviewed this place?
Their fried chicken wings with the sauce is the bomb dot com!
And yeah yeah yeah, their braised egg tofu, hand-​pulled noodles, and beef noodle soups are super authentic and delicious.
I just go for that chicken!
What makes me SAD though is that their delivery SUCKS! I ordered an egg/​pork porridge and instead I got chicken mushroom. What a bummer.
Buuuuummmmmeeerrrrrrr.

My go-​to place when I’m home and wanting dumplings or hand-​pulled noodles.
FOOD:
We ordered a couple orders of xiao long bao and a chicken hand-​pulled noodle.
The xiao long bao may not be as intricate in design or as juicy as those at DTF but they are still pretty good in comparison. I like the tenderness and juiciness of the meat and the skin is light yet doesn’t break easily like some of the other dumpling places I’ve tried. I do wish I could mix my own soy sauce + vinegar concoction with the ginger though. ⁴⁄₅
I love the al dente, slightly chewy texture of the hand-​pulled noodles. The dish comes in a soupy broth with vegetables and pieces of chicken. Decent chicken to noodle ratio. Very filling and flavorful. ⁴⁄₅
Overall: ⁴⁄₅
SERVICE:
Decent service. Our server stopped by several times to get our order and our food came out fairly quickly. They gave us additional bowls to share and gave us updates on when the rest of our food would come out.
Overall: ⁴⁄₅
DECOR/​AMBIANCE:
Pretty small restaurant so not too many tables and seating can get a bit tight. Photos of some of the dishes hang on the wall and if you’re lucky you can catch the chef making the hand-​pulled noodles. Restaurant can get noisy when it’s busy like any other typical Chinese restaurant and there isn’t a big waiting area.
Overall: ³⁄₅
Their hours are a bit odd and they are closed on Tuesdays so be sure to check they are open before stopping by!
There is a parking lot around the corner. $ 0.75/hr and free after 5pm.

We came here after a movie and the place was a bit loud but not too crowded. We ordered the meatless chicken chow mein again and it was tasty like I remembered it. We also tried something new: the large Ark Chow Ma noodle soup because of the pulled noodles. However, the flavors to us were a bit strange with mussels, squid, shrimp, wood ears. I still think for the most part that food is good here but it just depends what you order.

I don’t know why this Chinese place only has a 3.5 star average. I think it’s a solid 4 stars. Take it from me, I’m Chinese (–American)!!!
Food = 4.0: So I know this place is known for their hand pulled noodles and I won’t dispute that deliciousness but I want to call attention to the ultimate Chinese comfort food. 皮蛋瘦肉粥 with a side of 油条. It’s not just for breakfast, kids! It’s good anytime of the day. It’s delicious and it’s like a big hug from your old Chinese granny!!! Try the pumpkin in spicy garlic sauce too! Wha! Good eat!!! (好吃!!!)
Service = 4.0: I went with a hungry group of 7 and we ordered 12 dishes. The service was very good for a Chinese place. The waitress acknowledged our existence at least five times (usually they acknowledge you twice — when you order and when you pay) and our food came out fast. What else could we ask for?!
Atmosphere = 3.0: Ark is your typical Chinese place with pictures of their food on the walls. It’s not much for ambiance but the food makes up for it.

A friend took me here to try their Shanghai Dumplings. This was the second time I’ve ever had them and they were delicious! They were the perfect temperature when they arrived at the table. We also ordered their seafood noodle soup. This restaurant prides themselves on making hand tossed noodles. They also have one of the cooks making then behind a clear window. The noodles were very tasty and fresh.
The service was excellent and quick. Our waiter was efficient and extremely welcoming and friendly.

This will be one of my go-​to spots for Chinese food when I visit the bay area. This restaurant is located in downtown Alameda. I happened to come here with my wife by accident for dinner and I’m glad we did. This place is authentic Chinese food. This place looks like a hole in the wall with dingy décor and it’s really outdated but dang the food here is good. We ordered the following:
Steamed pork dumplings– It was so juicy and soupy. It was probably one of the best pork dumplings I’ve had.
Braised Tofu– I’m really picky with tofu and the way it’s cooked. The tofu was soft and the texture was consistent and it wasn’t runny. The gravy really complimented the tofu. This was probably my favorite dish. I’m on a mission to find a similar dish in the LA area now.
Beef noodle soup– this was the perfect soup for the cold weather in the bay and the flavor was amazing. Oh yeah, did I mention it was hand made noodles? No machine. Hand made. You could even watch the guy make the noodles. I was really impressed.
Chicken chow fun– It was a good simple chow fun that you could get at pretty much any authentic Chinese restaurant.
The service was descent and the prices are reasonable for the quality of the food. The parking here could be a nightmare. There’s only street parking or you can park at a private lot with parking meters.

WHAP! BAM! POCK! PACK! What’s all that noise??? My cousin Chris, & his beautiful wife Myra, and sons, look us for a memorable meal at this place called ARK Chinese Restaurant in Alameda, Ca.
Why all the noise? Well, this place specializes in fresh hand made noodles… and I’m talkin’ about noodles made by a master chef, pulled by hand, & flung into the air! Not noodles made by a machine.
I’ve only witnessed hand made noodle once in my entire life, as I saw it done when i was in Hong Kong… but this is the very first time I’ve ever seen it done here in the states.
We were so lucky that day, as when we walked into this little restaurant… it was totally packed with folks!
Only one large table was available, and that table sat right in front of a large glass window where the master chef noodle maker stood. We needed a large table, as there were plenty of us, and bonus, because I got to see the noodle making show close & up front!
Upon checking the menu, I ordered a Chinese beef stew noodle dish., the grub was AWESOME! Nothing like having fresh noodles! The noodles were firm, slightly smaller in girth from an udon noodle, and the noodles were not mushy. The beef stew with some vegetables complemented the noodles well! Aaaaah, what a satisfying meal!
This place also serves other things besides noodles… so if you’re not a noodle eater… no worries, there are also other yummy things available like their dumplings too!
Service was pretty fast. There is limited seating, so go early… as I saw people waiting outside of the restaurant, trying to get in for a table. Also, there is no parking here, so you will have to do the street parking thing…