Wild Ginger in Alameda

Was so excited to finally try this place!!! I love this type of food and hand-pulled noodles...how can you resist? They got to know what they're doing, right? Right. Well, I had every intention of snapping away with photos and uploading but I gotto say. Pretty disappointed. I even forgot to take out my phone for the shots. Sorry! We had the Dan Dan noodles (with hand-pulled noodles), the Liang Pi (cold skin noodles), and spicy cucumber (you know, to round out with veggies). The flavor was just all the same from dish to dish to dish. The only thing that was decent was the meat on the Dandan noodles. But the proportion was so lacking that I felt bad for taking more to top off my least-liked thing - the hand pulled noodles - because my friend would otherwise not get any. She wasn't impressed by the place either and had said the Liang Pi was definitely not any Liang Pi she has ever had. (She has tried many, including those in HK.) I mean, we both agreed the food wasn'...

Was a bit worried about trying this spot, not the biggest fan of Mala spice. That's the whole numb your tongue peppercorn thingie. So why the heck would I try a malatang place? Well.. apparently the Pho place around the corner is closed on Wednesdays. This was a pleasant surprise though. Nice, perfectly textured hand stretched noodles. Great flavorful broth. And plenty of options sans mala!

Don't know how I haven't reviewed this gem of a place, but Wild Ginger is my go-to with friends. We've been going long before COVID, but happy to see that they've opened dine-in again. My favorite dish from this place is the dan dan noodles with a combo of pork dumplings. Holy cow, it is absolutely flavorful with that kick of spiciness, and is just overall comfort food for the soul. I can absolutely never finish the dan dan noodles in one sitting--- that's how generous they are with their own noodles! But I can eat two servings of dumplings if given the opportunity. There's something that's perfectly... al dente (?) about their dumplings. It's not too soft and not too chewy, but almost melts in your mouth aft...