Soups for a snowy city
The rice noodle soups, which Do De Li sees as their speciality, have that performative element one often enjoys. The contents of the little bowls are tipped into hot broth: the albumen in the quail's egg whitens, the shrimps turn rosy. Nevertheless, I might well prefer the hand-kneaded wheat noodle soups, such as the beef one with its flare of Sichuan pepper described on Mel's wonderful blog.
Also in the chewy vein is the strange and rather wonderful sweet noodle dish dotted with cinnamon blossoms. (Forgive the pictures, it's a dim interior!) Those more adventurous than I might like to know Do De Li also serve such specialities as chicken foot or jellyfish salad. I get the feeling there's a lot of dross on the menu (and note that most of the menu is not displayed online), but those who tread carefully and ask lots of questions are rewarded.
The waitstaff have always been lovely, and in contrast to some of the restaurants on Kantstraße, this place has a homey feel, with an electric piano beside the bookshelves tucked in the back.