Rote Laterne in Dusseldorf

This time around, we were in the city of Dusseldorf for some shopping, and decided to eat out. The Rote Laterne has been on my wish list for - a decade (or so). It is a tiny little place on a corner near the central train station in Dusseldorf. Lit in red, it´s a pretty sight, and certainly nothing to walk by.


The tables are standing very close, and it is not unusal to share your table with others. Which is something I love - most of the times, I happen to meet very nice people. Decoration is very reduced, no traditional chinese stuff. Actually, not much decoration at all, except for an avantgarde ceiling lighting. But back to the food issues.

First stunning point: no menu. You order from a chalk board on a column in the middle of the place. We could choose between about 10 mains, 6 appetizers and a single (!) dessert.
I chose the Chicken Wuai jing ju with tofu and veggies, and my significant other, A., chose the Hot Plate Chicken with veggies. Mine was indicated with spicy, his not. We´ll get to that in a second.

We ordered drinks first: I tried the suan cha, a ginger lime tea with honey. Yummy.
Food took a while to arrive at our table, but when it came, it was beautifully arranged: my chicken in a wide egg shaped bowl, his chicken on a cast iron skillet, noodles served aside.
Both dishes were good, but here´s the bummer: mines was spicy. As described on the chalk board. His was spicy as hell. Not indicated on the chalkboard. We swapped dishes (A. can´t stand food that spicy), but nonetheless - even for me (and I do like my food spicy) this dish was HOT AS HELL.

All in all, this was a decent experience - a bit unlucky because of the spiciness-issue.
In case you wanna go there and try - ask in advance about the spiciness, if you want to be on the safe side.


Check:
1 suan cha 2,60€
1 apple spritz 3,90€
1 chicken wuai jing ju 11,90€
1 hot plate chicken 12,90€

Total 31,30€



Rote Laterne
Kurfuerstenstrasse 29
40213 Dusseldorf
phone: +49 211 8302283