Luxembourg

[magnolia]

Anyone been? Anyone have suggestions about where to go for Sat or Sunday lunch?

[sarah w]

Hi magnolia

My trip was 2 years ago now but we had a lovely time, if you search in this forum u will find my thread under luxembourg, what a gem !

When are you going ?

have fun

sarah xx

[paulbrussel]

The last time I was in Luxemburg, I had lunch at Clairefontaine, and ate in the evening at Le Bouquet Garni-Salon Saint-Michel.

At Clairefontaine, the young sous-chef had just taken over of the former chef, who was quite well known in Luxemburg city. I was very much impressed by the meal I had at Clairefontaine and the excellent service.

Le Bouquet Garni was not very impressive, although I had only one à la carte dish.

However, I don't know whether they are open for lunch at Saturday or Sunday. Just have a look at the site of Michelin. August normally is the month in which many restaurants are closed.

[John Talbott]

In the NYT of April 15th, Ann Morrison says that Luxembourg has "more Michelin-starred restaurants per capita than any other country," and in a box, names the above-mentioned Clairefontaine, Yves Radelet, Il Frangolino, Lagura Next Door, Maison des Brasseurs + Um Dierfgen.

[kerriar]

Has anybody any recent experiences of either Clairefontaine (currently one Michelin star) or Mosconi (two stars) in Luxembourg? We have to make a reservation for a lunch in the city on Friday next.

Indeed any other recent suggestions would also be welcome, not just high end.

(Some postings on Luxembourg including John's useful link to a 2007 NYT report are currently awol on the Reykjavik thread.)

Edited April 22, 2008 by kerriar (log)

[ameiden]

Still very good is Lea Linster at Frisange, a village near the German border. Very good food, great atmosphere and a lovely summer terrasse.

[kerriar]

This time we followed paulbrussel's advice and went to Clairefontaine.

The restaurant has some style, a relaxed athmosphere and staff who are professional, knowledgeable and can display a sense of humour across several languages.

The menu is on-line and delivers all that it promises. There are some reasonably adventurous combinations but the results are always well-balanced and reflect a kitchen that knows what it is doing.

Clairefontaine is well up to its one star rating.

Luxembourg itself, despite its fairy-tale setting does not seem to rate highly as a tourist destination and most people who go are probably there for business or similar reasons. That most of the people in the restaurant seemed to be local and many were known to the staff was reassuring.

Next visit to Luxembourg will probably be mid-summer and we look forward to ameiden's suggestion for the terrace at Lea Linster.

[felixhirsch]

Being from Luxembourg I can suggest a few places.

Mosconi- Very good pasta. A pasta menu features 8 courses and costs only 65euro. Lunch menu is 40 for 4 courses, but can feature a sloppy dessert from time to time. I'd say the restaurant deserves the 2*, especially all of their pasta dishes.

Wenge- Best patisserie in town, with a restaurant that serves quite interesting food. The way the menu is written could have been copy/pasted from a Ducasse cook book, but the presentation is often a little more modern than at DUcasse's restaurants.

Clairefontaine- slightly boring classical, bourgeois cooking. It's seen as the government's canteen.

Kamakura- Very good Japanese kitchen, not expensive for the quality.

Radelet- Badly made molecular cooking. SOme dishes just seem creative for the sake of being so. Decor is kitschy and the whole thing is a little pretentious for the quality of the actual food.

Outside the Capital:

Maison des Guilloux- The other 2*. This is a very rustic restaurant serving quite heavy, traditional dishes. The prices are moderate for 2* and the dishes are not something for those on a diet (oxtail stuffed with foie on very buttery mash). All in all it is very well made and very tasty but a bit heavy for me.

Lea Linster- For those who like Lea, it'll be nice. I think it's way to expensive for what it is (Mosconi, nearby Sonnora and other 3*s are not more expensive) and doesn't see any creativity. She cooks the stuff since her Bocuse d'Or victory.

Favaro- Good, well made Italian food, which deserves it's star. Pretty expensive for a 1* though.

La cuisine de ZHeng- In a tiny village, for those on a small budget, good chinese dishes in a friendly room served by the entire family. Good classical Peking duck.

[helenjp]

We made a quick trip to Luxembourg a few days after New Year, and couldn't seem to find anything but Italian food in the old city area...finally settled for wurst from a stall in the Christmas market, which was hot and tasty, at least.

We did walk past Kamakura, but weren't looking for Japanese food!

Apart from that, scrambling around the Wenzelmauer left us little time for more than nibbles at the chocolate bars in our pockets...I'd love to hear what we missed, especially for lunches?

[felixhirsch]

What you missed in Luxembourg around new year?

Not much, everything that is somewhat good is closed at that time, be it in Luxembourg or Germany. Not a single place opens, except for Bau, who closes only at the beginning of January.

[felixhirsch]

I went to Mosconi back when I was in Luxembourg in mid-January, and was a little shocked. This is a 1* place at best, as the food seemed imperfectly executed and rested on products that were mediocre. If one looks at the pics, one finds that the dishes are very simple. Without top quality products such food doesn;'t work, and here the quality is not what it should be. Otherwise the place is beautiful, very elegant and romantic, but the (mainly) boring food was a little disappointing.

Otherwise I went to a Chinese place in Septfontaines called La Cuisine de Zheng, which was very good. I wouldn't say it beats Hakkasan, but the food was not bad at all and quite authentic, according to my Chinese dining companion. That is much more enjoyable an evening than Mosconi, and less pretentious.

All I can say is that Luxembourg is best avoided in terms of serious food, but one has more than enough alternatives in the area.

[Teddito]

Hello all,

Long time lurker and first time posting. I've moved to the area for work purposes and I although I am enjoying the food here, I was wondering if anyone knows of any decent Indian restaurants in the city. Or would I be better off waiting until I'm next back in the UK ?