Sometimes it’s simply that they are less well known or less visible, or that they rely on a loyal clientele rather than on buzz. To mark the 41st edition of RestoDays, which runs from 13 to 29 March, we’ve taken a look at four restaurants where you can still get a reservation and where the food is more than worth the diversions.
Spain without a plane ticket
The Kirchberg is not necessarily the area where you expect to be surprised at the table. And yet. Casa Duques has set up shop here with a clear ambition: to offer authentic Iberian cuisine, brought up to date in a well-kept setting that is just as suitable for a business lunch as it is for an evening out with friends. For RestoDays, the menu reveals the spirit of the house: clear Spanish roots, but without folklorism. At lunchtime, you can opt for a fried aubergine glazed with soya honey, sweet and sour and slightly crispy, or for a fish and seafood zarzuela with saffron that smells of the Mediterranean. In the evening, the Ibiza-style Moorish spit on tabbouleh opens the menu with panache, while the vermouth-braised knuckle of pork, served on a bed of creamy purée, is the kind of dish that really warms you up. We finish with a cinnamon rice pudding (classic, comforting, no fuss).
Address: 1, Park Drai Eechelen, 1499 Luxembourg (Kirchberg)
The view as an appetiser
There are restaurants where the setting is a promise that the cuisine rarely keeps. The Bosque Fevi is one of the exceptions. Perched high above Gaalgebierg Park in Esch-sur-Alzette, within the Seven Hotel, it offers one of the most beautiful terraces in the south of the country. But it would be a disservice to chef Fernando Andreu to reduce his restaurant to its panorama. Rated 14.5/20 in Gault&Millau, this Catalan-born chef has put together a RestoDays menu that lives up to his reputation. The skate starter (confit wing terrine, green apple brunoise, black-olive butter and mustard seed compote) is a fine balancing act between mellowness and acidity. For the main course, the fried sea bass with its escabeche of prawns and melting Jerusalem artichoke confirms our mastery of this marine product. For non-fish lovers, the mature beef fillet with truffle potato gnocchi and grilled yellow courgette is a meaty and precise option.
Address: Park Gaalgebierg, 4142 Esch-sur-Alzette
Italy as we like it
There are some addresses that we no longer need to introduce, and yet we often find that people have never been there. Notaro, nestled in the Grund opposite the Clausen rocks, is one of those institutions that doesn’t need to sell itself—and which, during RestoDays, still finds room for those who know how to look. Under the impetus of chef Salvatore Gallo, the restaurant founded by Mario Notaroberto has moved towards a more elaborate, more contemporary Italian cuisine, without abandoning the generosity for which it is renowned. The RestoDays menu is a fine example of this: Jerusalem artichoke mousse with oyster mushrooms sautéed in hazelnut butter, fried calamari as a starter, followed by a choice of five main courses that says it all: mezzi paccheri with pancetta and pecorino, Gragnano pennoni stuffed with seafood, Carnaroli risotto with asparagus and parsleyed cheese, and fillet of sea bass au gratin with artichokes and Jerusalem artichoke fumet. This is not a trattoria menu, this is the cuisine of a chef who takes the trouble to choose his pasta and his producers. For dessert, the intense dark chocolate cracker doughnut with white chocolate and vanilla namelaka is the kind of thing that makes you want to run up the bill. The cellar of Italian wines remains, according to regulars, one of the finest in the country.
Address: 149, rue de la Tour Jacob, 1831 Grund, Luxembourg
La nonna at the Kirchberg
To say that Radici is the Italian restaurant at the Sofitel Luxembourg Europe, is both true and slightly simplistic. Since its redesign in 2021, the address has found its own rhythm—more relaxed, more gourmet, less formal than what the hotel brand might suggest. Philippe Capron’s bright, green décor has a lot to do with this. For RestoDays, chef Rodolfo Serritelli has opted for a short but well-constructed menu, rooted in transalpine classics. For starters, the stracciatella with crunchy fennel and blood orange is a fresh and precise opening. The beef tartare with parmigiano and balsamic reduction is fleshier and more robust. For the main course, the veal saltimbocca with grenailles roasted in rosemary plays the comfort card well, while the cavatelli with simmered cuttlefish ragù reveals a more marine, iodised flavour. The caramel bavarois and the torta caprese with coconut ice cream round off the meal with a fine frankness. An honest, no-frills RestoDays menu that reflects the identity of the house: well made, well sourced, well served.
Address: 6, rue du Fort Niedergruenewald, 2226 Kirchberg, Luxembourg
