RestoDays

The second edition of RestoDays 2019 took place from June 7th until the 16th. If you are not familiar with RestoDays, go ahead and read my blog post about the last edition, where I go into details about the concept and its pros and cons.

I was looking very much forward to this edition even though some big names, such as Ma Langue Sourit, were not participating this time around. In fact, no restaurants from the Moselle part of the country were part of the selection. Nonetheless, there was a great choice of renowned and also new restaurants on the list. After reviewing the menus, we settled on Wax in Pétange and the well-known Two6Two in Strassen.

This restaurant has been on my list for a long time, however their regular menu prices are just a bit out of my comfort zone, and I was excited to be able to test out their RestoDays menu, hoping, that it might convince me to give their full menu a go. The whole menu, 4 courses in total, came to 38 Euros per person. 38 Euros is also the price of their current most expensive main dish.

The location is stunning. Located on Strassen's busy main street, you step into a restaurant which has a huge back window with a clear view of the meadows. You wouldn't have thought that you were still in Luxembourg City. The restaurant is very bright and tastefully decorated with very colorful chairs. I also very much appreciated the space left between the different tables, which gave more privacy to the guests.

A compliment also goes to the hostess of the restaurant who was extremely professional, friendly and forthcoming. Unfortunately, the rest of the service was a bit clumsy and unprofessional, which I did not expect in such a high-class restaurant. Two to three people were on the floor and it seemed like they could have used somebody full time behind the bar to help them out.

The restaurant was very busy that evening, even though it was a weekday and people were mostly there for the RestoDays menu. The 4 courses dragged on for almost three hours, which I thought was a bit much. Waiting times between the courses could have definitely been a bit shorter. Also, at the end of the night we had to wait quite a long time for the check to arrive, which is a bit frustrating and never a good end to a meal.

Now to the food and drinks. Their Margarita for 12 Euros was quite nice, however, I found the presentation to be lacking. No salt or sugar rim, which is a must for me, so that it was a bit disappointing to start off. As an amuse bouche, they served a veal mouse on toast as well as fresh makrel. Both were tiny but the fish was not too fishy and the mousse was actually quite tasty. I found the sesame seed decoration to be quite wasteful but after a bit, the presentation for the amuse bouche was switched up.

Each table also got complementary butter with shallots and herbs, which was actually quite nice. They have a big bread basket from which they serve different kinds of bread to the guests and over the course of the evening, the servers were quite attentive in filling up your bread plate on the table. I really enjoyed their mini version of the classic French baguette.

As a starter we had sea bream confit in rosemary oil on fennel and tomato. The fish was very well cooked, however the sauce was very heavy on the butter, and we found it not ideal with such a delicate fish. Overall, the fish was the star of the dish but neither the sauce nor the vegetables really complimented it, which was a bit unfortunate.

The second option was a beetroot hummus with quinoa and nuts. First things first, their menu offered a meat, fish and vegetarian option for each course, which I would love to see more with restaurants participating in this event. Hummus is great, so I was very excited to see it on the menu. However, I found it lacking the taste of chickpeas and tahini, it seemed to have quite a lot of citrus juice in it. Plus the (perfectly filleted) grapefruit pieces it was just a bit too much citrus on one plate. The quinoa was perfectly cooked but could have used a bit more seasoning. Just as the fish dish, the components did not go as well together as I expected.

For the main dish, Chris went for the veal picanha with vegetables and sage sauce. We are big fans of beef picanha and thus were very excited for the veal version, which unfortunately fell short. If you want to know more about how amazing picanha is, check out Guga from Sous Vide Everything, he has a great video on "how to butcher picanha", where he explains in detail how to cut the most amazing steaks out of a piece of picanha.

Overall, the quantity of food was a bit light. Though the quantity of meat was ok, the quantity of the carbs could have definitely been bigger. It is always a bit disappointing when you have to leave a restaurant with a big check but are still hungry. The meat itself was nicely cooked but there was a huge difference in quality. Picanha is a special cut and usually has a "good" and a "bad" side, with one being extremely tender and the other not so much. In all fairness, you got a piece of the good side and one of the not so good side, which was immediately detectable in the taste and tenderness. It is just a bit awkward having a great piece of meat and the second piece simply not keeping up, which simply left us with a bad last impression of the dish.

As a vegetarian main dish the restaurant offered a risotto with mushrooms, which I unfortunately do not like, so I went with the salmon, served with a mousseline sauce and white asparagus, some fresh peas and mussels. I did not really care about the mussels but the fish was nicely cooked. The mousseline sauce was homemade and went well with the asparagus, which was unfortunately a bit overcooked. Overall however, I did enjoy the dish.

We skipped the cheese course, which you could have purchased for an additional 12 Euros per person and went straight for the pre-desert, which was a deconstructed lemon tart. The crumble was crispy and tasty and in the mousse you could definitely taste the lemon, however it was was also very heavy, and we would have preferred a bit lighter pre-desert.

The desert description of "berries with cottage cheese and basil" as well as "melon and raspberries with savory" did not give very much away, however they ended up being quite similar. This was due to the repeated use of heavy cream, a theme which was consistent throughout the whole menu. Yes, Two6Two is a French restaurant however the creams and sauces in each course all had a similar taste. However, the basil sorbet in the berry dish was excellent, refreshing yet very well-balanced, just as the raspberry sorbet in the melon dish.

During the meal, Chris had some beers (very happy that they had Battin) and I requested a glass of barrique red wine. I love heavy red wine with a deep, oak cask flavor. Even though the glass was not cheap with 11 Euros a piece, the wine was excellent and the hostess had absolutely met my taste.

The check came back with a total of around 114 Euros, quite a steep price considering that the food simply fell a bit short, with regards to the second, mediocre piece of veal, the mushy asparagus, the undecorated cocktail as well as the heavy sauces and cremes all having the same taste. The overall performance, except for the hostess, did not meat my expectations, though it is a stunning location. However, it did not convince me to come back and pay full price.

Wax is located in Pétange, where we already know Pokhara, probably the best Indian restaurant in Luxembourg. Housed in an old, renovated mill, the modern decor compliments the leftover and restored granary dispensers, which you can find in the dining hall. Wax offers a fine dining and comfort food concept with starters ranging around 18 Euros to mains for around 28 Euros. Their 3 course RestoDays menu was 33 Euros per person.

The restaurant itself is not too big but has a more manageable size, however, they also have a really nice terrace for the warmer days. There were two people on the floor and like at Two6Two, a person behind the bar would have been good to lend them a helping hand, but both girls were very professional and friendly, and they provided good quality service.

A negative point for me was that the electronic door to the kitchen opened and closed quite slowly, allowing us longer views of a sink area of the kitchen as well as kitchen staff, who were wearing jeans and sneakers. Working at a campus restaurant during college, we had a uniform and safety shoes for the kitchen, so seeing such leisure attire in the kitchen of such a classy restaurant was very surprising to me. I really do hope that the attire is changed when coming into the kitchen and that it was not in fact street clothing. A more discrete way in and out of the kitchen would really be more suitable for this setting.

Of course we started the meal of with an aperitif. In Luxembourg, an aperitif is a must and so I had their cocktail of the moment which was a Wax Bellini, champagne with peach puree and rosemary. Chris was happy with a beer and luckily for him they also serve Battin, a great Luxembourgish beer.

The amuse bouche the restaurant offered was a beef tartar, raw beef, which I personally find a bit a questionable choice. Raw meat is a somewhat acquired taste and not suitable for all diets or people and I gladly passed mine over to Chris, who however confirmed that it was indeed quite tasty.

As a starter I had a tomato gazpacho, a cold tomato soup with some fresh goat cheese on toast and Chris chose the creamy risotto with mushrooms and Parmesan. I really do love risotto but I really don't like mushrooms, so just as in Two6Two I had to pass. However, it is always important to at least try everything, so I did try a bite from Chris and I was actually impressed. The rice still had a little bite to it and the sauce was really cheesy and creamy.

The tomato gazpacho was a simple yet tasty dish. I would guess that there were some roasted pepers in the soup which gave it a nice smoky flavor. The fresh goat cheese was also very nice and the restaurant really does know where to get good quality cheese. The flavor was not too strong and on the crispy piece of baguette it was an enjoyable bite.

As mains they offered a veal chuck, cooked at low temperature with celery puree, vegetables and gravy, which was right up Chris' ally. The celery puree was actually amazing and really creamy and smooth. The size of the dish was quite alright, a potato or two more wouldn't have hurt though. The meat was tender, though not as juicy as it could have been but overall it was a good dish.

At Wax there were no vegetarian options so I went for the salmon again, served with grilled green asparagus, crispy wantan pieces and a green pea wasabi mousse. The salmon was still a hint raw in the middle, which gave a bit of a bite to the fish. For me personally it could have gone just a bit longer in the pan but it was very nicely seared, just as the asparagus, which was nice and crispy and perfectly grilled. The pea-wasabi puree was great, just a hint of wasabi and not really spicy at all, the flavors complemented each other well; bottom line, another good dish.

As a dessert you could choose between a cheese platter or a vanilla panacotta with tonka bean and strawberries as well as strawberry ice cream. Of course I had the cheese, with a small selection of three different cheeses. The highlight was a camembert with truffle, which was one of the best cheeses I have had in a long time. Their fromagier Mons is actually well renowned. The panacotta had a delicious and unique flavor due to the tonka been which put it just a step above regular pannacottas and the strawberry ice cream was pretty great too.

Overall, the check came up to about 99 Euros, with both of my glasses of wine costing as much as my one glass at Two6Two. We felt that the quality and the taste was overall better this time and we left with full bellies and happy that the check was just under a hundred Euros. The restaurant performed well, though some minor flaws, such as the undercooked fish and the kitchen situation, but it was a very pleasant food experience in a classy but not overly posh atmosphere.

I really enjoy the concept of RestoDays, as it allows you to try out restaurants which might just be a bit too pricey for your regular dinner. However, for picky eaters, it can be a bit difficult to find a menu which suits their culinary preferences. Also, the danger is that some restaurants might be selling themselves a bit short with their RestoDays menus, considering the performance of Two6Two.

For this edition, I was still very happy to have gotten to try Two6Two, though I won't be returning soon to try their full menu. Tough their salmon was better cooked, the dishes at Wax were more coherent and yet unique in their own way. Also, the plates were simply a bit fuller, giving you more bang for your buck. So, I would be happy to visit Wax again, also because they always have vegetarian starter and main on their menu and their prices are just a bit easier to digest.