On Monday night we visited to the newly-opened Christmas market at the Grund. The space is really limited compared to the one in the very city center, half a dozen stands, but the atmosphere is really cozy, calmer and more relaxed. I really like the Christmas Market in town, but during pick-hours it might be a bit frustrating having a walk around 🙂

After couple of hot wines, we wanted to have some typical food but the temperature was definitely not helping, being still with office clothes, so we decided to change the plans and move to a warmer place. We fancied some cheese dish similar to the ones you can have at the market, but apparently on Monday night it was pretty difficult to find a place open (Edelweiss in Bridel and the Swiss Chalet at Sobogusto are closed).

At the end we decided to try L’Entracte restaurant in Strassen. I was at the one in the city center couple of years ago and it was an horrible experience, the ugliest tourist trap I’ve found myself in in ages.

The restaurant in Strassen is located on the main Route D’Arlon, just a block before Belle Etoile mall. The decorations are informal but cozy and the atmosphere at the entrance was nice.

After a brief wait, we were allocated on a nice table on the back room – the restaurant at 9 pm was almost empty, only a big table in our same room – and handled the menu.

We went straight to the traditional raclette and a bottle of Montepulciano, that unfortunately was not available, so we moved to a South-West French wine.

Some pictures of our dinner and my personal impressions.

What I liked about L’Entracte:

• The raclette was OMG: cheese was super nice, melting perfectly and the sides were pretty good as well – we had potatoes, mixed cold cuts, salad and bread – and well presented. The quantity is fair and the quality of the food was definitely premium.
• The menu offers several appealing choices, including cheese fondue (also with mushrooms), mixed raclette, pierrade and a good choice of meat dishes.
• Except for the quite long wait at the entrance, the service was nice. Our waitress came to check on us couple of times to see if we were fine and we were left finishing our dinner even if we were the last clients and it was closing time. As we had only raclette,coffee and wine, we were offered on the bill a bottle of water we took.

What I liked less about L’Entracte:

• As said, the food was good and the portion fair, but still I had the impression we slightly overpaid our dish. The traditional raclette was 29 euro per person (and you can order for a minimum of 2) as well as the fondue, couple of euro more than most of other places in Luxembourg, located in fancier settings. On the wine list as well, cheapest wines were starting around 30 euro and there was no “house wine” option. Having a full dinner, with starter or dessert, a more decent wine compared to the one we took and some further drinks, will bring the bill to an amount not very aligned to the kind of location.

In conclusion: Our raclette dinner at L’Entracte in Strassen was a bit pricey but nice. I will definitely come back to try as well as the fondue, as the cheese was delicious and the service lovely. As the restaurant is quite big and informal, I would definitely recommend it for friends gathering and office dinners.