Not sure about you, but when I have to decide where to go for dinner, I am often limiting the choice to my comfort zone, meaning the areas were I live rather than I often go out – city center, place de Paris. Visiting a restaurant out of these areas has basically to be justified by a specific situation. The situation in that case, last week, has been an extreme curiosity to find out a new place that has been on my to try list since its opening – but for which I have been too lazy to move my ass out of Hollerich -, Kava Restaurant, just in front of Bertrange station.

As I did, you can easily book your table online – that for me it is always a plus point – and you get a confirmation almost immediately. We got there around 9 pm and were asked if wanted to eat on the terrace or inside. Ca va sans dire, we opted for being outside. The terrace is only partially covered – and heated – but the time to be inside this winter is going to be long, so why do not still take advantage of the  pleasant temperatures?

After a while, we were provided by two menus: the list of cocktails – that includes a quite creative side for being in a restaurant – and the food menu – few starters, main with fish and meat having the common point of being mainly cooked in the wooden oven, some typical Italian dishes. Vegetarians will have at least two options per course.

We ordered a “Cocktail of the Chef” while deciding what to eat. We finally went for oysters as starter, accompanied by a glass of champagne, followed by rabbit and beef filet, both accompanied by truffle potatoes pure’ and a bottle of red one, a special one tonight.

Pictures of the dinner are followed, as usual, by my impression of Kava Restaurant.

What I loved about Kava Restaurant:

• There is a combination of factors, to me, that makes this place exceptional. The list of drinks, to start with, innovative and quite edgy. Our “Cocktail of the Chef” has been definitely a surprise, considering I am very methodical in my alcohol choices, – extremely refreshing, well balanced and presented. Not very often you do see such nice cocktail list in a restaurant – I would say Kava is definitely almost at Airfield level on this item.
• The food choice is on the classic side, but with a twist. There are options that I have rarely seen in other place in Luxembourg city – my rabbit has been one of them. I was tempted and worried at the same time when ordering that, as the only place I normally eat it is at my Granma’s, but I would say that the competition was high. The cooking was perfect, the meat tender and the seasoning structured and fair in its balance. Even for dishes that are easily replicated around, like the oysters, the beef filet and truffle potatoes, the quality of the raw materials was amazing and the execution, for the main, outstanding. While I was very full at the end of the dinner, I reserve myself to try the entire dessert list next time, that appeared to be delicious.
• The atmosphere and the service have their great part in the success of the place. We felt spoiled from the moment we got in to the very end, having the chef himself coming with the truffle for our dishes, with an extreme hospitality and professionalism of the whole team who took care of us. The place itself is very cozy, with an attention to details almost maniacal: from the personalized wine glasses, to the bread basket, to the restrooms. The ambience indeed is refined, sophisticated, without being too posh, with a mixed client base – that was a family with kids seated next to us, couples young and less young, table of friends.

What I liked a bit less about Kava Restaurant:

• Our dinner was among the best I had in the last year in Luxembourg and I would definitely rate Kava, for the whole experience, among my top restaurants in Luxembourg. It reminds me very much of a place that used to be my favorite in the city for ages and that recently has lost much of its charm, due to a very poor management – no name, no shame.
• Said that, should I find something to be picky at, I would definitely say that the list of wine is not as good as the one of drinks, and I would have expected to have some more good choices, further than Moresco Langhe from Gaja and a Sassicaia – there is also another Ornellaia on the list, but only from 2016.
• Lastly, and that, unfortunately, cannot be improved but only acknowledged, the view from the terrace is not very romantic, but I recognized they did their best to accommodate it in the nicer way possible for the location.

In conclusion: I had awesome time at Kava Restaurant. The place does not have any gastonomique expectations, still proposes a very different kind of cuisine, with Italian origins and mainly based on the wooden oven. The food was delicious and the service exceeded our expectations. Cocktail list out of the ordinary is a plus. I would definitely recommend it for a date night, a business dinner or a meet-up with friends. The restaurant is a sophisticated oasis of peace, where all the details are adding up together in a welcoming, unique atmosphere.