Nasi Lemak in Luxembourg!!!

Yes!!! You can get nasi lemak in Luxembourg. BUT, (and that is a very big “but” as indicated by the size of the font) you either have to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia, or part of a tour group with 10 or more other people.

I spent the weekend in Luxembourg with my wife and our friends SHA and SI with their 18 month old son Khaleef. We went on a shopping expedition to Mettlach, which is a small town in Germany, just 30 minutes across the border from Luxembourg. For Malaysians who have lived in the Netherlands for a period of at least 3 months, you will know that Mettlach is the home of “Villeroy and Boch”, or V&B for short, the makers of fine tableware and other ceramic and crystal products for over 2 centuries.

SHA and SI with Khaleef

In all honesty, we didn’t really spend that much time in Luxembourg. We arrived on Friday afternoon, walked around for a few hours and stopped for some delicious hot chocolate at the "Chocolate House", spent the night, and left for Mettlach at 10.00 the next morning. We had planned to return to Luxembourg before the shops closed (maybe we thought we wouldn’t get enough of shopping in Mettlach), but by the time we got back to Luxembourg, it was already dark. We spent a total of 9 hours on our shopping expedition (that includes the drive to Mettlach and back).

A Collage of old pictures from the "Chocolate House"

When we got back to Luxembourg that evening, we were all hungry and tired and just wanted to grab some dinner then head back to the hotel for some much needed R&R. Prior to leaving for our shopping expedition, I did a Google search to find out if there was a Malaysian restaurant in Luxembourg.

Hey presto! There was one, just 2.5 km from the city center,  the “Restaurant Malaysian” on the Rue de Rollingergrund, Luxembourg. My wife suggested that we head there for dinner before we go back to the hotel. Since all of us were tired and had pounding headaches (my wife and SHA from all the dilemmas they faced while shopping, SI and me from looking at the bills) we decided Malaysian food would be a good choice.

Restaurant Malaysian on the Rue de Rollingergrund, Luxembourg

When we stepped into the restaurant, the first question we asked the Maitre d’ was “Are you Malaysian” (this is a very important question to determine the authenticity of the food). He replied that the chef was Malaysian and offered to call out the chef when we wanted to order (apparently the menu was not good enough for us).

The decor of the restaurant, your usual Malaysia poster and the "Wau Bulan"and something different, a picture of the butterflies of Malaysia

The chef, Chong came to our table and suggested a few authentic Malaysian dishes. We agreed on sambal sotong (squid), sweet and sour fish, udang (prawns) cooked in tomyam gravy (usually a tomyam is in the form of a soup but this time it is much thicker) and some veggies. We were hoping the seafood was going to be fresh and asked if he could make butter prawns instead, but since Luxembourg is a land locked country, they had so source of fresh seafood so they couldn't make any butter prawns. No matter, if the food was good we’d be happy anyway.

Surprisingly, the food was excellent. Even though the sambal was a too thick and you don’t get much of the delicious gravy, the sambal sotong was superb (I’m not usually a big fan of squid. Too rubbery for my taste). Cooked to perfection, it had just the right amount of hot and sweet. The prawns were my favorite  The tomyam gravy with its wonderful mix of lemongrass, tomatoes, chilies and cabbages were a perfect blend for the prawns. I've always liked sweet and sour fish and this one didn't disappoint. Although they used fish fillets instead of fresh fish, they were fried to a crispy golden color before being doused with the sweet and sour gravy.

The veggies, Sambal Sotong, Prawn Tomyam and Sweet and Sour Fish. Yummy!

All in all, it was a wonderful meal. After the meal, the chef spent some time talking to us and telling us about his experience in Luxembourg. It was then that he told us his experience of cooking breakfast for our former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, when he was on a state visit to Luxembourg. Tun had insisted on having a Malaysian breakfast so Chong had prepared some authentic Malaysian food including nasi lemak and murtabak for our former premiere.

He also told us that he had Malaysian groups in his restaurant before, visitors from Malaysia on official business in Luxembourg, embassy officials, and once in a while, people like us, Malaysian tourists exploring the culinary delights of the city. From there, I deduced that Chong could make nasi lemak for me if I was part of a tour group, or maybe, if I called in advance and made a special request. Next time I make a trip to Luxembourg (and I am very sure there will be another shopping trip to Mettlach) I'll call him in advance and find out if I can get some nasi lemak.