Ingrid and Malcolm's Life in Luxembourg: Picanha

As our last dinner together before Dad headed back home, we went out to one of our favourite eating places, the Picanha Palace in downtown Bonnevoie, one of the few restaurants in ever-expensive Luxembourg where you get more than your money’s worth. It is run by a very cheerful and hospitable Portugese husband and wife team aided by an equally cheerful cook who wobbles menacingly around the restaurant insisting that diners try just a little more of his mouth-watering steaks.

Picanha is the most prized cut of beef in Brazil, which in churrascaria restaurants is rubbed with rock salt and barbecued on a vertical grill. Servings are sliced straight from the skewer at the table using a horrendously sharp looking machete.

After the usual warm and effusive welcome from Mama, Papa insisted that we sample some of a new shipment of red wine from somewhere in South America. Embarrassed by our finding the first bottle to be corked, he poured the contents down the sink with great ceremony and spent the remainder of the evening trying to compensate for any perceived lack of quality by the simple substitute of quantity. Fortunately, it was only a couple of blocks walk back to our apartment, as after our over indulgence in both food and wine, we all needed a walking stick like Dad’s. It was a memorable evening to finish off Dad’s 2015 European sojourn. We are already planning next year’s.