Rocca im Gehry’s, Düsseldorf – March 2016

Going to the annual Wine fair in Düsseldorf is a kind of fun highlight in the cold month of March. This year Jörgen could not join, but luckily my best friend Barbara was up for the fun and stress it is trying out a good 100-150 different wines per day.

The day we arrived was actually my birthday and I called Rocca in the afternoon but they were full, so that evening we simply had a great burger. The day after I called again and we were happy to get a table. So after freshening up  (a hot shower is what you need after the hard job of finding the right wines for the FWRR 2016 collection) –  we arrived hungry and tired. It was a great meal, a very attentive and pretty waiter called Sofi had the amount of fun and interaction you expect for such a trendy and stylish steak house.

Great rose, perfect waiter

The food was so good that I had no doubt when we the next day found ourselves in the taxi having finished this years Prowein – I said to Barbara, what you say…we head straight to Rocca, and then finish this year with a drink in the hotel Bar.   Table was booked, and the smile that greeted us from Sofi was worth a million. A second pretty waiter from Marocco did her tricks with serving the recommended Rose and it was sure that she as well had chosen the right profession. And THAT is a nice thing to experience. People who love what they do and do it with passion.

We loved the decor – the classy leather chairs…

Very comfy as well as pretty chairs

Best looking wine cooler ever….

Great selection of wine, great lightning throughout the restaurant

First day we both had an Argentinian Angus Entrecote, with a shared side dishes plate and the second day we opted for the Chateaubriand with Salad and BBQ sauce.

Le Chateaubriand

Great potatoes

My arrangement

On both days meat was cooked to perfection medium rare and all side dishes was presented tasty and fresh looking and with a purpose. I tried the Sauce Beurnaise the first day as well. But we both found the BBQ sauce was the best of those two.

Meat wise you may opt for Argentinian, Australian or US beef and I think I saw a glimpse of some Wagyu cuts as well 🙂

Lots of air in the great room, kitchen above

Smiling chefs

My conclusion:

When you enter the Mediahafen area which was a new experience for me, you are met by one building looking better than the other, funny facades, shapes, materials. Situated next to the Rhein, I can imagine this is a great spot for al fresco dining in the summer. The Rocca has a VERY stylish enterior and deco and your expectations are immediately sky high. We loved the warm colours – great lighting and sense for details in every corner. Great Bread and butter, great food, fast and fun and respectful service, – what more do you want. Sofi – the smile you gave us upon our return  is worth a pay rise. You tell that to your boss. Thanks for great service.

This was for sure a step up from last years steak-house that was actually more expensive  on top of that. Wine list is great – and gives you possibility to not leave bleeding if you dont want to.The fact that we came back two days in a row says it all I guess. We give Rocca our highest recommendation and hope to be back one fine day, lets say Prowein 2017

Barbara, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for having such a prominent role in my life – being my best friend. To always have an ear – or two, in good times as well in bad times.

FWRR thank you for taking this Prowein experience to a much funnier level. We shall never forget the tastings at Rhuby 🙂 Thanks for keeping up with my bad sense of humor and for your trust and support to the FWRR project. I could not have done it without you.

My quality price rating for this visit:

Food 8.5p (10), service 4.5p (5), ambience 5p (5), 18p (20).

 

 

Restaurant Patagonia, Hesperange, Luxembourg – 27 April 2011

I met new friends Serge and Guy at Restaurant Clairefontaine a few weeks ago. We immediately found out that there was a good chemistry between us, and that we shared a passion for the good things in life.

So returning to my home I was happy to find an invitation from them for dinner at Restaurant Patagonia. I know this place from the 90’s where it was a Spain or Chile inspired restaurant. Today its an Argentinian Steak House, the wine list consist of Argentinian wines. Nothing wrong with that.

The “new” owners have had the place I think 7 years. The room is beautiful, red colours on rough walls, lit candles everywhere, nice wooden tables and chairs, the ambience you would expect for a nice steak house. I would have been proud if it was my restaurant. I normally ALWAYS try to spot little things that would make the room or table work better, but no…I did not find one single thing. Even fresh flowers on all tables.

The friendly French waiter, offered me an amuse (olives, feta and bread with pate) and the wine list. Being the first to arrive (As always) I opted for a bottle of Chardonnay at I think 20 eur. Lovely and a bargain at that price.The following ordered redwine at 40 eur were in fact a GREAT drop. Most of the wine options were heavy on Malbec, which I am not a big fan of, but this was in fact a cuvee.

As for the food – we had a lovely Tuna Ceviche – which came at around 13 eur – and afterwards a 300g filet of Argentinian Beef with great avocado dip and homemade chips at I think 26 eur. The owner offered a fresh garlic/oil sauce to the meat, explaining that it was an Argentinian speciality

The following digestive was “on the house” and rounded of a great evening with lots of funny talk among “new” friends. I have a feeling Serge and Guy that we are going to see each other a lot more in the future, I also hope so.

As for Patagonia….here it comes:

Conclusion:

Knowing that Guy who lives next door comes back weekly to this place , I can only tell him this….so would I. Great value on the wine side, good quality of meat and acceptable presentation. Not big gastronomy, but decent price level and for Luxembourg standard a great price/quality level.

I liked the avocado dip with the steak, maybe I would have preferred it more spicy. Only thing where I would improve was the “roasted” slices of eggplant on the plate. They were not the worst I have had, but also not the best. I dont know how to cook these, but the chef of a restaurant in Spain (where I had the most perfect eggplant ever) revealed me the apparent secret, you slice the eggplant, and let them rest in milk for some hours, turn them in flour and then fry them in oil. So my advice – improve on the eggplant side and your concept is flawless.

There was a genuine good vibe in the beautiful room, as I stated earlier, I would be proud if it was my restaurant. the service was good and friendly, we never had empty glasses and the empty bottle of chardonnay was duly noticed and replaced.

So, Serge and Guy, thanks for the invitation, and showing me Patagonia – I truly enjoyed your company the food and wine – and had a GREAT time

My rating for this visit: Food 6p (10), service 4p (5), ambience 4p (5), total score for this visit  14p (20)