The business lunch in Luxembourg: where to take a client

Luxembourg runs on lunch. In a financial centre where a large share of business is relationship-driven and the working population is drawn from a dozen countries, the midday meal does work that a meeting room does not. It also follows conventions that are more French than Anglo-Saxon, which catches out arrivals from London and New York in their first month. Knowing where to book, how long to allow and who pays is not trivia; it is part of doing the job.

The conventions

• Lunch is at midday, and the service window is roughly twelve to two. A restaurant that stops taking orders at half past one is normal, not unhelpful.
• Allow ninety minutes for a proper business lunch, and two hours if it matters. Scheduling a call at one o'clock signals that you did not understand the meeting.
• Booking is expected, particularly in the business districts, and same-day booking in the good places frequently fails.
• The set menu is the default at lunch, two or three courses at a fixed price, and it is both faster and better value than the carte.
• Wine at lunch is normal in moderation and increasingly optional. Nobody will remark on either choice.
• The person who invited pays, and this is settled discreetly rather than debated at the table.
• Language is generally English in the financial districts and French in the more traditional establishments, and staff switch without difficulty.

By district

Kirchberg

The institutional and banking lunch. Restaurants inside and around the office buildings and the shopping centres, geared to a fast, competent midday service for people who will be back at their desks. Booking is essential between twelve and one.

Best for: a working lunch with colleagues or a client based on the plateau, where the priority is efficiency.

Ville-Haute

The traditional address for a lunch that is meant to be an occasion. Established restaurants, the higher end of the market, and the country's fine dining concentrated within a short walk. Prices are the highest in the country.

Best for: a client you want to impress, a negotiation, or anything where the room is part of the message.

Cloche d'Or

Newer, more corporate, and built around the office population. The restaurants are contemporary and the shopping centre carries a wide range. Parking is straightforward, which the Ville-Haute is not.

Best for: a lunch where the guest is driving, or where the meeting is in the southern district anyway.

Gare and Hollerich

The widest range and the best value in the city, with a strong international offering. Less formal and increasingly used for business by firms that want to signal something other than tradition.

Best for: a relaxed lunch, a creative or technology client, or a group with varied dietary requirements.

The Grund and Clausen

The setting is the point: terraces by the water under the cliffs. In good weather this is the most memorable lunch in the city and it is a longer one, since the walk down and back takes time.

Best for: a visiting client you want to show the country to.

Choosing well

• Match the room to the meeting. A negotiation wants a quiet table; a relationship lunch wants somewhere with atmosphere.
• Ask about dietary requirements in advance and check the restaurant can meet them. Luxembourg has improved on vegetarian and vegan provision and traditional establishments still lag.
• Consider the journey. Fifteen minutes each way in Luxembourg traffic changes a ninety-minute lunch into a two-hour absence.
• Check parking if the guest is driving, particularly in the Ville-Haute where it is scarce and expensive.
• Book a table rather than a restaurant. Ask for a quiet corner if you need one, at the time of booking.
• Confirm the morning of. Standard practice and it prevents the classic failure.

The calendar to watch

• August is thin. A significant number of restaurants close for two or three weeks and a significant number of your guests are away.
• The weeks before Christmas are fully booked well in advance for company lunches.
• Public holidays are numerous here and catch out people scheduling from abroad.
• Mondays see a number of good restaurants closed.
• The Schueberfouer in late summer alters the city's rhythm for three weeks.

Hosting a group, and the dietary question

A lunch for six with an international group is a different exercise from a lunch for two, and it goes wrong in predictable ways.

• Ask about dietary requirements when you invite, not on the day. Vegetarian, vegan, halal, kosher and allergies all need the restaurant to know in advance, and traditional Luxembourg establishments are the least flexible.
• A set menu for the table is faster and easier to manage, and most restaurants will propose one for a group. Confirm that alternatives exist for anyone who needs them.
• Book a separate room or a quiet corner if there is anything confidential to discuss, and ask specifically rather than hoping.
• Confirm numbers the day before. Restaurants here hold tables tightly at lunch and a group that shrinks without notice is remembered.
• Consider the location relative to everyone's office, not just yours. Fifteen minutes each way for four people is an hour of collective time.
• Settle the bill in advance where you can, which removes the awkward moment entirely.

The restaurants used for business in Luxembourg know all of this, and asking them to organise it is normal rather than demanding.

Three questions we are asked

How much should a business lunch cost?

A set lunch in a good Luxembourg restaurant sits well below the carte and represents the sensible norm. The Ville-Haute fine dining rooms cost considerably more and are for occasions rather than routine. There is no expectation that a business lunch is expensive; there is an expectation that it is competent.

Is dinner better than lunch for business?

Generally not, here. Lunch is the established format, it is easier to schedule, and it does not intrude on family time in a country where a great many people commute across a border. Dinner is for a relationship that is already established.

What if my guest does not drink?

Entirely unremarkable and increasingly common. Luxembourg restaurants carry good non-alcoholic options, the domestic Riesling grape juice and alcohol-free crémant both exist, and nobody comments either way.

Why this matters when you are choosing where to live

Where a firm's offices sit determines a great deal about how its people live, and Kirchberg, Cloche d'Or and the Ville-Haute pull households in different directions. It is the first question we ask anyone looking for a home here.

One of the easiest mistakes around the calendar to watch is judging the visible result while ignoring the process that produces it. For the question raised by “The calendar to watch”, the useful detail is not a generic list of advantages. Then ask what happens when one assumption fails.

For the question raised by “The calendar to watch”, the useful detail is not a generic list of advantages.

When comparing two options on hosting a group, and the dietary question, avoid scoring them only on the feature named in the title. For the question raised by “Hosting a group, and the dietary question”, the useful detail is not a generic list of advantages.

A stronger reading of by district starts by asking what would change for the resident on an ordinary weekday.

For hosting a group, and the dietary question, ask which qualities will still matter after furniture has been moved in, the first season has passed and the household has settled into its normal schedule.