Les Menuires - eat-drink-party
Still very much the domain of self-catering families, Les Menuires has plenty of good-value (for the Alps) dining options, plus an on-mountain picnic room and some scenic picnic tables at altitude – we like the one by the Pixel Area snowpark, for the free aerial entertainment. A more adventurous, gourmet-ish trend is edging into the picture too, with some less predictable menu options and a few proper ‘destination-dining’ spots well worth making tracks to. The resort’s many bars tend to be good-natured and low-key, with more and more places with terraces hiring DJs to soundtrack your sipping. And for late-night party people? Ibiza it ain’t, but Les Menuires has a few spots where you can shake your rump.
Mountain restaurants
Portions are mighty and the welcome warm at Le Grand Lac (www.restaurant-legrandlac.com), close to Granges chalirlift’s base station, and you can pretend you’re not just eating the same old Alpine comfort classics by choosing a croziflette, a pasta-based alternative to a standard tartiflette. Beaufort tart fans should check out L’Antigel (www.lantigel-lesmenuires.com), an ancient hut close to the Les Bruyères gondola’s mid-station, and it’s handy to know there’s a play area for kids should you want to linger a little.
Veggies and vegans will want to head for Val Thorens, to check out the excellent organic curries, Buddha bowls and to-die-for desserts at Supernova, brainchild of local pro freeride skier Amélie Simond. Also in VT, the Hôtel de Fitz Roy’s (www.hotelfitzroy.com) fine-dining restaurant offers a more relaxed lunch menu designed by executive chef Jose Bailly that’s well worth a splurge. Carb-loading never tasted so good as their Beaufort and Savoy ham macaroni risotto with black truffle.
Grilled meats are the speciality, but by no means the only stand-out dish, at La Ferme de la Choumette (www.facebook.com/ferme.choumette), just above Saint-Martin-de-Belleville. It’s also a working farm, and kids love being able to look in on the animals in the adjoining barn.
But the real dazzler in this valley is La Bouitte (www.la-bouitte.com), a three Michelin-starred rustic retreat in the hamlet Saint-Marcel, run by father and son team René and Maxime Meilleur. If your holiday coincides with a special occasion and you’re feeling flush, an exquisitely presented meal here, based on the finest seasonal, local ingredients and freshly foraged Alpine herbs is one you won’t forget for many seasons to come.
Restaurants in town
There’s any number of perfectly good, well-priced restaurants serving standard mountain fare in town. For hearty basics like burgers, soups, salads and fish and chips, Skilt is one of our favourites for its chummy staff, even if elbow-room is in short supply. There’s often live music too. The hugely popular La Ferme de Reberty (www.lafermedereberty.com) has a huge, meaty menu with a few nice modern twists. We’re keen on their organic salmon, and beef sashimi with wasabi.
Le Comptoir’s (www.lecomptoirmenuires.com) cosy, wine-cellar aesthetic nicely sets off menus that stray from the Savoyard formula, and the wine list is well worth exploring, with enthusiastic, informed support from the staff. Another stylish addition is Là-Haut (www.la-haut.info) in the Preverand part of town. Styled a ‘bistrot paysan’, it offers a reassuringly small, meat-focused menu of well-executed classics and sharing platters served amid cosy, hipster-chalet stylings. The Reblochon tartiflette is a humdinger.
A casual and much-loved skiers’ lunch spot by day, L’Ours Blanc (www.hotel-ours-blanc.com), at the hotel of the same name in Reberty, dresses up at night with a gastronomic menu from chef Pascal Casali and his son Steve based on fine regional ingredients. Just down the hill, Restaurant Le K (www.hotel-kaya.com) in Hotel Kaya mixes things up a bit with an imaginative, nouvelle-ish offering, whose fish dishes are stand-outs, and desserts deliciously decadent.
Après-ski and nightlife
Pie-eyed nights are not a Les Menuires trademark, but there are plenty of affable restaurant bars that make cosy dens for a drink or three when the lifts grind to a halt, and many have DJs or live music to keep things gently festive.
If your holiday’s truly not complete without some raucous, hands-in-the-air table dancing, your best bet’s to end your ski day at la Folie Douce (www.lafoliedouce.com) above Val Thorens by the Plein Sud and Pionniers lifts. It’s a bit of a schlepp home once the banging beats and overpriced quaffing is over, but it can be comfortably done on the blue runs of the valley floor after the lifts have closed. A less histrionic option is Les Menuires’ cute Chalet du Sunny, whose sun-drenched terrace is a great place to soak up the last of the day’s high-altitude views before your last run down, and where there’s live music or a DJ most days. Once you’re down the mountain, take your pick from the bar/restaurants lining la Croisette, or for a more refined sip, swing by Cave des Belleville wine bar and ask what’s good.
Over in Les Bruyères, seasonnaires’ favourite Plan B keeps things lively, with daily happy hours and the odd fancy-dress party – there’s nowhere better in town to parade your hideous 1980s neon skiwear, and it might even earn you a free drink. The seasonnaire crowd is also keen on Le Challenge for its regular live gigs.
Lounge Bar Le Kube meanwhile serves large low sofas and an extensive cocktail menu, with DJs or live music from around 10pm. And if you still have itchy feet later, you’ve two choices for a boogie – Le New Pop, shameless purveyor of bouncy Eurocheese ‘classics’, and Le Leeberty in Les Bruyères, which boasts a surprisingly good sound system. And also plays Eurocheese. Now bust a move!
