Val d'Isere - restaurants, apres-ski and nightlife

The choice of satisfactory eating places is fairly limited, unless you include those on the Tignes side as well – and prices, as in the Three Valleys, are pretty shocking for a post-Brexit Brit. But if you have the budget, you can eat well.

Mountain restaurants

Le Signal, also known as Chez Brigitte after its charismatic owner, is at the top of the Le Fornet cable car. The waiter-service restaurant is cheerfully decorated in grape and lime, and there’s a yurt for cold days and a cool sun terrace for warm days where you can enjoy a drink in comfort. It offers classic French regional cuisine. The self-service is probably the best on the mountain, and on cold days the roaring log fire is a welcome bonus.

Unless you are an advanced skier or snowboarder, La Peau de Vache is not the easiest to reach, situated as it is halfway down the extreme black La Face run.  But the less adept and non-skiers can reach it – and return – by chair lift. House specialities are enormous gourmet burgers (one is enough for two) and the welcome is wonderful.

Edelweiss on the final descent to Le Fornet is a useful little hideaway with dramatic views.

La Fruitière is next to – and part of – the Folie Douce self-service restaurant and afternoon party venue gets all the publicity. Food is good, but expensive. Its popularity can lead to stressed service. Spag bol served in a glass jar is a house speciality.

Le Refuge de Solaise used to be at the top of the old Solaise Express chair-lift, but from winter 2016/17 it’s now a couple of hundred metres below the top station of the new Solaise Gondola. The gourmet restaurant is good, but remember to bring your sunglasses – it’s in a conservatory.  The other restaurant in the building used to be a large self-service, but is now a cheerful brasserie.
 

Restaurants in town

La Table de l’Ours is the top (and most expensive) of the three restaurants in the five-star Les Barmes de l’Ours hotel. It has only one Michelin star, but prices are equally high.

La Baraque on the main street near the Galérie des Cimes is the wise choice for diners with more mortal wallets, by far the best restaurant in town and much the most welcoming. This is where the locals eat, which say it all.  You can also enjoy a quiet early evening drink here or a noisy one later on – it regularly has live folksy music.

La Grande Ourse on the edge of the nursery slopes has been going for 80 years and, happily, despite fears that it may be forced to close over a property ownership dispute, it still appears to be functioning for this winter. Many regard the classic French cuisine as the best in town. It has a sunny terrace, making it a great spot for lunch – try the fish dishes.  

Le Lodge and La Casserole are good for steaks, pizzas, and cheesy Alpine fare.

Après-ski & nightlife

The French have never been much good at après-ski, failing to compete with Austrians, Swiss, and Italians who see lift closing time as an opportunity to party the early evening into oblivion. Yet Val d’Isère is increasingly one of the exceptions to the rule. Celebrations begin up the mountain at La Folie Douce by mid-afternoon, featuring DJs, live music, and dancers.

Cocorico, its main competitor, on the piste by the bus turning circle at the front de neige, is increasingly popular – in part because you don’t have to ski down from here; you just stagger 10m to the bus stop.  

Blue Note attracts a largely Brit clientèle while Le Petit Danois grabs the Scandi crowd. Way after dark, the basement of Cocorico opens its doors as La Doudoune and closes them again at 5 am.