Food and drink - Val d'Isere - France

Xbox Big Day Out party - Val d'Isere tourist office

Usually for French resorts, the safe formula for good eating is to stick to what the French do best; French cooking, but in Val d’Isere you’d be missing out on a vast array of other offers from seafood platters to good old British curry. The proximity to Italy means pizza normally features on most menus and you’ll also find a ‘chicken and chips’ which can be a real plus if you’re on holiday with younger children.

Whilst some mountain restaurants can seem complacent, others make a real effort and even old favourites such as spag bol and pizza are tasty and filling. That said some restaurants are worth stopping off at for a drink for the view from their terrace. As a general rule, the lower down the mountain you are, the cheaper the food will be.

As its reputation suggests, Val is THE place for big ski days and even bigger apres-ski, which starts early and can go on until the small hours. Drink prices in the resort are on the high side but bargains can be found and it is standard practice to squeeze as much from your euro as possible by moving from one happy hour to another.

Five to try

@Table
A great little restaurant patronised by local workers, hidden in the back of galerie des cimes. Eat in, take-away or get it delivered!

Brasserie du grand cocor
Perfect for a pizza at lunchtime or an evening meal, and a great atmosphere.

Edelweiss
On the Mangard piste. Don't go for what you know; try one of the more unusual dishes like the pig liver. casserole

Alexandra
This is a great bar to escape the crowds, enjoy a few games of pool and have a good gossip.

Bananas
The downstairs bar is an infavour apres-ski venue with happy hour between 7-8pm.

Our penny’s worth

If you’re a carnivore, then treat yourself to steak. Available at very reasonable prices, the cuts of meat differ in France as does there approach to cooking them, but they can still be absolutely melt-in-your-mouth delicious!

Val d'Isere guidebook

Val d'Isere

Report date:	30 Apr 2008
Last snowed:	21 Apr 2008
Fresh snow:	15cm
Lifts open:	45 out of 46
Snow depth
Lower slopes:	72cm
Upper slopes:	110cm
Piste information
On-piste:	Excellent
Off-piste:	Varied
Resort runs:	Packed

Snow conditions

Very good piste conditions, best at top

Weather

Strong winds at altitude