Where to eat and drink in La Plagne: eat where you stay
Lunch on the mountain and dinner close to where you are staying. Au bon vieux temps is the log cabin to ski to, L'Alpage at Belle Plagne is Savoyard done properly, Le Petit Chaperon Rouge at Plagne 1800 is the big night, Cocotte and Co is the one people come down to Montchavin for, and Floe is for the day after too much cheese.
La Plagne eats honestly and generously, and with families in mind. Lunch is on the mountain, and it is long, on sunny terraces above the high villages. Au bon vieux temps is the one to ski to, a log cabin on the piste above Plagne Bellecote with portions big enough to make the afternoon harder work. Go back in the evening, when a quad bike picks you up at the edge of the piste and dinner is by the fire.
Dinner depends on where you are staying, because with ten villages nobody wants a taxi every night. In the high villages, L'Alpage at Belle Plagne does fondue and raclette the traditional way in a small room, and its children's portions are good value. Le Petit Chaperon Rouge at Plagne 1800 is the big night, aged beef cooked over an open fire you can watch from the table, and you walk up to it from the village, which on a snowy night is part of the pleasure.
Lower down, the long dinner is the point. Cocotte and Co in Montchavin is good enough to bring people down from Les Coches, who ride the free bus back up afterwards, and the wine list is regional with enough on it to choose from. Book it, and ask about the bus back before you sit down.
By midweek most groups want a break from cheese, and Floe in Plagne Centre is the lunch for it: a short plant based menu that changes daily, chai and local craft beer. La Plagne does not party hard, and most people are glad of it. Le P'tit Bobar, also in Plagne Centre, is the right sort of bar for the place: small, with a regular crowd, proper bar food and local wine by the glass. Book dinner ahead in a busy week.
Mountain lunch
A log cabin on the piste above Plagne Bellecote, big portions at lunch, and dinner by the fire in the evening, with a quad bike to fetch you.
Au bon vieux temps
A log cabin directly on the piste with a big terrace, and the French onion soup gets called the best on the mountain. Portions are large enough that skiing afterwards takes some doing. In the evening they will collect you from the edge of the slope on a quad bike and feed you by the fire, which is a better night out than it sounds.
Dinner
Savoyard done properly at Belle Plagne, beef over a wood fire at Plagne 1800, and a room in Montchavin that people come down the hill for.
L'Alpage
Traditional Savoyard done properly, fondue and raclette both, in a small room that returning guests describe as having a family feel. The children's portions are good value rather than an afterthought. Stay for the desserts, and the wine list is better than the room suggests.
Le Petit Chaperon Rouge
Aged beef grilled over an open wood fire in the middle of the dining room, so you watch and smell it before you eat it. Start with the charcuterie board to share. It is the most expensive thing on our La Plagne list and it knows it, and the short walk up from the village in falling snow is part of the evening.
Cocotte and Co
Down in Montchavin, and people staying up in Les Coches come down for it and take the free bus back, which tells you something. Duck breast, lamb and the tartiflette are what get ordered. There is a regional wine list with actual choice on it, and the room stays friendly when it is full.
Bars
A small Plagne Centre bar its regulars keep coming back to, with big plates of bar food and local wine, for a drink rather than a party.
Le P'tit Bobar
A small bar run by Thibault with a regular crowd that clearly comes back. The bar food is done properly, big plates of saucisse, wraps, cheese and charcuterie, crepes and waffles. Local wine by the glass at prices that are reasonable for the resort. Chilled rather than a party bar.
Cafes and quick bites
Plant based cooking that changes daily, for the day the whole group has had enough of cheese.
Floe Bar Lunchroom
A short daily changing menu of a couple of dishes rather than a card, and the answer for anybody who has had enough cheese and cured meat for one week. Genuinely good plant based cooking, changing daily, and a party of vegans treated it as their safe place. Chai and dirty chai to drink, plus local craft beer.
These are our own picks, not paid placements. Opening times and ownership change, so it is always worth checking before you set off.