Where to eat and drink in Megève: long lunches, small rooms
Lunch on the mountain is part of the day here, and dinner is in the village or just up the hill from it. Auberge Bonjournal on the Jaillet side is the lunch, Le Refuge du Calvaire is the dinner to book well ahead, Khue Danh is the change from cheese, and Bar des Alpes is the unpretentious bar.
Megève takes its food seriously at every level, and lunch on the mountain is as much a part of the day as the skiing. Build a long one into most days rather than grabbing something between runs. Dinner is in the village centre, mostly on foot, or just up the hill from it.
Auberge Bonjournal is the lunch to start with, over on the Jaillet side rather than Mont d'Arbois. Order the plat du jour, which is home cooked, and when the terrace fills, head upstairs. For something different, La Petite Fontaine is a couple's snack bar on the piste at Cote 2000. The fondue is served in the evening, so take a head torch for the walk back down.
The dinner to book is Le Refuge du Calvaire, a small room a stiff walk up from the centre, with fondue, crozets and pork slow cooked for twelve hours. Tables are few and high season fills them, so book well ahead, or drive up if you would rather not walk it. By about day four a night off cheese starts to look good, and Khue Danh is the answer: tom yam, and a takeaway that several parties have ended up staying to eat.
Bar des Alpes is the unpretentious one, with six or seven beers on draught and football on the screens, and at lunch it is the best value in the centre. For an afternoon, La Chocolaterie de Megève has a front that is easy to walk past, so look for it: hot chocolate in a quiet salon, for a long talk rather than a quick stop.
Mountain lunch
A home cooked plat du jour over on the Jaillet side, and a snack bar on the piste, run by a couple, whose fondue is an evening thing.
Auberge Bonjournal
The best rated mountain restaurant in Megeve and it is over on the Jaillet side, away from the money. Home cooked plat du jour is the order, and one guest called it the best on piste meal of their trip. Materially cheaper than the Mont d'Arbois side, and there is an extra room upstairs if the terrace is full. It works for a coffee stop too.
Restaurant La Petite Fontaine
Right on the piste below the Petite Fontaine chairlift, run by a couple, and more snack bar than restaurant, which is the appeal. It holds a local award for its fondue and a second guest independently calls it the best in the resort. The fondue is an evening thing, and the walk back down takes fifteen or twenty minutes, so take a head torch.
Dinner
A small room up the Calvary hill that needs booking well ahead in high season, and tom yam for the night the group wants a change.
Le Refuge du Calvaire
Six hundred metres from the middle of Megeve and up a proper climb, or a short drive if the climb is not for you. A small room with few tables, so book well ahead in high season. Fondue and crozets anchor the menu and there is a twelve hour slow cooked lacquered pork alongside them. The wine list is fairly priced, which here is a compliment.
Khue Danh
The one kitchen in Megeve that is not French or Savoyard, and by about day four of a week that matters more than it sounds. Tom yam is the dish people name. It does takeaway, which several parties started out intending and then stayed to eat instead.
Bars
Six or seven beers on draught, a lunch menu that goes well past pizza, and football on the screens.
Bar des Alpes
Six or seven beers on draught, which in a village where most bars pour one is the reason to walk in. The lunchtime menu is the best value deal in the centre and the cooking goes well past pizza. Major football on the screens. It is properly unpretentious.
Cafes and quick bites
A chocolate shop and salon behind a front that is easy to walk past, for a hot chocolate and a proper conversation.
La Chocolaterie de Megève
A chocolate shop and salon de the in the middle of the village with an unassuming front, so it is easy to walk past. Hot chocolate is the order and it is rated even by the people who thought it dear. Quiet and calm, somewhere to sit and talk rather than refuel. Drinks and desserts only.
These are our own picks, not paid placements. Opening times and ownership change, so it is always worth checking before you set off.