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chamonix

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I'm going to chamonix January the 4th. I've heard horror stories that the place is propa, propa expensive to eat and drink. is there any truth to this and any money saving ideas or venues please

oh and someone said there might not be snow that early in the season?????? surely they're smoking something?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
It's pretty pricey yeah but not particularly more so than anywhere else in the French alps. Cheap(er - it's never going to be Andorra) booze can be found at happy hours at bardup, beckett, monkey. Beyond that you're looking at 5.50-8 bucks a beer. Little boxes do pints of Brasserie du Mont Blanc beers for 5.50 which wouldn't get you a Carlsberg in some places so I reckon that's the best value. They also do good pizzas (as do loads of places weirdly, Cham is great for pizza).

If you're self catering do a big shop before you get here, ideally at the Grand Frais/Intermarche in Domancy. If you must shop in town Super U is generally cheaper than Casino (though the Casino under the Alpina isn't bad).

Other than that, Cool Cats, Maison du Burger, Poco Loco are popular cheap eats type places. If you're wanting a sit down meal then how much you pay is up to you.

This is all leveraged against the best, easy access off piste in the alps however Very Happy Wink

Regarding snow, no way to tell. Last year was great snow from mid November and powder days all round. The year before it snowed once all season (not a huge exaggeration!) .
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Our only heavy experience was Chamonix was last year so my perspective is clearly a bit skewed towards thinking it is a winter wonderland. Then again, when we were in Courmayeur in 2015, was told by some people staying in Cham that the snow was much better on the Italian side of the tunnel.

We didn't find it particularly expensive... maybe I'm judging everything by US standards but prices felt reasonable.
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@dave_3, can’t add much to @Meltus’s comments, but it feels cheaper than Morzine.

Disagree about the universally great pizza. I suppose it depends on what sort of pizza you like. Our current favourite is Pizzeria des Moulins. Not a big fan of the usually quoted suspect, Casa Valeria. It was awesome 12 years ago but allowed success to go their head. Even Bartavel was disappointing all round last time we were in. Napoli under Alpina is Ok.

MBC does half price ribs on a Thursday, and honestly, we share one plate. It’s usually pretty reasonable all round. And beers brewed on site.

If craft beer is your thing, I rather like “Beer o’Clock”. - self pour, usually great selection and you can pour sipping measures of ridiculous Belgian beers that would usually see me off after a pint.

Boccalatte also pretty reasonable. Tbh, many places aren’t ridiculous. (Bistrot de Sport, Elevation, Chambre Neuf...).

But do not eat on the mountain (other than the Taniere in Les Houches which is lovely). Very, very poor value for money.

That said, the CMB put the restaurant operations out to tender in June, so that may (doigts croissee) change, for the better.


Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Wed 19-09-18 14:38; edited 1 time in total
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
As a follow up, I just checked prices for ski rental in Saas Fee and they seemed comparable to what we have paid in the past at Grands Montets and Obergurgl... perhaps Chamonix ski rental is about on par with other areas and too extreme although it will surely vary on your equipment needs (unless you have your own).

Edit: could be wrong. Seems like OBergurgl is cheaper.
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It is a while ago but I remember that the big Carrefour is on the ski bus route. So stock up on lunch fixings Snickers beer and vin du table.

Eating out on the mountain is always expensive but Cham is not out of the ordinary.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@TQA, yeah but the SERAC offering are expensive AND crap.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Beer O clock is great but tres cher. If I want decent beer I actually tend to go to ChaChaCha for the bottled ale and would probably frequent MBC more often is it wasn't the other end of town.

Pizza De Moulins is probably still my favourite though they have developed a tendency towards soggyness. I like Little Boxes, Caveau, Moulins, Valerio (was great when I went the other week) boccalatte (for pizza but nothing else), the van near Slash so I reckon a fair few places do good pizza.

I would happily eat at the other places @under_a_new_name mentions if I fancied a meal out. The set menu in Bistro du sport is pretty good value. My Fave places are Munchies and Bizes if you wanna spend some money though.

Didn't know the mountain restaurants were being touted out! But yeah, as they are at the minute, avoid like the plague.
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Would recommend a jaunt out to Le Cafe' Comptoir in Vallorcine for dinner, if you have a car.
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@Meltus, that’s clearly cos you like sogginess.

We went off Casa about (cripes) 8 years ago when the pizzas went from e.g. € 8 to € 14 and a litre of wine from € 11 to € 24 in the space of a week.

Could have lived with the pizza price change... but the wine?

So we took the hump, and have never returned. Maybe our loss but I don’t notice it.

Boccalatte, the Mrs really likes the moules and for (?) € 11 for steak and chips (which has always been a good cut) we think it’s a good cheap and chearful option.

You mean the van up from Hibou? No. Really, just, no.

Lastly, on Bo’C - is it really that expensive for what you are buying? My local in out of town Geneva sells 25cls of Leffe for 4.90.- which is €4.34. And which is about what I think the mainstream belgians are priced at although I will not be cross examined on the facts, m’lud.
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Was a bit disappointed with Boccalette last Easter, it's traditionally been our last night dinner out place but might not bother next half term. Poco Loco is good but very small so can get busy easily and I have a soft spot for Belouga Burgers (but that may just be rose tinted specs from my youth) but I like them and they're certainly filling. The last couple of years we've been more Argentiere focused and have eaten a lot in the Rencard which is great food although the service can be v variable (aka French). Have to support the fact that none of the mountain restaurants stand out although will be interesting to see next year with new management running them, they're certainly missing a trick as they don't inspire people to eat proper meals and spend time/cash in them at the moment. Have la Cremerie on my list of places to eat though.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
dave_3 wrote:
oh and someone said there might not be snow that early in the season?????? surely they're smoking something?

Depends. There might not be lots of snow. Many runs may be closed. There may be little or no off piste. But there will be snow and skiing.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
I should have been @RobH2017, more specific. Avoid the CMB SERAC restaurants.

So La Cremerie is rather sweet, although it is mostly croutes, they’re quite adventurous croutes.

Alpage de Balme does a nice rosti.

Ecuries de Charamillon also good croutes.

Re snow? Who knows?

Last year we were skiing knee deep powder up Charamillon the 14th or so of December. Have often had good mid Dec skiing.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Not a fan of the van eh? I've got a lot of time for the van for 10 euro on the way home from bardup. The casa change was before my time and I'm only going on 1 meal there which was good imo.

Moulins is still the best despite its soggyness 😁. Nduja.... 😍

Boccalatte I've had overdone steak and overdone duck so I've taken the hump, to borrow a phrase.

Re bo'c suppose not, craft ale is by its nature expensive. I still regard it as a place for a treat rather than a regular haunt. Although there is no one to stop you making some horrendous snakebite concoctions from umpteen percent Belgian rocket fuel (not me I hasten to add!)
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
In my most humble opinion I think you all seem to be following a predictable and dull pizza path. For my money (& I am a bit careful) the best bang per pizza buck in the Chamonix valley is Chez Fanfoué. And it has been since 1986 (my first Alpine climbing season)

Fanfoué and his wife Nela make terrific pizza for about 8€ a chuck. It is all take away from his mobile set up next to the bakery on the promenade Marie Paradis, or at the Saturday market in town.

I find the Boccolatte formulaic and soulless, unlike the (admittedly pricier) la Tablee next door. Staff can be a bit mawkish, but great food.

Generally my favourite place to actually eat out is Cousin Albert. Small husband and wife team with a limited but wonderful french menu. Terrific, and they speak no English, which is a lot of fun.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
And as for beer, it is all pretty much of a muchness, and similarly priced. Not really interested in the predominantly English speaking places. Its not why I ski and climb there. The Bar Le Chamonix is the perfect antidote to all that. And that spot just below the Quechua shop is not to be missed, if he can arsed to open
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@HammondR, “if, etc” hilarious. It’s a great wee bar, just rarely open!

Boccalatte formulaic is exactly why one frequents!
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
HammondR wrote:
In my most humble opinion I think you all seem to be following a predictable and dull pizza path


Consider me suitably chastened O Great Pizza Sage Laughing

Never been to cousin Albert but looks nice. The bar near Quechua is worth a visit for the assiette du fromage alone *drool*
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For my money the BEST VALUE for dinner is the truck stop at Le Chatelard, just before the viaduct on the way down the valley - yes you need to drive there, but if you leave hungry it's your fault, not theirs.
Last time that I was there (about three years ago) it was:
Self service starter
choice of two or maybe three main courses,
desert
cheese
including 1/4 of draught wine + tap water it was all for the rip off price of €13 - coffee extra so is beer if you want it. Obviously three years later the price will have gone up.
Go past the speed camera at Servoz, slow down even more going into the first tunnel, and turn off at the end of the tunnel.
Open weekdays only and not bank holidays

Chamoniards - please correct me if I'm wrong!!
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@Nemisis, err, just really not an idea I have ever thought I would think of ... Confused
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