Le Grillon Restaurant Review

From pizza and pasta to curry and burgers there are little restaurants popping up everywhere. However, hidden amongst them all is a selection of traditional French Savoyard restaurants doing what they’ve done for years and continuing to do it very well. Le Grillon is one of them.

You’ll find this restaurant on the Route de la Plagne directly opposite the Spar supermarket. It’s very subtle and you’d be forgiven for missing it. With a wooden frontage and a small side entrance it’s very unassuming, but when you walk inside you’ll be pleasantly surprised. It’s cosy, warm and decorated in a very traditional alpine style.

We were taken up the stairs into the section of the restaurant, which sits in the rafters. There were little tabled scattered around and squeezed into every available spot under the beams. We were shown to our table and left to look at the giant menu.

The menu is very traditional, offering hot and cold starters, salads, meat dishes and Savoyard specialities. Priced at around 15 to 20 euros for a main meal it’s pretty reasonably priced as well. It was the perfect place to go for us as we were celebrating a few special occasions but didn’t want to over spend. It was a treat without breaking the bank! We opted for a couple of salads, some meat skewers and a carafe or two of French wine. Our waitress was lovely; quick to take our order and very helpful when it came to choosing the wine to match our food.

We didn’t have to wait long for our food to arrive. The meat skewers in particular went down very well. Including pieces of well-seasoned beef, turkey and sausage, there was enough meat to feed a small army! They were served with salad and dauphinoise potatoes and both men were suitably stuffed after ploughing through their dinners. The ladies chose salads and I have to say, on this occasion, it was because I’d caught a sneaky glance at the pudding menu and wanted to save some space! The salads were really substantial with plenty of leaves, vegetables and a very tasty dressing. They were garnished with cheese filled pastry parcels and a delicious selection of meat including turkey and ham.

Whilst we ate we were able to watch some other diners get their food. The couple opposite us chose to go for a traditional raclette. It looked very impressive indeed! The waitress brought the raclette machine to the table, which was stocked with a huge slab of cheese that was slowly melting. The couple then poured the cheese over potatoes, bread and salad. It looked absolutely delicious. Nobody would ever be able to eat all of the cheese though surely?!

We finished off our main courses and then had to decide whether to have pudding or not. Luckily for me I still had some room so decided for once that I would have dessert. I feel like it was one of the best decisions - I ordered a Café Gourmand. Which is a coffee with a selection of different deserts. It’s perfect if you find it difficult to choose! It was amazing. It included a mini chocolate cake, crème caramel, tiramisu, coffee cake and a fruity brandy snap basket. If I wasn’t full before, I certainly was now! It was well worth getting though because it gave me a good insight into the puddings at Le Grillon and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. I’ve been thinking about that creamy tiramisu on and off ever since!

Le Grillon is a really “what you see is what you get” kind of restaurant. The food is delicious, well presented and very, very tasty. I’ll certainly be going back again to try some of the more traditional dishes because they looked so good!

It’s one of the quieter Morzine restaurants but one that I would definitely put at the top for quality, service and cost. The Genepi after pudding was well received too…we were all rather too full by the end! If you’re looking for a really traditional dining experience, I’d definitely advise giving Le Grillon a try.