La Cabane Avoriaz — Restaurant in Thonon-les-Bains

Really disappointing—what happened to this place?

I’ve been coming to La Cabane for the past three years and always had great experiences. The food used to be excellent, and I would visit at least twice each season. This time, I brought seven friends, trusting it would be just as good—but I was embarrassed by the experience.

It started off well, with friendly and quick service. The waiter even recommended a cheaper wine, saying it was better than our original choice—nice touch. But then the food arrived:

Entrees: The burrata was fine, but the foie gras had barely any foie gras in it and the chutney/jam was flavourless. The onion soup was decent but nothing special.

Mains: The Caesar salad had onions (a strange choice—if you’re going to change a classic, at least mention it). The Saint-Jacques plate was tiny (only three for €39!) and covered in what tasted like canned sauce. The waiter did say it was a small portion but we didn't think it would be THAT small. The entrecôte was cooked well, but it came with fries—without mentioning it again. Why not at least ask? When I pointed it out, they did change it to vegetables. The vegetables were from a frozen package for sure.

The worst part: My friend ordered a tartiflette, which was listed on the menu as "cheese and caramelised onions." Nowhere did it mention meat. She’s vegetarian, so she was shocked when it arrived with bacon. When she asked the server, he just said, “Well, tartiflette always has meat.” Fine, but how would someone unfamiliar with French dishes know that? The real issue was the manager—easily the rudest manager I’ve ever encountered. Instead of handling it professionally, he just said, “Everyone should know tartiflette has meat. It's a traditional recipe” No apology, just attitude. He made the whole situation so unpleasant that I actually thought he was joking at first. I was checking old menus from a year ago, and it does say bacon, but I think they reprinted the menu without 'bacon' now...

I used to love this place for the fun mountain vibes and dancing after dinner. Some of the servers were nice and some dishes were fine... but compared to what it used to be, it's just a shame. La Cabane used to be the best dinner party spot in Avoriaz.

I don't know who was the manager before, but please come back and make this place...

Last night my brother and I spent an evening enduring an experience comprised principally of green beans and disappointment. I don't exaggerate when I say that this meal was the worst I have suffered through not just in Avoriaz, but indeed over the course of my entire life. The land that this abomination of an establishment is built on would be better used as a treatment centre for the swathes of unsuspecting skiers who I imagine have come down with food poisoning after the horror that is La Bistro.

I sprung for the magret de canard, though I noticed that also on the menu was a "36 month comté" - sadly they neglected to mention that the duck they served had also apparently been sitting dead in a warm basement long enough for its children to have children. This meal was to my stomach what Nagasaki was to Japan.

During our disappointed walk back to our hotel from what can barely be called a "restaurant", we spotted a half-eaten, long-abandoned burger decomposing on the floor of a grimy tunnel. We agreed we'd both strongly consider it as a viable alternative to a second visit to La Bistro.

The Parisian phenomenon of the bistro has been described as the" democratisation of excellence". I would characterise La Bistro as the devaluation of competence, the dissemination of negligence or the commercialisation of pestilence, but I would never use the word "excellence" within vomiting distance of such a pretentious factory garbage.

I was startled to read several positive reviews of this cesspit of overpriced mush - frankly I'd rather be diagnosed HIV-positive than give that horrible place another chance. Yes the location is fantastic, in the same sense that Auschwitz is now a popular tourist attraction. I would also struggle to get excited about the service after paying €91 for 2 mains and a drink. Practically across the street is a small fast food joint where earlier in the day we picked up two decent burgers for €8 apiece. I recommend you do the same and donate the remaining €75 to starving children in Africa, because even they would probably decline the swill that La...

This was a total Joke.

Luckily it was so bad we can laugh at the experience.

We were booked in for half 9 as this was the only place we could book on the last day. Once arrived we were left for 15 mins in the reception before being taken upstairs and told to wait at the bar. No one served us at the bar and after another 10 mins we were sat down.

No one handed us menu's. I had to go and grab them myself.

We finally ordered our food just before 10pm after us having to get the managers attention. We ordered some beers and a bottle of wine. We ordered the cheapest bottle of wine at 35 euro and the manager was very smug and laughed at this. We finally got our food and a Greek dance starting playing next to our table.

We thought this was a bit of entertainment but it quickly evolved into a full on club night with other guests in the restaurant from earlier bookings. Our table now had tonnes of people dancing all around us and smashing into the chairs of people on the side of the bar where they were dancing. One of the guests even smashed a bottle of water which went into someone's main. We complained to the manager who said to us "well you shouldn't be sat there" Like we decide where we sit....

He then immediately brought our full bill to us. He eventually removed the beers, water and one main off the Bill.

No one ever told us that we were going to experience that and its on the management and staff to seat up appropriately for dinner. They simply just wanted our money as they told us that was the only table. Its by far the worst and most chaotic experience I have had for dinner which is why its Laughable.

I didn't even touch my main due to the environment and realistically shouldn't of had to pay anything for such an experience. Never go here unless for a Dance.

I do have videos which I may add to this. Le Traino down the road is the best place we ate and you can see why the reviews are...