First part of my 6-day trip to Paris, as a solo traveler. You helped me with a lot of very nice suggestions, so here’s how it all turned out.
a.léa
It seems quite a few users have been to a.léa lately, and I can see why. It was my first evening (this time) in Paris, within walking distance of the hotel. Well, the walk to the restaurant was all uphill and it was raining, but at least the way back was very easy. 
Liked the place, the atmosphere, the staff. English wasn’t a problem either.
Started with the ‘pumpkin risotto, poached egg, hazelnuts, parmassan foam’, which was sooo good! Well matched flavors, innovative, very tasty. The main dish was the ‘medallion of cod, new potatoes, cabbage pak choi, lemon sauce and trout egg’. This was pretty much what you’d expect, given the description, but also: very good! Yum.
The dessert was ‘vanilla brioche, salted butter caramel, whipped cream’, which I didn’t find all that special. But none of the desserts on the menu seemed very interesting. The two other options were a cheese dish, or pear with chocolate sauce (and I knew I’d probably have a pear dessert at Omar Dhiab the next day).
Beefbar
Had lunch here on day 2. No high expectations about subtle, innovative dishes. This was all about the gorgeous Art Nouveau interior, combined with the convenient location (only a really short walk from La Galerie Dior, that I visited in the morning).
Well, the interior is absolutely fantastic. And the food? Pretty much as expected. A good steak, fries, a nice chocolate/ vanilla ice cream dessert (it was either this dessert or pear… again!)
Omar Dhiab
I had the 9-course diner menu, which isn’t written out. Obviously, the staff tell you what the courses are, but I find it hard to take all that information in. Luckily I found the descriptions of all but two of the dishes on another site.
Not sure what to think of the lay-out of the restaurant. There’s sort of an open kitchen, but you can’t see it. You can only see it when you’re entering or leaving. As a solo, I really like open kitchens (gives you plenty to look at between courses), but why make an open kitchen if it isn’t visible? Also, the dining room is all the way in the back, which not only means there’s no windows. It also means there’s no mobile signal. So if you’re solo and you feel you can entertain yourself by using your phone between courses… think again. You won’t be able to go online.
Staff were nice and very professional, spoke English quite well. There was a little misunderstanding when one waitress wanted to start serving me coffee, even before the last dessert had been served. I did like the food, it was all very good. Not spectacular, just very good. I can’t really say what was wrong, or what was lacking, I just wasn’t overwhelmed. The dish I liked best was the smallest one, the pre-dessert: very interesting combination of potato foam, vanilla ice cream and vinegar granita.
Started with a hibiscus drink, and then…
0. Crunchy poultry bread, mustard-garlic / Vine leaves tempura, spicy chickpea condiment / Squid tarlet, and squash seed pistou / Beef tongue lollypop
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Marinated seabream, leek and lovage condiment, kumquat, garlic, ginger, roasted buckwheat
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Limousin veal, eel and…?
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Oyster poached in its juice, cauliflower juice, romanesco cabbage tops and purple cabbage, toasted brioche condiment (forgot to take a picture)
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Sweetbread fritter, cooked between two slices of white bread, Grenoble condiment hidden under the leaf
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John Dory, celtuce stew, Wagyu beef chorizo, aster maritime, emulsioned Albufera sauce with monkfish liver
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Cured beef chuck cooked over Japanese barbecue, smoked sardines and green and black pepper zabaglione (forgot to take a picture)
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Potato foam, vanilla ice cream, Xeres vinegar granita
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Butter and honey-roasted Williams pear, pear sorbet, maceron shortbread, Comice pear slices, fermented pear condiment
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Pistachio ice cream, grapefruit, and…? (forgot to take a pic).
X. Coffee and friandises (nougat and cake).
