Aléa — Restaurant in Paris

My experience in Alea was very disappointing, and I was very surprised to see the good Google ratings and that it is even recommended by the Guide Michelin.

The main disappointment was the food. We were three and had three starters, one main, two desserts and cheese. Except for the cheese which was a delicious selection, all dishes were characterised by many different tastes that did not go well together. While the tastes where good as single taste and I could understand that someone was cooking very crafty with good technique, it was just not a good combination. The tastes cancelled each other out. Because of this, in the end no dish (except for the cheese) was a pleasure to eat.

Given that also the service was not very warm (as confirmed by my Parisian friend who was there with me) and the ambiente not particularly beautiful, I would not go to Alea again.

One of us came 20 min late. Maybe that was the reason why the service was not very friendly. But I don‘t think that is a valid reason. Also the waiter seemed to be irritated that we did not want to order one main dish per person. While I can understand the concept of a minimum consumption, in the end we spent 51€ per person and I don‘t think that that is a valid reason for unfriendly service either.

Writing this after I have already seen Alea‘s response to this review: Their inability to apologise for mediocre service and their insistence that I did something wrong with ordering (even though the waiter finally agreed to the way we ordered and even though we spent enough, I‘d assume) shows, in my opinion, that they react very poorly to criticism. Strange style for a restaurant that wants to...

My wife and I visited here back in August for the first time and we were blown away. So much so that it made us plan another trip to Paris 4 months later.

We started our dinner with amuse bouche of warm mushroom and pumpkin puree. Creamy texture, depth and sweetness from the mushroom and pumpkin, complemented by mustard hidden at the bottom of the dish.

My wife had the egg parfait with pumpkin risotto and parmesan cream for her starter. Excellent dish, the rich egg yolk complemented by creamy cheese sauce and sweet pumpkin risotto. I had the sea bream carpaccio with clementines, pistachios, and citrus vinaigrette. The sea bream had great texture and flavor, great combination with the sweet and tart accompaniments.

We both had the duck fillet with beet mousseline with balsamic, meat jus, and roasted beets for our main. The duck was cooked medium rare, the savory jus and slightly tart mousseline elevated the tender duck.

For our desserts, we had the brioche french toast and meringue with citrus and whipped cream. We were quite full at this point but we were able to finish the dessert no problem.

Another great dining experience at Aléa. The server made great recommendations of white and red wine for our dishes, all delicious and paired well. The only thing I would point out is, the service is carried out at a relaxed pace when all of the tables are full since there is only one server managing the restaurant. Otherwise, his service is excellent, professional, and fun.

Definitely will be back again when we visit Paris...

We were searching for a good French restaurant in Montmartre area and found this cozy but amazing restaurant. The restaurant is small but the service and the food are fantastic. The interior of the restaurant is very calm, and their choice of plates and glasswares are great. After we placed our order, we were first served with a gaspacho as our aperò, which was a perfect warm up dish for our stomach. Wife and I had two different entrèe each and both were delicious. (Home made terrine with meat jus, and ouef parfait with gorgonzola and candied peppers)

For our plats, we both had the rack of pork with roasted carrots, carrot purèe, chorizo bits, and meat jus. The pork was melting tender and the jus and the carrot purèe matched perfectly. I've only been to few French restaurants (a few in San Francisco, Lyon, and Paris), but Alèa blew us away. You know it instantly when you find a good restaurant, and Alèa definitely was it for me. Our server was very friendly, prompt, and professional. During our dessert service (cheese plate with black cherry jam which was also excellent), he even served us extra glasses of wine on the house.

If you stay in Montmarte area, there are a ton of restaurant choices but you will not be disappointed having a meal here. The pricing of the menu was very reasonable (about 50 Euros per person ordering a three coarse meal for dinner), and the quality of the food definitely exceeded what we paid for. We will definitely be...